Five ways to meet the man (or woman) of your dreams that you haven’t thought about

Love is in the air (and hopefully air that’s not full of carbon emissions!) With climate change becoming more mainstream, “eco networking” is a great way to meet people – whether for business or for finding the man or woman of your dreams. Here are five great places and forums that you may not have considered.

1. Visit a Farmers Market

There is no better way to get to know community than heading to your local farmers’ market. Farmers and shoppers are always keen to share their thoughts and ideas on organic food, cooking and healthy living. Farmers markets serve a vital link between country and city living and is the perfect meeting ground for these disparate worlds.

2. Take a gardening or permaculture course

In these financially tough times, people are spending less time travelling and shopping and putting more effort into family and friends. It also means people are picking up new hobbies and pastimes, such as gardening and permaculture. Permaculture is a great way to get in touch with the environment and understand how to make your lifestyle more holistic and earth friendly. (And what better first impression can you make than with hands coated with rich fertile soil.)

3. Volunteer

Plant a tree, clean a park, raise awareness and meet great people. Community groups are full of enthusiastic, knowledgeable and kind hearted peopled just like yourself! You can volunteer at a number of levels, even if sitting in front of the computer is your thing. (Statistical fact – 90 percent of people who volunteer live longer and have better sex than those who don’t. Actually, we just made that up, but we dare someone to tell us it’s not true!)

4. Green dating goes online

Like everyone else, green dating moves online. Today’s mainstream dating sites, like RSVP have Green Communities and forums. There are also a number of great environmental meetup groups, such as GreenUps, which are specifically for greenies keen to network across the space.

5. Take public transport

Sharing in the public transport experience is a communal journey. Commuters meet and greet each other every morning and relish in the fact that they’re universally opting to go greener. (Or they get in a good whinge about how the bus is always late and traffic always slow, but either way, great conversational opener). Cyclers are also a very tight knit group, if you don’t mind a little bit of perspiration.

Find more great eco friendly living tips from the Green Pages.