Did you know that there’s still a real threat of offshore drilling off Virginia’s coasts? Or that a Virginia electric utility is proposing a massive new coal plant just 35 miles from the Chesapeake Bay? These are just two examples of what Virginians are getting involved in! Join us Tuesday, September 21, 6-8pm at Sunflower vegetarian restaurant (2531 Chain Bridge Rd, Vienna) to learn more about these and other important environmental issues going on in Northern Virginia and the state.

Have your own ideas or want to share how you’re taking action? Come learn and talk about what you can do as an individual, a business, a community leader – whoever you are! – to help move Northern Virginia, the state and the nation to a clean energy future.

See you Tuesday!

–The Green Drinks Team

This month will feature Taylor Beach,
Executive Director of Fairfax ReLeaf. Fairfax ReLeaf is a private non-profit organization formed in 1992 to plant and preserve trees in and around Fairfax County, preserve native habitat and educate the public about the benefits of trees. Taylor will be talking about the Fairfax County Tree Canopy Goal and how ReLeaf is supporting it, as well as hurdles to tree-planting and how you can get involved.

Taylor has also offered to distribute free tree seedlings Tuesday! She has the following species available: River Birch, Buttonbush, Black Cherry, Silky Dogwood, Hackberry, Washington Hawthorne, Hazelnut, Southern Red Oak, Willow Oak, Persimmon, Loblolly Pine, Virginia Pine, American Plum, Redbud, and Sycamore. E-mail her at trees@fairfaxreleaf.org with questions or if you’re interested.

We’ll be meeting at the Vienna Inn (120 Maple Ave E., Vienna).

See you Tuesday!

-The Green Drinks Team

Mark your calendars for DC’s first ever GREEN RUSH on Saturday, April 17, 2010! In commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Live Green is hosting an action-packed, fun-filled scavenger hunt. Gather a team to race against the clock in search of DC’s eco-friendly treasures.

Teams of 2 – 5 people will have 3 hours to explore hidden treasures, solve puzzles, complete challenges, collect clues and sample food to earn as many points as possible. The team with the most points wins the $1,000 Grand Prize!

The event kicks off at the Green in the Circle Festival in Dupont Circle with entertainment, speakers, and lots of green exhibitors. The adventure continues with an after party at The Reef in Adams Morgan where we will announce winners in 3 categories: Grand Prize, Youth Prize, and The Green Spirit Award. Sign-ups have begun, so gather up your team and go for the green!

Sponsors: The Reef, City Living Magazine, Eco-Coach, Ideal Design, Eco-Artware, Green Living Consulting, and Herban Lifestyle

More info here and agenda here.

We’ll be joined by Tom Spiggle, an attorney practicing in Virginia and Washington, DC who represents “green” businesses. He will be speaking about landlord/tenant matters in LEED buildings and his experience representing commercial composting facilities. Find more info about his practice at www.spigglelaw.com.

We’ll be meeting at 6PM at the Vienna Inn (120 East Maple Ave, Vienna), a community favorite known for its chili.

See you on Tuesday!

-The Green Drinks Team

This Green Drinks will feature Scott Titanish, Area Manager for LiveRoof. He will be talking about the basics of green roofing, the different types of systems and the advantages and pitfalls of each. He’ll also cover the funding and tax incentive programs in Northern Virginia, and as always there will be plenty of discussion! Join us if you’re a veteran, new to green roofing, or just want to learn more!

We’ll be meeting at 6PM at the Vienna Inn (120 East Maple Ave, Vienna), a community favorite known for its chili.

See you on Tuesday!

-The Green Drinks Team

Join us for the January Green Drinks to talk about how communities of faith are participating in the movement to fight climate change. Joelle Novey, Director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light, will be talking about the work GW-IPL does with congregations and religious institutions, upcoming events and how to get involved. Whether you belong to a congregation that is taking action, want to help your own go green, or just want to learn more about it, come discuss how communities of all faiths are building a national response to climate change.

We’ll be meeting at 6PM at the Vienna Inn (120 East Maple Ave, Vienna), a community favorite known for its chili.

Looking forward to seeing you tonight!
-The Green Drinks Team

The Airlie Center was founded in 1960 as “An Island of Thought” in Warrenton, Virginia and has combined a history of successful conference hosting with a committment to the environment.  Established in 1998, the Local Food Project at Airlie grows 3,000 pounds of organic vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers each year for the Airlie Center kitchen. The project demonstrates the significant role local food can play in an institutional setting. Garden staff work closely with chefs to integrate flavorful, nutritious, fresh-picked produce into delicious dining room meals.

We have an amazing, first-of-its-kind event coming up that we were hoping you’ll be able to attend.  For the first time under one roof, members from all eight DC-area Green Drinks chapters will be gathering to connect, have fun and build a more vibrant Green community along the Potomac. 

Here’s the details:

Please join us on Tuesday September 29 from 6:30p.m. to 9:00p.m to celebrate the opening of The ReBuild Warehouse, the tremendous growth of Green Drinks in the Greater DC area and to highlight the accomplishments of six local environmentally-conscious artists.

ReBuild is a non-profit, used building materials warehouse located in Springfield, Virginia. ReBuild accepts donations of quality used building materials from contractors, suppliers and the public. Its proceeds will fund training programs for hard-to-place workers in green collar jobs.
From June 20th thru the month of July, ReBuild hosted six guest artists who all created art work from materials found in our warehouse. We would like to thank them for their participation in this challenge and give everyone a chance to view their wonderful work.

This is a free event but space is limited
Please RSVP by Tuesday September 22, 2009 to Megan V. Kirin
(Megan@ReBuildWarehouse.org)

Refreshments will be served

Location: The ReBuild Warehouse
6625-B Iron Place
Springfield, VA 22151
703.658.8840
www.rebuildwarehouse.org

The last Green Drinks get together for the summer of 2009 – which I believe skipped us this year.

There is no official speaker slated, but we will be discussing sustainable and locally grown food in honor of the harvest season, and will be talking about some exciting special events that are planned this Fall and Winter!  Please join us at the Jammin’ Java at 227 Maple Ave E
Vienna, VA again at 6PM on Tuesday, 9/15.  And be sure to bring a friend!

-The GD Fairfax Team

We wanted to let you know about a late-breaking event: Senator Warner just announced that he will be holding a townhall meeting tomorrow, Thursday 9/3.

Matt Bromelkamp from RePower Virginia, our August speaker, is looking for help at the event to get the piece of climate legislation awaiting the Senate’s vote this fall on voter’s minds.

Here are the details:

Warner Townhall
Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009
Time: 7 p.m.  (doors open at 6 p.m.)
Location: Fredericksburg Expo Center
2371 Carl D. Silver Parkway | Fredericksburg, VA 22401

Matt is urgently looking for a volunteer or two to help distribute literature and collect signatures.  If you can help, or would like to know more, please call Matt at (763) 229-6040 or email him at mbromelkamp@gmail.com.

Thank you!