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Want to grab a drink this Wednesday evening after work and meet local green friends? Green Drinks has 4 locations in the Delaware Valley/Philadelphia area for people who have green interests or work in the environmental field to meet up for informal sessions and drinks. Expect a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. Catch up with green friends or network with new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network. Green Drinks occurs the 1st Wednesday of each month from 6-8 PM ET at the following locations:

You know the obvious recyclable materials - plastic water bottles, cardboard, tin cans etc. - but don't forget about the not-as-obvious items you're through with that can be re-used.

Fretting over what to give this holiday season? Try giving gift cards instead of presents. Gift cards are more useful and green then conventional presents - there's less packaging involved, and the recipient can choose what they really want. Worried about retail stores going under?

Check out the Trunk Show hosted by Philadelphia’s City Paper this Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at TLA (334 South St.) Over 50 local vendors will be in attendance - including some of Philadelphia’s hottest boutiques, designers and craftspeople. There will be an array of clothing, jewelry, house wares, cosmetics, etc. Four of the many reasons to get yourself to the Trunk show this Black Friday:

Are you sick of going to parties or bars seeing a girl or guy in the same outfit as you? Fear not eco-conscientious fashionistas, there's a clothing line in town to prevent that problem. Nicole Rae Styer designs a line of clothes for people who like to be unique or stand out. Her inspiration comes from vintage styles. She creates one-of-a-kind dresses, tank tops, shirts, purses, intimate apparel and home decor for women, as well as kids clothing and men's shirts. She takes pride in ensuring each piece of her line is unique and pays careful attention to detail, just two of the reasons she had her work shown at the prestigous Fashion Week run-way show last year.

Green Perspective combines two of my favorite things - environmentally-friendly gifts and convenient on-line shopping. Green Perspective, a Philadelphia-based company, offers green gift baskets with themes like "Green Your Kitchen" and "Eco-Mom" that you can easily align to the needs of the recipient (or yourself!). Trying to get a friend or family member on the green wave? Check out the beginner “greenie” gift bag Intro to Green (though with items like a bamboo cutting board, reusable travel mug and envirosax bag, this a gift that anyone would find practical use for - hint, hint friends & fam!) The pre-filled gift baskets mean you don’t have to deal with tedious decision-making. We could all use a lot less of the ‘what should I get them??’ gift-giving grief around the holidays.

Getting ready for Turkey day preparations? The biggest travel day of the year surely makes an enviromental impact ... so here's 6 ways to help you green your Thanksgiving meal:

This Monday November 24th at 6:45 p.m. The Free Library of Philadelphia hosts 'What Septa is Doing to Help the Environment.'

One easy way to live greener is to reduce waste you'd typically kick to the curb. To my friends I'm commonly refered to as "JuleBay." My nickname (derived from being an E-Bay connoisseur) actually symbolizes my aspiration to live green. When I visited my eldest brother in Denver, I thought he was crazy for selling his CDs & movies. But between my iPod, Netflix & local library, why should I keep a storage facility in my humble abode when mostly everything's on-demand? Therefore, I jumped on the e-Bay bandwagon to rid myself of excess "stuff".