10 Things I Didn’t Know About Lynchburg, Va.

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

Downtown Lynchburg, Va. has lots of old buildings that are being retrofitted.

1. It is the largest city in the U.S. without an Interstate highway running through it (or by it).
2. The downtown is going through a renaissance. Old buildings are being retrofitted by the dozens.
3. LEED construction remains a difficult concept to sell in Lynchburg. (But LEED specialists are getting traction when they tout the undeniable money-savings benefits.)
4. The workforce is highly skilled–lots of engineers live and work there.
5. At the Depot Grille, you can treat yourself to a tasty and well-prepared dinner–plus a nice lager brewed in nearby Afton, Va.–for less than the cost of a Patty Melt, fries, and a soft drink at Friendly’s.
6. Frito Lay produces Lays potato chips there.
7. It’s difficult to get business executives to move to Lynchburg. But once they arrive they stay a long time, because the quality of life is excellent.
8. Liberty University is staging a production of Phantom of the Opera. (What would the late Rev. Falwell make of that development?)
9. The city is built on a hillside. Walking all the way up 9th Street (pictured here) will give you quite an aerobic workout.
10. And Lynchburg Green Social attendees are some of the friendliest, most gracious people I have ever met.

Thanks to Green Social coordinator Shannon Cotulla–of engineering firm Hurt & Proffitt–for making this Green Suit feel right at home. It was a long drive to your community, but well worth the trip!

Join Me for ‘Earth Day Green Drinks’ in Fredericksburg, Va.

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

This morning, some great news arrived!

The organizers of Green Drinks Fredericksburg have invited me to discuss Tailoring the Green Suit at its next event–taking place 6 p.m. April 22nd, 2010–at The Otter House in Olde Towne Fredericksburg, Va. From this morning’s news release:

Green Drinks is all about conversations for conservation. A loose coalition of Fredericksburg area businesses and conservation groups are teaming up to provide a forum for people to network with other individuals interested in the environment. Every last Thursday of the month at 6 p.m., Green Drinks will meet at The Otter House, 1005 Princess Anne Street.

Green Drinks is an international movement with similar events in 63 other countries and all 50 states. Local groups set up their own events, but all have a common code: meet monthly, agenda free, run responsibly and anyone can come. With a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business, people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. There will be a speaker for 15 minutes, but most of the time is devoted to individuals making connections.

Launch Date: April 22, 2010 (40th anniversary of Earth Day)
Time: 6pm
Where: Otter House, 1005 Princess Anne Street
Speaker: Dan Smolen, author of Tailoring the Green Suit: Empowering Yourself for an Executive Career in the New Green Economy.

Green Drinks Organizing Committee Contacts:

Rebecca Kurylo, Development Director
Friends of the Rappahannock
(540) 373-3448 rebecca.kurylo@riverfriends.org

Laurel Hamming
Stafford Citizen
fredgreendrinks@gmail.com

Eric Stott
Sierra Club
ericlawrencestott@yahoo.com

Anne Little, Executive Director
Clean & Green Commission
thegate@cox.net

Dan Dukes
Green Source Raters
(540) 903-6800 daniel.dukes@greensourceraters.com

There is a great story behind how the first ‘Green Drinks’ got started:

In 1989, at a pub called the Slug and Lettuce in Northern London, Edwin Datschefski was sitting with his green design colleagues Yorick Benjamin and Paul Scott when he noticed an enviro-minded acquaintance at a nearby table. As it turned out, the friend was sitting with a few of his own eco-conscious mates, so they pulled some tables together. And so a movement was born.

The concept evolved into Green Drinks and now it’s global. In 2001, Datschefski created an official Web site, and it has since spread across the world. See www.greendrinks.org for the latest city count and a list of countries. Each city has an organizer who arranges meetings in bars and restaurants, relays information via email, and facilitates discussions.

In Fredericksburg, Green Drinks started two years ago with Dan Dukes of Green Source Builders launching the group as a personal initiative. After a 6-month hiatus, a coalition of area conservation groups and businesses have joined together to reinstate the network on Earth Day’s 40th anniversary.