This Tuesday, the 12th of February, Manhattan
Green Drinks will be held from 6-10pm - at Boucarou Lounge 64 East 1St Street (between 1st Ave and 1st Street).

This February 20th, the Brooklyn edition of
Green Drinks is going to be held at Greenbelt, a new LEED certified residence at 361 Manhattan Ave. They're calling the location Williamsburg, but it's right on the border with Greenpoint. This is Brooklyn's first LEED certified residence/ performance space. It's great that green building is becoming more popular, but it begs to wonder why are they choosing one of the most toxic places in the country to build on?

Greenpoint is home of the one of the country's largest oil spills that has the dubious distinction of never having been cleaned up. That 17 million gallons of oil is floating right under the ground. Along with this, it's home to 17 waste facilities, a dozen toxic chemical companies, several gas storage facilities, a sanitation depot, an abandoned incinerator, not to mention the largest human waste treatment plant in the state; on warm evenings in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, the scents of fecal matter wafts through open windows. Newton Creek, the unfortunate repository of all the industry, is a scary little body of water. Yet a few new buildings around there are using responsibly harvested materials. It's a start. I guess.

As mentioned earlier, there's going to be a chance to see the space at this month's Green Drinks Brooklyn. Now for those who consider themselves environmentalists--and it doesn't take much in NYC. You most likely don't drive an SUV, you don't have a sprawling lawn, you recycle and carry a reusable bag for grocery shopping, and you're green. It's kind of like being a survivalist here. Just keep a bottle of water under your desk. But this environmental crowd can be tough. Terms like "Carbon Footprint" often slip into the conversation. Once, while waiting in line for a margarita I started talking with the guy next to me. His tag read that he was a "Green Developer". Seemed like an oxymoron, but I asked, "So, like installing solar panels?" His response: "Those are very romantic, but not that important. They're not a strong sustainability indicator."

Huh? I was just trying to make polite conversation. Besides I moved here from the West Coast almost 14 years ago, and the west is far, far ahead of New York when it comes to environmentalism. Friends of mine not only composted and recycled, but they rinsed their Ziploc bags and hung them to dry with little clothespins posted over their sinks. I once knew a man who used his old socks to wash dishes and another guy who saved used coffee filters to wipe down his counters with. But those two were probably more cheap than green.

So I've started compiling a vocabulary list for Green Drink talk:

Liberally sprinkle your conversation with these when feeling intimidated.

LEED stands for "The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design." The primary criteria are: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Sustainable: Technically this means "to keep in existence" so instead of wiping out endangered trees, eco-systems, or animals, you use materials that are recycled, renewable, and preferably local.

Permaculture: Basically, it's designing human habitats that resemble the cycles of natural ecologies. This can be applied on different scales. Home-owners and even some apartment dwellers can foods they've grown, or at least are in season; use rainwater run off to water garden, and if there's a gray water system in place, even use it for flushing toilets or washing clothes. Also, garbage can be used to make compost to fertilize your garden... and the cycle continues.

Bio-Remediators: This word should come in handy if the quality of soil or water in Greenpoint comes up in conversation. This are plants and micro-organisms that clean metals and other toxins and pollutants from water and land.

Biogas: A very good Greenpoint/Williamsburg word, especially if you can smell the treatment plant. Essentially, this is energy made from dung--cow, pig, human.

Struvite Precipitation: Here's a big gun. This is the chemical process of separating nitrogen and phosphorous from water in urine. This also helps pull pharmaceuticals and toxins from urine that normally go into waterways. Once the chemicals are taken out of urine, it's essentially water--and the nitrogen and phosphorous are excellent fertilizers for your fruit trees.