The first Palm Beach Green Drinks event of 2008 was held at O’Sheas in downtown West Palm Beach on January 8th.  (Palm Beach Green Drinks holds its events on the 2nd Tuesday of every month.)  As always, we saw a diverse crowd of people interested in the environment, including teachers, financial planners, lawyers, engineers, environmental consultants, account managers, students, and city and county employees.  We enjoy Palm Beach Green Drinks because: its laid back, we learn something new, its a good place to network, and there are interesting people there.

Justin Hoysradt from Abundant Energy spoke to the group about the benefits of using solar power in homes.  Here’s a short video of that, as well as some pictures of the event.  Hope to see you at the next one, on February 12th at O’Sheas.

Check out this video about global warming / climate change.  It’s worth 9 minutes and 33 seconds of your time.

We choose column “A,” although hopefully we can be smart enought to prevent global warming and the economic impact he describes. What do you think?  Is his argument wrong?  Is column A the right choice?

1. I will reduce my love handles and my carbon footprint.  If getting toned reduces my carbon footprint at the same time, great!  I will bike places instead of drive and take the stairs instead of the elevator when I can.  I will hike, run, bike and swim outdoors.  If I see trash on the beach, I will pick it up and run to the next trash can to throw it away. 

I will save money and the earth.  I will drive less and carpool and save money on gas.  I will turn off the lights when I’m not in a room and lower my electric bill.  I will wait to fill a full load of dishes and laundry and save on electricity and water.  I will not buy pesticides and garden with compost and other natural materials.  I will plant native plants that use less water.  I will not leave the water running.  Instead of buying new, I will reuse wrapping paper for presents, old t-shirts to clean with, shopping bags to carry things, etc…  (But… maybe I’ll splurge on organic food and sustainably produced clothing…)

I will eat better, organic and local.  I will eat more fruits and vegetables, but I don’t need them to travel thousands of miles and be grown with pesticides to get on my plate.  I will eat less meat (that’s better for my heart and pastures contribute to deforestation and carbon emissions anyways).  I will eat fish from sustainable fisheries.  I don’t need extra hormones, so I will choose milk from cows that aren’t pumped full of them or choose soy.

I will be more organized and efficient.  I will make a conscious decision to purchase items with less packaging, so that I don’t have to deal with disposing the packaging.  I will get rid of things I don’t use in my house and donate them, so that someone else can reuse them.  I will look into making my home more energy efficient (which will help me save money too) - like installing low-flow shower heads to use less water, plugging air leaks in doors and windows, replacing old appliances and windows with energy efficient ones, and adjusting my thermostat to use less energy.  I will plan ahead, so that I can get my errands and shopping done all in one trip, rather than wasting time and gas driving back and forth.