Christina Olsen, Co-founder & Coordinator, Green Drinks Vancouver, greendrinks.org
by Stephanie MacDonald
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.
