Supervisor Brown will speak at Green Drinks on Thursday

Sonoma’s green movement is growing stronger each month, thanks in part to Green Drinks of Sonoma, a networking group described on its Web site as a “green persons’ chamber of commerce.” The group’s next meeting will be held on Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. at The Lodge at Sonoma. Meetings are normally held on the first Thursday of each month.
“It is a fantastic forum for like-minded folks to connect, exchange ideas and discuss what is happening in the green movement,” said Michele Tovar, who founded the local chapter of Green Drinks, which currently has 24 members. The monthly meetings are open to both individuals and businesses and are a great way to network and meet new people. “We always have interesting speakers and sponsors who are involved in things like sustainability, conservation, recycling energy, clean technology, composting, and biofuel, to name a few,” said Tovar.
Sonoma County 1st District Supervisor Valerie Brown will speak at the Thursday meeting, which is sponsored by Kenwood Permaculture. She will discuss her recent trip to Poland for the United Nations Conference on Climate as well as President Barack Obama’s focus on energy efficiency in the country and what it means for California and Sonoma County.
“Green Drinks is a wonderful organization with participants that are interested in a common goal,” said Brown. “At the meetings, each person brings a different perspective on being green but all are united by this one thread.”
Green Drinks Sonoma is part of a worldwide movement founded in London by Edwin Datschefski, an author and consultant on ecology and the green movement. Speakers are not typically part of the event format, but Tovar found that participants at the Sonoma meetings were so hungry for information she decided to make some changes.
“Assemblyman Jared Huffman spoke at one of our meetings last year and we had well over 100 people in attendance,” said Tovar. “Sonoma is the only city in Sonoma County to not have a green living program. But the community feedback has been amazing, as has the variety of people who are interested in this issue. There is almost a magnetic pull of people in this field who are willing to work for change.”