Come ‘Down to Earth’ with Green Initiatives and the Community

It's a brand new year. It's winter. And it’s Shanghai - wet, cold and often, gloomy. Could there be a better time to get together, celebrate and inspire each another? And through music?

Join Green Initiatives for our annual gathering this Friday, 10 January, at Haworth Furnitures, Shanghai, for a musical evening, as we celebrate our 11th year in operations. 

It’s also a reason to bring our community together to express our gratitude for bringing us this far. It’s also an opportunity for us to share our vision and plans for the future, how we hope to achieve greater impact through our work, and how you and/or your organizations can support us in collective change.

Our Work So Far

Since our inception Green Initiatives has hosted 700+ activities in China, mostly in Shanghai but also in Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Beijing, attended by over 35,000 people. These include:

• 112 film screenings
• 126 monthly sustainability forums
• 74 weekly yoga sessions, and
• a number of talks, workshops and field trips for companies, schools and universities

In 2019 alone we organized in 144 events, including 43 weekly yoga sessions. While many have wondered "why yoga", we have believed that healthy mind, healthy body and healthy relationships are all interconnected.

And it all starts with the SELF.

Our Journey in Brief

15 January 2009

Green Drinks China (GDC) organized its very first monthly eco-networking event at the URBN Hotel, China's first carbon neutral hotel. Began curating monthly sustainability forums with experts on a wide range of environmental topics.

14 December 2013

Green Drinks rebranded to Green Initiatives. Focus on being more action-oriented + impact-focused, driven largely by the community.

9 January 2019

Green Initiatives celebrates 10-year anniversary at URBN Hotel Shanghai, the very place it all first began.

10 January 2020

Green Initiatives 11-year anniversary, and sharing of the new phase of Green Initiatives’ environmental journey in China and beyond.

Small is Beautiful – GI’s 10 Year Anniversary Gathering

In January 2019 we organized our special gathering to celebrate 10 years in Shanghai. We were joined by nearly 200 individuals who turned up on a gloomy, rainy day in Shanghai to celebrate with us at the beautiful URBN Hotels & Resorts, the very place it all began for us 10 years ago.

Green Initiatives Next: 2020 and Beyond

We believe that the time is now right for us to take the next step. Towards scaling up our size and impact, through deepening our engagement both with the community as well businesses.

On Friday we will briefly share our repositioning and plans for the future.

Earth Speaks, Earth Listens

“The earth has its music for those who will listen!”

Music engages our emotions, imagination, and intelligence and promotes wellbeing and social cohesion. Music connects people. Music heals. Music empowers.

Curious to explore the link between music and environment, Green Initiatives hosted our first musical experience, Earth Speaks, Earth Listens, on 19 October 2019, with 5 talented musicians, including Bone Lhamo Kyap and John Lee, who will also be playing at the 10 January event.

The event was attended by nearly 90 people and raised over 6000rmb for Kuychi Runa, a Charity that focuses on cultural and environmental conservation in Peru. Those who attended were left speechless and inspired. We knew we had to do it again.

Down to Earth

From Shanghai’s warmest winter to the Australian bushfires, from cyclones in Mozambique to severe water crisis in world’s major cities – the planet is in crisis. We seem to forget that we need Mother Earth more than she needs us. And we need to be humble and respect the environment and all it entails.

Come Down to Earth with us and our inspiring musicians on Friday, 10 January 2020, 18:30 onwards, at the beautiful Haworth Furniture space in Jingan Kerry Center.

Thanks to the support of several sponsors and partners, we will serve wine, beer, whisky, coconut water, fruits, delicious nut butter snacks, vegetarian pork dishes, pizzas, and several middle eastern appetizers.

The event is free to attend; RSVP required.

About the Musicians

Inen Vai (Ricardo Meza) is a Pampamisayoc of the Andean Inca tradition of Perú. He is also a Mindfulness Coach, Reiki Practitioner, Bio-magnetism Therapist, MBSR Program Coach, and extremely gifted musician who plays multiple instruments. Ricardo radiates loving, warm and positive energy all through his inner and outer self and is always looking to be useful to his community and people who need his help.

"SREINA", the Band
The ethnic Tribal soul music of SREINA is inspired by Sangemao tribe (an ancient tribe in the South of Gansu) and the Native American spirit. SREINA is admiration for nature, heart yearning for the peace and beauty of life. The members of the SREINA band, Bone Lhamo Kyap, and John Lee are from Gansu on the Tibetan plateau.

Greg Byler began playing guitar after graduating from high school. Self-taught from several guitar instruction books, a classical music theory textbook, and a deep well of pain, he soon began writing songs. With very little exposure to popular music as a child and with no guidance, his style grew free from the influence of established genres and song forms, following instead an inner sensibility.

Support the Event and Our Musicians

The event has been kept free to make it more inclusive to all. It is also our way of giving back to the community that supports us all through the year. However, to make this event happen we do have costs to cover. We would also like to support the musicians for their time and talents playing for us all at this event.

Partners & Sponsors

We are sincerely grateful to the following organizations for their financial support of the event.

• Haworth designs and manufactures product solutions that help you create inspiring spaces where people can perform their best—at work, on the go, and at home.
• Z-Rou Meat provides innovative substitutes of meat to enrich the experience in kitchen and restaurants.
• Bayankala is natural skincare brand originating from Shanghai that creates high quality scented products for unique and memorable sensorial experiences.
• Sinclair is an award-winning independent PR, social media, digital and experiential communications agency with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.
• The Andean Apothecary offers different healing services (flower remedies, sound & energy healing) and products for adults and kids.
• NAKED 拿颗酱 is an all-natural nut butter company with a taste for giving back. A portion of the profits are donated to The Paradise Foundation, that works on nature conservation efforts and rural employment in Sichuan Province.
• gre3n provides 100% natural, Thai coconut products in China, including chips, coconut water, oil and other products.
• Khan Chacha is a new Indo-Persian restaurant in Shanghai serving mouth-water Indian and Middle-Eastern food.
• Pizza Street is a pizza delivery and take-out shop with a focus on fresh quality ingredients, and serves a variety of delicious vegetarian and vegan pizzas as well.