Boston Green Mixer Debuts with Festive Eco-Mingling on Newbury

The first-ever Green Mixer in Boston was held last Thursday, March 18th, from 5pm – 11pm at Cafeteria Restaurant on Newbury Street. Organized by Sylvia Rozwadowska, the event was a big success– bringing together local, sustainable-minded businesses with conscientious, eco-Bostonians of all ages in a very festive atmosphere. DJ-music, organic cocktails and complementary appetizers flowed, as people mixed, mingled and learned from one another about how they were changing the face of business through their sustainability-driven missions.

Each company who wanted to also gave a short talk on their company and how it was sustainable. A selection of the companies included:

MONTAGUE showcased its very cool, foldable Montague Boston Bike. Apparently this is the world’s first full-size single-speed folding bike, designed by a MIT Grad no less, and even named after our city.

FLEURI announced its launch an eco-elegant floral and garden design concept, and showed some gorgeous floral design arrangements.

CABOT pleased the crowds with a yummy cheese tasting throughout the evening (stationed right next to the bar). Cabot Creamery is run as a coop with several hundred participating farms in the New England area.

ZIPCAR presented their new super cool iPhone app that not only allows zipsters to reserve their Zipcars but also give them the option to open and close the car remotely by using the iPhone. We were reminded however to keep our Zipcards with us at all times as well– in case our phones lose battery.

BIRDSWELL (a new Boston-area company) just launched their new surf organic cotton (and Made in USA) Tee collection and showcased examples at the event. They are starting to take off among all the surf shops in the area, and are now beginning to expand to other parts of the country. Go Birdswell!

JUTE AND JACKFRUIT Founder, Shana talked about JJF’s mission– Smart, Sustainable and Chic, and the ways in which we are environmentally focused (e.g. sourcing all organic and recycled fabrics, being a member of One Percent for the Planet, donating to Massachusetts environmental non-profits and a member of Green America). We also shared how our social impact is a core part of our mission– supporting women artisans and designers both here in the United States as well as around the world.

We displayed our Escama handbags (made out of recycled soda pull tabs), Engage Greens (made out of recycled soda bottles), Nahui Ollins, and Be Sweet handbags (made out recycled Tshirts), as well as some of our newest Prairie Underground clothing (organic cotton, Made in Seattle), Stewart and Brown and Feral Childe (Pocket cardigan shown on Shana above, along with the Lederhosen leggings and Smock Tee).

We especially enjoyed meeting Dan from the Boston Green Scene , the AnywearGirl.com  – Boston team as well as all the Northeastern students who came by and were so interested in sustainability and social impact.

A big thank you to Sylvia , and all her helpers, including Taro Muso, who did a terrific job MC’ing the event, and Cafeteria for hosting. We’re already looking forward to the next green mixer event in Boston, and if you missed this one, stay tuned for more.

Photos top: Founder, Shana Yansen and model and writer for Jute and Jackfruit, Julie Finkel