Green Delaware is hosting a "Green Drinks" social hour at Chelsea Tavern.

This will take place Tuesday, April 19th, from 6-8 pm.   Chelsea Tavern is in Wilmington, across from the Grand Opera House.  There is little info about these "Green Drinks" nights on Green Delaware's websites, but I take it that these are social networking events for individuals interested in environmental issues, and companies that make "green" products in Delaware. 

Okay, a little off-the-cuff editorial on socially-concious organizations in Delaware:  so often, they seem to be run by businesses, corporations, or local government.  Yes they do some good by spreading the word about causes or areas that could use more support in Delaware, but when digging just under the surface you realize it's mainly about bringing more money to business. 

For example, a Wilmington revitalization group is run by the national Buccini Pollin company, which owns a lot of condos and retail space in Wilmington that it needs to fill.  Most of the 'arts' websites in Wilmington are run by Wilmington city government.   A so-called community page on Facebook titled "Pike Creek" turns out to be little more than an advertising vehicle for a single real estate office. This Green Delaware organization, which at first looked to me like a group of people who are interested in environmental issues, is actually a group of businesses banding together to get the word out about their products.

As a new blogger, I can't ignore these organizations, because they do accomplish a lot of good, but I'd like to find more grassroots efforts to cover.  By this I mean groups run by individuals with no monetary goal in mind.   It just seems that group after group that I uncover and add to my "watch list" turns out to be business or government-led.  Where are the scenes formed by people who don't own businesses or run cities; who just want to create awareness of a cause or area out of conscious or love for same?  Call me naive if you want, but these scenes exist in other cities.  And I'm exxagerating a little - there are a few such entities here in Delaware.   But it does make me uneasy that a lot of the material I have to work with so far boils down to business and government interest.    Which isn't to say that Green Delaware, Wilmington Revitalization, or WilmINgton Arts are bad.  I just would like to temper my support of these organizations with true community-led groups, for balance.  That is my challenge.