GreenDrinks

Last night I attended the Island to Island Party, courtesy of Green Drinks NYC. Green Drinks is an international networking night out that happens once a month all over the country and the world. I was amazed at how cool it was. Here hundreds of green-conscious like-minded individuals network, make friends and learn about amazing projects around NYC and abroad. My friends at Make Me Sustainable had a booth there, as did bio diesel activists, fare trade chocolatiers and other cool business.

I went with my friend Chip, whose father was a keynote speaker of the night, talking about an organization he founded called Islands First. As Palau's ambassador to the UN, Stewart Beck has a vested interest in confronting the effects of climate change, which are felt to a much greater extent in the South Pacific than here in the U.S. If there are still neigh sayers of climate change out there, Palau is a perfect example of a place that is right now in the line of fire because our devastating treatment of the planet.

On a lighter note, there were several food treats that should not go unmentioned. Chocolate samples were in full force at Green Drinks represented by Sweet Riot, Travel Chocolate, and my personal favorite (namewise) Dagoba Chocolate.

Sweet Riot is "creating a sweet movement to fix the world. :) We’ve started by sourcing our cacao directly in Latin America, using recyclable, reusable packaging which features emerging artists, and by only using all-natural, healthy ingredients for our dark chocolate ‘peaces.’

Travel Chocolate's mission: To provide premium fair trade chocolate products with a positive societal impact focusing on improving farmers' working & living conditions, eradicating child labor, providing education, and restoring the earth's waterways.


At Dagoba Organic Chocolate they seek to honor Full Circle Sustainability principles: blending attention to Quality, Ecology, Equity and Community into each step from cacao farms to their factory to you. This is rooted in their founder Frederick Schilling’s vision to create exceptional chocolate through high standards of ethics and social responsibility.


Those are some upstanding Chocolate makers! And bars or 'peaces' like these wouldn't make a bad substitute for Chocolate Hanukah Gelt. So get going holiday shoppers. And make sure you check out when the next Green Drinks Party is happening around you.

P.S. If you are single, this was a goldmine to pick up chicks/dudes etc. because everyone is in the mood to meet new people and the awkwardness of talking to someone you don't know vanishes with the realization that everyone is connected through a common righteous goal. Is this what the 60's was like?