The excuses to drink in this town get hard to track, what with TechBrew sessions by Technology Association of Iowa, dsm Magazine unveilings, the Greater Des Moines Partnership annual dinner, and now the trek toward sustainability.

Adam Hammes, whose work on sustainability has been featured in various Business Publications Corp. products, has set up a series of gatherings called Green Drinks. These are networking events for people from academia, government and business who are interested in the environment. The Des Moines session will be 5:30 to 7 p.m. Feb. 22 at Peace Tree Brewing Co. Other sessions will be in Cedar Falls and Iowa City. 

Hammes is using the gatherings to release his second book, “Sustainable Business in Iowa: How Leading Companies Profit from Environmental and Social Responsibility.” The book comes out Feb. 23 and will be free on Kindle and discounted on Amazon for the first week. 

The book is a primer on defining and implementing successful corporate sustainability programs. Over 30 Iowa for-profit businesses have their initiatives highlighted in chapter case studies, including Barilla America, Frontier Co-op, Principal, Sky Factory, Workiva and West Liberty Foods. 

Hammes is executive director of the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum, an association that shares best practices, and he teaches about sustainability at the University of Iowa.