Over the last three years, Green Drinks has become an integral part of the sustainability culture in Vancouver. It’s a place where everyone is welcome and where everyone shares a common bond: a commitment to our planet.

And Christina Olsen is an integral part of Green Drinks’ success. The only founder currently in Vancouver, Christina organizes the monthly gatherings and keeps people up-to-date on Green Drinks activities.

Years ago, environmentalist socializing usually involved flannel, handmade signs, and hirsute individuals chained to trees (hey, we were there!)—a far cry from this civilized soiree of welldressed people chatting over bevvies at Gastown’s Steamworks Pub.

“I had been to the original Green Drinks events when I lived in the U.K.,” says Christina, “so when Rika [Saha] and Lyda [Salatian] asked me if I
was interested in helping start one in Vancouver, I said I would do anything I can do.” At her day job with non-profit corporation EcoSmart, Christina
helps big construction companies lower their carbon output.

Though it’s difficult to measure exactly how many alliances have been formed through Green Drinks, Christina can personally attest to the success
of its networking power. “When I was going through the final interview for my current job, another partner was brought in to meet me, and it was actually someone I knew from Green Drinks!”

Job opportunities aside, the planet benefits from this meeting of minds, says Christina. “When you get smart people together they become more than the sum of their parts. Change really happens when you get people who care together, supporting and inspiring each other.”

Cheers to that.