We all know there are plenty of ways to go green, but sometimes we need a little help taking action.
That's where Cool North Shore comes in. The non-profit organization is dedicated to finding ways to reduce the community's carbon footprint, and that includes hosting monthly Cool Drinks discussions that focus on practical ways of becoming more eco-friendly.
This month's talk is all about green entrepreneurship, but that doesn't mean you have to be a business owner to attend.
"What I want to do is talk about what I think are some of the exciting entrepreneurial ventures that participants might be enticed to pursue that I think will make a difference and also be enjoyable and give meaning to their lives," says David Van Seters, the key speaker at the event and CEO of Enerpro Systems, a company that provides energy solutions for retrofitted buildings.
The West Vancouver eco-entrepreneur, who previously operated an organic grocery home delivery business, says there are plenty of unique ways to start a green business. He cited distributing electric bicycles or using them as part of a delivery service as an example.
"In Europe, a much higher percentage of the population is riding electric bikes and leaving their cars behind and using their bikes for work purposes, postal services," he explains.
"Electric bicycles are much, much cheaper than a regular car and an electric car, and you can use them in many more situations than you can a regular bicycle."
He also suggested starting up a website that could advertise rentals for anything a person isn't using, from parking spaces to power washers.
"I want to entice people to think about possibly giving up their job and choosing an eco-entrepreneurial endeavor so they can stop just talking about it and get out there and actually do it," he says.
That matches well with the philosophy of Cool Drinks, said JoAn Maurer, vice president of Cool North Shore. She feels one of the best things about Cool Drinks is that the speaker, called a "provocateur," doesn't just give a speech, but instead asks questions to spark a discussion.
"So it really is meant to be interactive and come up with actions," says Maurer.
Some of those actions, including growing food locally and retrofitting homes to be more energy efficient, are already taking place on the North Shore, she added.
Green Entrepreneurship: Creating Your Green Future will take place tomorrow night, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Le Bistro Chez Michel in 224 Esplanade West, North Vancouver. To register, email [email protected]. Admission is $10, which includes snacks.
