Life of the Party: Sustainability Conversation Starters

If you have read self-help books or have seen helpful tips on mastering the party mingle, you may already know that ‘awareness’ is one of the common suggestions. Authors of this advice suggest reading up on local news and events to stimulate and engage in party conversation. As a sustainability consultant, I agree and suggest focusing your efforts to expand your eco awareness.

With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are planning to attend or even host our own holiday party. If you are like many, the thought of attending that same old holiday party may not be all that exciting. Most of us would like to engage in pleasant and interesting conversation but can often find that to be a challenge. So this year why not leverage ‘sustainability’ as the ultimate conversation starter?

At this year’s Christmas or New Year’s holiday party, take the opportunity to engage others in sustainability conversation. Spice up the discussion with some personal topics of eco awareness. Any one of the typical party conversations can be a segway into an exploration of sustainability concepts.

•    Want to talk about the weather? Grow that typical conversation about local weather patterns into an expanding discussion about climate change. Take the lead and solicit opinions about global warming, pollution, emissions, or a host of other environmental issues and opportunities related to the weather.

•    Want to talk about work? Turn that uninspiring workplace problem into an exploration of business sustainability solutions. Leverage those issues into a discussion of business innovation, operational efficiencies, or exciting new technologies.

•    Want to talk about family and children? Explore conversations about green living, eco travel, or fun green activities for the kids.

•    Want to talk about projects around the house? There is a number of topics to choose from, either though personal experience or thoughts of doing in the future. As a starter, energy efficiency is always a conversation starter for home improvement projects and appliance upgrades.

Have fun with it, see where the conversation goes, and applaud yourself for mingling sustainably and sharing eco awareness with others!