Green Drinks

GAWAY’S environmental issues and local community have been discussed at the last Green Drinks meeting  on Thursday evening at Kelly's bar.

“I go to the countryside every day and every day I see dead animals,” said Brendan Smith, Community Outreach Officer at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) in Galway.

 “We have killed something we were proud of in Ireland,” added Smith. He showed pictures of the pollution on the Galway coast and in the surrounding woods in his presentation. Smith said the nationwide recycling programme needs to be improved to reduce the amount of bottles and cans that are thrown into nature.

Once a month Smith mobilises for cleaning up parks and gets the local schools involved in the project. “To me it is important that there is a sense of local community,” added Smith. Furthermore, the environmentalist offers guided cycling tours through Galway to show the participants the “beautiful countryside within the city boundaries”. 

Photo: bostongreenblog.blogspot.com

Smith believes we should concentrate on getting young people involved in technology science for a sustainable future.  “To me technology has damaged the planet so much but also technology is going to be what can save it,” stated the researcher during his presentation.

According to Smith the City Council has recently agreed to reactivate the Terryland Forest Park. He said there are always opportunities for people with various interests to get involved in one of the projects. Smith wants to combine technology and environmental issues with the local community and Ireland’s cultural heritage.  

The community activist went back into Galway’s history and talked about the Hippie culture in the 60s and the anti-war movement he took part in. “I have seen Galway grown from a very small town to what it is now,” said Brendan Smith. The community activist was accused of promoting the use of condoms in the 80s. He thinks the town has changed a lot since he started studying in collage and said it is more difficult nowadays to develop strong community bonds outside of school.  

When asked where he takes his motivation from for keeping up with all of his activities over so many years Smith answered; “I try to make it a better place before I leave.”  

Green Drinks is a monthly event in about 450 cities around the world and organised by Transition Galway. People who are interested in environmental issues get together for drinks, discussions and socializing. The organisation wants to make aware of the diminishing oil and gas supplies, climate change and the importance of community based activities.

Besides Green Drinks the initiative organises film screenings and workshops in Galway. The main project is a community garden in the city centre which has been created in cooperation with the Spirit Centre in Galway.