About Us

Our Mission

To build an engaged South Florida green community of individuals and business owners through networking, online outreach, and special events.

South Florida Green Drinks Board: (from top left clockwise) Doug Pacht, David Etzler, Lindsay Calkins, Clint Malson, Yalmaz Siddiqui, Brooke Ahrens, Marci Zaroff, Rachel Fulton, Mike Wallander.We have a lively mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business.  It’s a great way to network, collaborate and make good things happen, both professionally and for the environment.  These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.

Every month South Florida professionals from a range of backgrounds that share a common interest in the environment meet up for a drink at informal sessions known as Green Drinks.

Southfloridagreendrinks.org is here to help you find green drinks gatherings in your area, help you connect with the greater South Florida green community, and provide you with other information about being “green.”

This website is brought to you by South Florida Green Drinks, Inc., a non-profit corporation, which represents the West Palm Beach and Boca Raton/Delray Beach areas.  Web design and development was kindly donated by Letterbox Studios.

 

Current Board Members

Chairman/President

Marci Zaroff

Marci Zaroff is co-founder & Chairman of South Florida Green Drinks. Having coined the term (in 1996) and pioneered the market for ECOfashion® ~ the fusion of style and sustainability ~ Ms Zaroff is an internationally recognized expert, visionary & public speaker of green business and organic/sustainable fashion. Marci is the Founder & former CEO/President of Under the Canopy and is currently launching FASE (Fashion-Art-Soul-Earth), a new cutting-edge ECOfashion lifestyle brand.

In 1989, Marci received a degree from UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School, then co-founded a thriving educational center in NYC with an AVEDA spa, organic café & magazine, known today as “The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.” Marci has been a dedicated green consumer, ECOentrepreneur & educator for over two decades and is a Director and/or Advisor on several industry Boards including the Organic Exchange, the AllergyKids Foundation, Transfair USA, Sustainable Brands International & Teens Turning Green.

Marci helped define the USA/Global Organic Fiber Standards and has spearheaded first time organic fiber initiatives with the nation’s leading retailers including Whole Foods, Target & Macy's. Recipient of the Natural Product Industry's “Socially Responsible Business Award”, New York Moves "Power Woman Award" and the Aspen Institute's "Henry Crown Fellowship", as well as numerous other accolades, Marci is featured extensively in major TV & print media and had the recent honor of introducing former Vice President Al Gore to South Florida.

 

Vice Chairman

Yalmaz Siddiqui

Yalmaz Siddiqui is Office Depot’s Director of Environmental Strategy. He is responsible for directing the company on development and integration of a wide range of environmental programs into the global organization. Office Depot’s industry-leading environmental programs span all parts of the company - from the supply chain (buying green) to internal operations (being green), to business and consumer markets (selling green). Siddiqui’s role includes improving the understanding of environmental issues and opportunities among suppliers, associates and customers. His goal is to help improve the environmental performance of Office Depot and its range of stakeholders.
Siddiqui also oversees Office Depot’s five-year, $2.2 million Forest & Biodiversity Conservation Alliance (www.forestryalliance.org), which develops critical information, standards and tools for global forest and biodiversity conservation. The Alliance is Office Depot’s collaboration with Conservation International, NatureServe and The Nature Conservancy, three of the world’s most respected science-based conservation organizations.

Siddiqui came to Office Depot in April of 2006 from IBM Business Consulting Services in Canada where he was a Senior Consultant in Customer Relationship Management, and author of the first global study on environmental procurement of wood and paper products. Before joining IBM, Siddiqui was a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he focused on the forest, paper and packaging industries.

Siddiqui holds a Master’s Degree in Environment & Development from Cambridge University in England, and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing & International Business from McGill University in Canada.

 

David Etzler

David is an entrepreneur, eco-enthusiast, and event producer with a long track record of starting up and managing profitable events. Through his company, BusinessEvents, LLC, David produces trade shows, conferences and global trade missions all over the world.

David’s newest event venture, The Living Green Fair, combines his event production experience with his personal passion for Green ideas. With this fair, he will give back to the community by educating average families and business owners on how to live a Greener, healthier and more environmentally sustainable lifestyle. The Living Green Fair is the largest Green themed event in the South Florida Region, with over 10,000 attendees expected over three days at Mizner Park, Boca Raton, FL.

David also owns and operates OutsourceWorld, LLC, a company that produces trade shows, trade missions, content and specialized events for the global sourcing industry. Primarily focused on business services, the Global Sourcing Forum + Expo is their premier event. This conference and thought leadership forum is designed for business leaders charged with gaining a competitive advantage, strengthening their organization, and increasing profit margins. This event has become an important meeting place where buyers and sellers of global business services converge to network, learn, and close business.

This event brings academic resources, thought leaders, over 1,000 sourcing executives, and 135 global suppliers from more than 25 countries to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City over two days. Besides Fortune 1000 firms, it also has a special focus on mid market multinational companies that are increasingly challenged to grow to the next level.

Before founding BusinessEvents, LLC, David founded BDI, (www.bdionline.com) and served as a senior sales & Business Development executive for Vitts Networks, Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) and IDT (NYSE: IDT). David is a board member of the Strategic Forum, A board member of the South Florida Sister Cities International, the Treasurer of the Boca Falls Homeowners Association, and a member of the West Boca Community Council. David resides in Boca Raton, Florida with his wife Allison, his two children, Russell and Abigail and his third kid - a saltwater aquarium.

 

Doug Pacht

Entrepreneurial sales executive with over 10 years of marketing and business development experience .

Proven closer with a history of exceeding quota and making a positive impact on any sales team. Experienced in all phases of the sales cycle: prospecting, lead generation, product demonstrations, closing techniques and legal/contract negotiations.

In 2007 Doug helped start the Citrix Green Team which was started as a grassroots effort by a small group of passionate Citrix employees who wanted to make his company a truly green place to work.

Since then, the Citrix Green Team has accomplished a lot — from small actions like the addition of water filters in every break room to significantly cutting our waste in their restaurant. Doug has also developed a Green Team Sponsored Employee Volunteer Day which provides commuting alternatives to all employees.  This Green Team has grown into a group of more than 100 Citrix employees in over 6 countries, all supporting environmental causes in their regions. When not greening Citrix from the inside out, Doug can be found running, biking, playing tennis or traveling.

 

Brooke Ahrens

Brooke is a project engineer for HDR Engineering, Inc. in West Palm Beach, FL and specializes in water resources planning and permitting, ecosystem restoration, wetland ecology, water quality, and construction management.  Brooke is responsible for supporting Everglades Restoration Project planning, design, permitting, and construction, and is passionate about getting these water resources elements into operations in order that they can contribute to the environmental enhancement process immediately.  She is also involved in projects that evaluate water conservation measures within infrastructure and water quality analysis tools. 

She holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Clemson University and before finishing her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Michigan Technological University, spent 2 years as a water sanitation engineer with the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, where she was responsible for conceiving, obtained funding for, and managing a borehole pump installation project in a village of 500 people to counteract the effects of cholera.  She has also authored and revised frequent technical briefs in order to assist Peace Corps staff and private sanitation organizations in wastewater and solid waste management and latrine design.  Her latest involvement to sustainable engineering in the developing world was contributing writings to a textbook entitled, “Field Guide to Environmental Engineering for Development Workers:  Water, Sanitation, and Indoor Air,” which will serve as a textbook for future appropriate engineering technology volunteers abroad. 

Her interests in all things green range from water and energy conservation to recycling and sustainability and began in the 1980s when the deforestation of the rainforests were making public headlines.  Brooke is a vegetarian and mother of daughter, Tyndell, and her free time is spent researching new recipes, reading, gardening, enjoying movies, playing with her two English Springer Spaniels, painting, and kayaking.  She first began her involvement with Green Drinks in the summer of 2007 when a friend in New York City suggested finding a local green group to network with and find like-minded professionals – luckily the green corridor of South Florida was just getting started as South Florida Green Drinks!

 

 

Michael Wallander

Michael Wallander, J.D., LL.M., is Founder and President of both Sustainable Law Counsel, P.A., the first law firm focusing primarily on representing clients in the sustainability space, as well as The Kapok Group, a management consulting firm effectively serving as an incubator of sustainable companies and projects.  Previously, Mike was a corporate and securities attorney with one of the largest law firms in the world where he provided strategic sustainability advice to clients across sectors -- entrepreneurs, governments, non-profit organizations, and public and private companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies.  Mike is a frequent speaker and teacher on aspects of the developing global carbon markets.  With a longstanding interest in market-based incentives for promoting corporate environmental leadership, Mike studied the intersection of sustainability with the securities laws and received his LL.M. degree in Securities and Financial Regulation, with distinction, from Georgetown University.  Prior to that, Mike obtained his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and his B.A. from the University of Florida.  When he is not spending time with his wife, Amy, and sons, Jack and Leo, Mike is actively involved in the local Palm Beach County and broader sustainability communities. 

 

 

Lindsay Calkins

Dr. Lindsay Calkins is originally from Ludlow, Massachusetts. She attended Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT for her undergraduate studies. She graduated a full year early, receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics Cum Laude, while also completing all pre-med requirements.

She went on to National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL for her Chiropractic education. NUHS is one of the most renowned chiropractic colleges in the world, and has set the standard for education in integrative medicine for over a century. Dr. Calkins completed all graduation requirements a full trimester early, and that gave her the opportunity to participate in multiple externships across the country. In 2006, Dr. Calkins received her Doctor of Chiropractic degree, after four years of education and training.

Dr. Calkins‘ clinical experience began days after she graduated, when she was practicing in an MD/DC/PT clinic in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. A year later she moved to South Florida where she worked one-on-one for a year and a half with the official Chiropractic physician for the USA Triathlon Team. Dr. Calkins moved to the Fort Lauderdale area and opened Living Green Chiropractic & Wellness out of her desire to help people feel well and to help the environment. Dr. Calkins is an avid sports fan, especially football and baseball. She tries to visit at least one new ballpark every year. She also enjoys photography and loves to travel.

Dr. Calkins has numerous certifications above and beyond her Doctor of Chiropractic degree. She holds certifications in the following techniques/procedures:

• Graston Technique
• Kinesio-Taping
• Foot Orthotics (Sole Supports)
• Webster Technique 

 

Rachel Fulton

Rachel Fulton is currently the Assistant Controller and Director of Environmental Practices for the DoubleTree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center in Palm Beach Gardens.  While her main responsibilities at the hotel involve managing the finances, she also volunteered to begin a recycling program.  Heading up this project led her to organizing a “Green Team” that met every month for a year and worked hard to obtain the prestigious designation as a Certified Florida Green Lodging Property in November of 2008.  During that year Rachel discovered Green Drinks and was even featured in the first newspaper article about the organization.  Her passion for all things environmental was ignited in her birth city, Boulder, CO.  While Rachel believes every effort toward sustaining the environment is important, her main interest lies in recycling along with, finding and using, alternative energy sources.  She is also a big advocate for open space and preserving nature.  In her free time you can find her somewhere outside – whether it is kayaking, rollerblading, snorkeling, gardening, or sitting on the beach reading a book.  Rachel also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and The Lord’s Place, a homeless shelter in West Palm Beach.  In 2006 Rachel earned her private pilots license and when she flies over West Palm Beach she thinks “we need more trees”.

 

Clint Malson

Clint Malson is currently the Senior Web Designer for Citrix and a part of the Citrix Green Team. Aside from his full-time roll at Citrix, Clint is also the co-owner of Eco Womb, a eco-based local business that focuses on safe, family and eco-friendly products such as cloth diapers, Maya wrap slings, eco-friendly soaps, Vermont made maple wood toys and more. While not working at Citrix or changing cloth diapers, The Malson family is on the road spreading the message of alternative fuels and sustainable living in their veggie powered RV.

 

Vaughn Lazar

Vaughan Lazar is a change agent and eco-entrepreneur who is the President and Co-Founder of Pizza Fusion, a national chain of organic restaurants that are highly regarded for their sustainability efforts. He plays an intricate role with the marketing, communications, and environmental stewardship of Pizza Fusion as well as the creative direction, branding, and strategic positioning of the chain. His environmental vision for Pizza Fusion has been considered trail-blazing for the restaurant industry and has garnered Pizza Fusion the title of the “Greenest Restaurant in America” by several publications and organizations.  Vaughan currently sits on the board of the National Restaurant Association’s “Conserve Action Council” along with executives from brands like Starbucks, Chipotle, Subway, and McDonalds.  He is considered an industry expert in restaurant sustainability and resource conservation and was recently featured in a documentary on The Sundance Channel on restaurant sustainability. 

In 2008 Vaughan co-founded The Little Sprout Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps develop environmental education programs for children. Their “Green Bikes for Tikes” yearly fundraiser has been a huge success by repurposing donated bicycles to be gifted to under-privileged children.  He also contributes a significant amount of his time and resources to assist Autism Speaks, The Leukemia Lymphoma Society and The Surfrider Foundation.  He also is the co-founder of The Fusion Extreme Team as well as a Director of the Shaun Foley Foundation

Vaughan serves on the steering and planning committee of The Wyland Green Living Fair and is also on the planning committee for the restaurant industry’s annual “Fast Casual Executive Summit” & “Pizza Executive Summit”.  He is an active member of The Organic Trade Association, Slow Food USA, Green America and The USGBC.

Originally from Newport, Rhode Island, Vaughan attended Florida Atlantic University and has been a resident of Boca Raton for 18 years.  When he’s not chasing waves and snowboarding, you can find him running marathons or working on his organic garden.

Prior to his life at Pizza Fusion, Vaughan co-founded a boutique design and marketing firm, Stellar Concepts & Design, where he served as their Chief Marketing Officer and Creative Director. Some of their clients included Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Yamaha, The Superbowl, Versace and Pizza Fusion.