Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
Green Drinks Boulder: January at the Hotel Boulderado
Green Drinks Boulder: January at the Hotel Boulderado, photo by Caroline Treadway.
On the last Tuesday of the first month of the new year, Green Drinks convened at the historic Hotel Boulderado — the perfect locale for a “Shining” remake in my opinion — for another round of high energy, semi work-related, sustainable fun.
Paige and Chris Rogowski with Dana Richardson, photo by Caroline Treadway.
Before I could fill out my nametag, I met Paige, newly relocated to Boulder, who informed me that Green Drinks is, in fact, international. It’s true. If the bubble bug bites hard enough, Boulder Green Drinkers can leave Colorado and network their way across the globe, from Kazakhstan to Colombia to Canada, where a multitude of Green Drinks evenings await. Paige, who’s two weeks into her new job at a certain well-known organization dedicated to not littering, suggested it would be a great way to travel. Keep that in mind when ramping up your carbon footprint.
Vicky and Carrie at January's Boulder Green Drinks, Hotel Boulderado. Photo by Caroline Treadway.
I’d barely wrapped my head around international Green Drinks, when I met Vicky from Blue Drinks. Yep, blue. Vicky, whose turquoise eyes perfectly matched her beaded necklace, lives in Denver and misses the ocean, deeply. So deeply, in fact, that she’s united local ocean-lovers in an effort to save the big blue liquid that surrounds us. According to Vicky, even though we can’t see the ocean from here, a mile high, it’s still worth saving.
Kira Davis, a massage therapist wearing a pink smock, says she’s been practicing her craft since she was three, thanks to her ailing mother. Having just moved from Hawaii, she too misses the ocean, and can’t wait for warm weather so she can bike to Fort Collins and swim across Horsetooth Reservoir. Offering 25 percent dscount massages to Green Drinkers who chose planet-friendly transportation that evening (extra incentive, as if any was needed), Kira’s really into worms. She claims to have 500 pets, all of them, of course, nematodes. She’s extremely passionate about worm composting and hopes to promote this planet-saving measure in City of Boulder apartment complexes.
January's Boulder Green Drinks at the Hotel Boulderado, photo by Caroline Treadway.
Thanks to the very tall, well-tailored realtor who wears a suit even on weekends, the evening ended on a literary note, courtesy Zig Zigler: “You have to be before you can do, and you have to do before you can have.”
A welcome respite from last year’s holiday grind, the 2011 Green Drinks debut was a blurry celebration of work-inspired socializing, which of course, makes it legit.
Green Drinks Boulder: November at Jill’s
Green Drinks November at Jill's
As if we haven’t had enough to eat and drink this month, Green Drinks capped November off with another enjoyable round of sustainable gluttony. It was a blast.
I arrived at Jill’s early for my first Green Drinks, grabbed a seat at the bar, and immediately a loud voice behind me said, “You can’t sit there, that’s my seat!” Luckily Stu, who’s extremely tall, was joking. Later, when I asked how many solar panels there are in Boulder County, and Stu jokingly came up with 975,674, I realized he must often think on his feet, a skill that’s handy for selling things, which he does as a real estate agent, in lieu of his childhood dream to be an outdoor photographer and writer, which he also could have been joking about.
Megan, Stu and Adrian at Green Drinks November.
Next, I talked to Megan, who works for the City of Boulder’s newly dubbed Local Environmental Action Division, a mouthful, says Smartregs, a new ordinance requiring rental houses to lower energy consumption by 2018, is the most exciting green thing to hit Boulder. Let’s get through 2012 first…
After chatting wind-power with Ben from the Rocky Mountain Institute, I asked the guy next to me what he did. When he said, “I own this place,” I thought he meant the City of Boulder. Turns out he meant the St. Julien, which is basically the same thing. Besides the St. Julien, Richard also owns Benny, a german short-hair named for Jack Benny, who has a lot of energy.
Richard and Amanda at Green Drinks November.
That pretty much wraps up Green Drinks November. Lots of interesting, entrepreneurial folks gabbing and having a grand old time at Jill’s. If you missed it, you missed out!
Ben, Jason, Dom, Richard anad Amanda at Green Drinks November.
Green Drinks Boulder at BoCoCo: got your dance pants?
Ah, Green Drinks.
Green Drinks June
Month in and month out, I can count on you to be the thing that makes my Wednesday just a little more difficult after having one too many tasty local beers while enjoying the company of local eco folks.
But I have to say, this week, you outdid yourself. When I saw the event listed on Green Drinks Boulder’s facebook group, I thought that a party at Boulder Community Computers and iSupportU — about whom I knew nothing apart from having seen their bikes around town — had potential to be terrible or great.
Yeah, well, there was an 80′s band, sunshine, Avery beer, and a choreographed dance to Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For a Hero.” Read more
Green Drinks Boulder at Outlook Hotel
Boulder’s first zero-waste hotel-slash-blues venue hosted April’s Green Drinks Boulder event, and it turned out to be a great spot for hanging out with enviro-folks.
Boulder Outlook Hotel and Suites has that distinct swimming-pool smell when you first enter, but two things help you get past that: one, the pool is heated by the sun, which is awesome, and two, you’re headed into the Blues and Greens bar anyway, where the smell won’t follow you. Instead, you can grab an Avery IPA and some conversation, which is precisely what I did.
John, left, and Rick.
Happily, I quickly met up with a familiar face in Rick, who wasted no time in introducing me to John DeFilippi, owner of ecoLogical Lawn Care. We chatted about the recent dandelion protests. John says that there’s no quick solution to dandelions, rather that it takes time to build up a good, thick grass — unless you want to go the chemical route.
As for Rick, we discovered we’re neighbors. Maybe he’ll check out my new neighborhood blog. (Wow. I must be breaking nerd records here, somewhere.)
Soon it was time for our fearless leaders to pick winners for fine prizes, like $50 to Organic Dish, which is another reason you ought to come hang out (as if you needed more than the chance of meeting swell people, as I did this month, and at Green Drinks Boulder’s January and February meet-ups). Read more
Green Drinks Boulder: February at Bacaro
Last night was one of my favorite Green Drinks Boulder events yet. Even though it was pretty chilly out, it was the easiest for me to get to, as it was just across the street from the ol’ office.
The crew at Green Drinks Boulder in Feb. 2010 at Bacaro
Big Green Drinks Boulder: January at the Draft House
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Tonight we all moseyed out to the Draft House for some good beer and green cheer in the latest installment of Green Drinks Boulder (last Tuesday of every month).
[singlepic id=4 w=320 h=240 float=left]On top of the quesadillas and the award-winning brews on tap, the back room was busting at the seams with all manner of greenie — you had your salesfolk, your media relations people, your event organizers, your students and your just-green-dudes.
One such green dude is Green Drinks regular Rick — I see him every time, and he said he’s been going for a while. Even tried out the Denver GD. I haven’t been down to one of those, but I’m told it’s larger and a bit more unwieldy. He’s pictured here with GD co-organizer Sarah, who identifies herself as communications maven at the ReDirect Guide. Read more
