Green Drinks Social Event 'Builds It Green' In Astoria

Astoria / Saturday, October 25th, 2008. The month the Green Drinks social was hosted at Build It Green, which is an environmentally-friendly building supplies warehouse located at one of the furthest northwest points of Queens. The wind was blowing hard, the rain and drizzle seemed to provide an endless spray, but somewhere between 50 - 70 people made it to the social to meet with other environmentalists to talk about ... well just about everything. In addition to providing an interesting enviro-friendly alcoholic elixir, many found time to 'shop' the Build It Green warehouse, which was the equivalent of a small Home Depot with a recyclable bent. Helen Ho, organizer of the Queens chapter of the Green Drinks events is featured in the photo with the party going on in the background.
The Queens Green Drinks event was organized by Helen Ho, who is an energetic Queens community organizer. She is also a Deputy Director at Green Thumb, which is a division of the City of New York Parks & Recreation department. Build It Green, the party site host, provides building materials, many of which have been recycled. It’s an eco-friendly place.
Green Drinks has been around since 1989 when it started informally in London. It has spread, informally, all around the globe. The idea is to bring together like-minded people who are environmentally-interested or environmentally-aware. Some are professional architects and builders, while others are eco-aware or just socially interested. Through this venue many people have met future business partners, collaborators, clients or suppliers and some have even met their future spouses.
Helen, along with the help of her friends, took up the Green Drinks mantle, after attending a Green Drinks social event, which was sponsored by the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing a year ago [October 2007]. She had such a good time mingling with other environmentally aware people, that she wondered why Green Drinks wasn’t a monthly event in Queens like it is in Manhattan and Brooklyn. That line of thought continued to dig at her until she picked up the mantle and got the first one off the ground in May of 2008.
Since she’s working a full-time job and taking graduate classes part time at Hunter, she decided to pursue a different format for the event than her counterparts in the other boroughs who hold the event on the same day every month. She went with more of a flex-time approach so the date each month, which varies along with its venue. In this manner the event moves around the borough, touching many Queens neighborhoods, and hence makes it easy for new people to attend, when the venue comes near their Queens neighborhood.
At the event on this warm, rainy, wind swept day in the far reaches of Astoria, there were somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 plus people while I was there. The social interaction seemed very positive, and I noticed a number of people doing some window shopping or perhaps real shopping at Build It Green. The age of the crowd ranged from the mid-twenties on up to people likely somewhere in their fifties. The food was comprised of packaged snacks and the drinks ranged from this interesting, but delectable apple mix, to something with a bit more kick to it.
The next one is to be held at PJ Horgans in Sunnyside on November 6th. See our Events Calendar for the monthly Green Drinks meeting details on location and time. Click on the following link for Green Drinks event locations, including the next one at PJ Horgans at 42-17 Queens Blvd in Sunnyside.
Queens Green Drinks Astoria NY - Related Links
Click on this link to read / view a story about another Queens Green Drinks event in Jackson Heights. Click this link to view a map of the Build It Green, which is an environmentally friendly building supply company in Astoria. Click this link to obtain the contact info and website url for the Queens Green Drinks. Click this link to go to the Astoria Neighborhood News / Astoria Neighborhood Guide and Map / Astoria Restaurants Guide & Map / Astoria Shops Guide & Map / Queens & Astoria Events / Astoria Business Directory / Astoria Shop Announcements.