How do greenies communicate?
A year after Foresight was founded Chicago Green Drinks was born. Each unofficial meeting attracts more than 70 people, many of whom are first-time participants, according to the Green Drinks Web site.
“For us it helps to connect with people,” Nicholson said. “The part most people miss (about online communities and social networking sites) is that it needs to be augmented with a real life community. What really makes us vibrant is that green drinks allows people to meet face-to-face. We have toyed with the idea of a social networking site, but there are so many social networking sites out there that it seems kind of redundant.”
There are two types of these power networking sessions: the business edition and the traditional green drinks. I attended the October Business Edition of green drinks and found it to be an amazing experience. The relaxed setting – it was held in a bar inside the loop – enabled people to mingle and share sustainable business ideas with others that are equally dedicated to the cause.
I found the mix of people at green drinks to be extremely diverse with dozens of veteran green drink-goers and first-time visitors like me. The three panel members discussed and answered questions on a cap-and-trade system, which many members of the community believe will eventually become mandatory in the United States. A cap-and-trade system requires businesses to literally cap the amount of greenhouse gases they emit into the atmosphere each year. If the business believes they are going to go over their allowable emissions, or if they actually do go over, under a cap-and-trade system the company would have to purchase carbon credits, which are now traded through the Chicago Climate Exchange on a voluntary basis. The idea is new, controversial and extremely confusing, but the panelists did a phenomenal job of fielding all the questions. I really think everyone left that meeting with a deeper understanding of a very complicated issue and numerous ideas on ways to move forward. I know as a reporter, I personally, left with dozens of story ideas.
As the founder and aggregator of such a large Chicago-based green community, Nicholson said he absorbs an abundance of information on green businesses and sustainability every day, but he never goes to blogs for that information. The reason, he says, comes down to time. “I just don’t have time. To get to the gem, it’s a filtering process and so many of the blogs are not edited well and are not concise.” The more efficient means of communication, Nicholson has found, is through e-newsletters, which are typically very concise and include multiple links that he can go back to several times throughout the day, he said. Some example of newsletters and mailing lists people in the green community might find interesting are the Biweekly Chicago Sustainability HUB and Sustainable City – a series of articles on sustainability issues in the Chicago-area.
On the other hand, Greg Ehrendreich with the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, says blogs are definitely one way he garners information, specifically design-oriented environmental blogs, he said. Of the blogs Ehrendreich pays the closest attention to are Treehugger, Worldchanging, and Inhabitat, “because they keep me up on the bleeding edge of innovation.” The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance is a “collaborative network advancing energy efficiency in the Midwest to support sustainable economic development and environmental preservation,” according to the organization’s mission statement. Ehrendreich said in addition to blogs he navigates the Internet constantly for information, utilizing e-mail announcements, listservs, and RSS feeds. However, he said he is often disappointed that more organizations do not have RSS feeds available. Conference calls and webinars are another tool MEEA uses.
“What I’m really saying, I think is that we use them all, and they all work. I like to push the envelope and try out new modes to see what will grab. I run up against the limitations of the nonprofit and government and business people that I deal with who aren’t always up to the challenge of pushing the geek envelope,” Ehrendreich said.
Even though Nicholson said he does not read blogs, it does not mean Foresight does not take advantage of the Internet. Its Web site is a wealth of information and has a variety of networking tools, such as the green business directory, which includes the name, contact number, Web site address, and a brief biography of every business in the organization. “I had all these people connected through my head and they needed to connect in other ways,” Nicholson said. “That’s why we started the green business directory and the Sustainable Business Alliance.” The Sustainable Business Alliance is another network targeted solely at green businesses in Chicago. Another networking tool available is the Chicago Sustainability Action Guide. The guide includes Web sites, publications, organizations, directories, and events and is divided into categories such as food, transportations, house and home energy. It answers questions like, “How can I improve my home efficiency? How can I purchase foods grown locally and organically? What are my options for getting around the city and suburbs on public or shared transportation? How can I reduce my dependence on non-renewable, fossil fuel-based energy source?”
In Chicago, there also are numerous special events catered to the green community. One example is Explorago where teams of five have an entire afternoon to complete a scavenger hunt. But this is no ordinary scavenger hunt, participants are looking for the most “tradable renewable credits” before times runs out. More information on Explorago can be found at http://www.believechicago.org/index.php. There also are numerous lunch-time series dedicated to environmentalists and green-conscious individuals, such as the “Growing Green Neighborhoods: Inside the LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System.” A complete calendar of events can be found at http://www.believechicago.org/calendar/index.php#3339. And, finally, those interested in learning more about the community can attend workshops such as the “Green Contractor Training Program,” which will be held Jan. 25 at 4300 North Narragansett. The workshop is designed to help contractors compete for green building projects. It is presented by Wilbur Wright College and the U.S. Green Building Council – Chicago Chapter, which is another great resource in itself.
Though I have concentrated primarily on the green community in Chicago, its following is spread throughout the world. Even Christian organizations, which in the past have opposed efforts to mitigate climate change, are now becoming involved. The resources are immense for anyone considering a full-time blog on this topic
