You know about bringing your own mug, but it’s just so…clumsy. And it’s not the right size for the machines your barista uses, so they have to use a different cup when making it, defeating the purpose of you bringing a mug.

Yes, their cups are made from recycled paper, but they’re coated to make them waterproof, heat resistant, etc. Which means they aren’t getting recycled a second time. Compostable? Biodegradable? Possibly, but still, some materials had to be used to make that single use cup. Often more than twice the weight of the resulting cup. And for many, unless you have a professional grade facility at home, composting or biodegrading isn’t going to happen any time soon.

What to do? KeepCup has what may be just the thing:

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Evening Breeze is an interesting solution: It’s a canopy bed that has adjustments for both temperature and humidity, and delivers it quietly, overhead, using only 400 watts. As it’s focused just on the place where coolness is desired, there’s no need to try and cool the whole room. Simple, brilliant. The resulting energy savings can mean 4MWh, $1000 and 2.5 tons of CO2 reduction annually.

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In London, KiosKiosk is a simple, powerful, powerfully fun idea: Create an attractive temporary space for upcoming (but ready to sell) businesses to be at, in a high traffic area. At no cost.

Backed by the London Sustainable Development Commission, businesses just need to submit a brief form describing what they’d like to use the kiosk for, when, and why they are a good idea for the KiosKiosk and vice versa.

While the KiosKiosk is focused on creative/design/arts/music businesses, such an idea could, and should be replicated for green startups, many of which, like any small company, may not have the funds or credit history to get a full fledged, full time space. Since there is no rent to pay, this could also be used by companies to create, say, memorable experiences and activities out of the space, of lasting promotional value and social media worthy mentions, growing their online business, for example.

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These two are as they say peas in a pod, technology enhanced life(style) enhancements, for a demographic that I imagine likes that they get to both have what they want, when they want it, and do good by the planet at the same time.

Impressing your friends in the bargain is a fine dessert.

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The Shred Stop seems to have hit on an idea that both integrates with the rest of people’s lives and does a better job then a personal size shredder could do, with a higher degree of environmental sensitivity.

It’s simple: locate them in grocery stores and other places that already have coin counting machines, charge $2/minute for shredding, able to do it much faster than your usual home/small biz shredder, and you’re able to quickly get done what would either not get done, where you’re already going anyway, or would otherwise take much more of your valuable time.

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Three friends decided to find out. As they put it,

Mandy, Ryan and Brady are ‘bikepacking’ 12,000 miles to the East Coast and back to California, using solar-powered electronics and leg-powered bicycles.  The result is a feature-length documentary film that will present a realistic experience of seeking out and living in sustainable community.

Started October 2008 and 3800 miles into it as of this writing (with 209 PB&J’s consumed if you must know) they have been filming and Twittering their way across to country, giving a peek into what it looks, feels, and works like to live in sustainable, intentional community, the end result being a film called Within Reach.

It’s clear that these people are 21st century environmentalists - they don’t shun businesses supporting their venture, and in fact proudly list their sponsors on the front page, all of which bear relevance with what they’re doing. This project is Creative Commons licensed, and they are a non profit, allowing for people to support their journey and the making of it into a film afterwords.

So what have they found?

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Don’t get me wrong, magic has been made and minds blown with just Powerpoint and a good presentation. I don’t know about you, but how many times do you find yourself thinking, “I have something to add to what they’re saying,” or “Gah! I wish they’d do a session on *this* topic!”

Green Business Camp, done for the first time a few weeks back in South San Francisco at the Green V Sustainable Center, a creative reinvention of a former car dealership site, may be just the antidote you’re seeking. It’s what they call an “unconference.” As in the opposite of all the trappings of your usual conference.

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3rdWhale is a bridge between talk and action, with an iPhone app that allows you to search for green businesses in proximity to you, plus submit your own finds that aren’t already on there, all listings filtered by 3rd Whale and then rated by users, ala Yelp. An Android version is on its way.

But here’s where it gets interesting: As seen first in Mother Nature Network 3rd Whale are joining forces with Creative Citizen, a hub for crowdsourced, specifically measurable sustainable choices. Each is broken down to how much energy, waste, water, emissions you’ve saved, and in what I think will help it bridge to a broader segment of the population, money. When you have this kind of clearly tangible benefit laid out for you, and it’s on something that you carry with you, action is much for likely.

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Newspapers and magazines play a part, but with their shrinking staffs, it’s a smaller role by the day. Blogs? Definitely, it’s where people with the freedom and foresight to look broader, more critically, think more bravely share what they’re observing, researching, and wanting your feedback on. Microblogging sites such as Twitter take the time frame even more immediate, currently breaking.

But, you may be asking, where do I find the time to go to all these sources? A fair question, one which a tool like Feedly handily integrates all together in one place, allowing for you to easily interact with both your information and the people talking about it.

The next question you may have is, how do I even find what I need to keep track of in the first place amongst all this big swirling pot of information? And how do I know what’s best?

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Some people feel that advertising is garbage. London based Curb advertises with garbage. And sea water. And snow.

Calling themselves “The Natural Media Company,” Curb create advertising based on natural elements, the most recent being for the London Aquarium utilizing “sea tagging,” which is using sea water and a stencil to create temporary ads on the sidewalk. Sea water evaporates more slowly then water, but being a completely natural substance, no permit is needed to do it.

Another water based innovation is what they call H2Show, where a waterfall is somehow able to be manipulated to display words, logos, and images, and even accept text messages to display different words.

Crop carving, once the province of aliens and pranksters, is now being put to use in  a smart way, as in their Shredded Wheat logo carved out of, yes, a wheat field.

In the clearest example of green marketing I’ve heard of,

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With the focus being shifted to creating a vehicle that meets people’s needs in conjunction with other modes of transport, the experience of driving it enhanced by currently useful information, and the profit centered on the services rather than the product itself, this is a radical shift from tightly reigned intellectual property, proprietary after market parts, and a rather slow development curve when it comes to becoming a truly green car.

The thinking about and creation of the c,mm,n car is being done both online and in person, with the three c,mm,n garages happening so far. 800+ people are on their wiki, with 80 actively participating in conception and design at the moment.

What’s the actual car like?

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B Cycle is the marriage of the concept of car sharing, as exemplified by Zipcar and the like, but even more simplified for instant gratification, with an attractive retro futuristic solar powered docking station, coupled with additional information to give greater substance to the experience of using a bike, like how many calories you burned and how much carbon you offset vs. driving your car.

B Cycle has yet to launch, and they’re using the web to do some of their market research for them while encouraging demand and perhaps evangelism by people wanting to get it in their area:

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White Lines factory reuses their carbon emissions in a closed loop, making for zero CO2 emissions, for one. Then they offset what they can’t reuse (transportation, etc) via planting trees in Africa, as coordinated by environmental consultancy U&W (interestingly pronounced “You & We” in Swedish) The wood used for the paper comes from locally sourced, sustainably managed forests, and woodchip waste from sawmills. And every package tells you the precise carbon footprint, the materials traced back to the source.

And then it gets interesting.

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The founders of Ecostore, a New Zealand based company, now with an American division based in Michigan, saw quite directly why using the usual cleaning products has an impact: They lived on a eco village where each of them was responsible for dealing with their waste water. When it didn’t just go down the pipe, out of sight, out of mind, but they directly saw the effect it was having on their pristine waterways, the need was apparent and the incentive there to do something about it.

Greater visibility of the impact of your choices is something I think many more people should experience. People generally aren’t purposely irresponsible in their choices, they just don’t know any better because of “invisible” impacts.

They set about finding people to help them create plant based, toxins free cleaners that would still be as effective as the conventional options, minus the petroleum and synthetics based ingredients that can have a negative effect both on the environment and the people that use them. Being rapidly biodegradable was also a priority.

One might think that the main people buying this were more green skewed people. But according to Ecostore,

“…testimonials from other parents (many of whom were unaware of the benefits of eco-friendly products) began to pour in with wonderful news of their children’s allergies and eczema clearing up. Many noted that any respiratory issues were healing, and many lingering chronic conditions were disappearing.”

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Not something your run of the mill backpacker “eco adventure” travel agency would do. But then, Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel’s main focus as  a business is to raise funds for high impact non profits around the world, through the vehicle of memorable, powerful travel experiences, spending substantial time with local people in the regions you visit. Real, meaningful interactions, rather then pre packaged tourist shows. And at the same time you get a superbly accommodated trip.

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For those that choose the second option, there are several interesting paths to follow, and many places to find ideas to inspire which one you choose. Springwise is my favorite, with thousands of trend spotters around the world, writing brief, engaging pieces on companies expanding what’s possible. For quick scanning, they’re categorized by type, as in Eco & Sustainability, Style & Design, Non-profit & Social Cause, and Life Hacks.

This piece on Scout Books, sustainably made custom designed journals created for what Springwise calls “minipreneurs” is one example. Though this article was focused on how Pinball Publishing enables ecologically minded artists and innovative swag seekers to create high quality journals to their specifications in a relatively small run, suitable for selling on Etsy stores and the like, it was when I looked further at Pinball itself that I saw a dynamic business model well suited for these times.

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g Green Design Center may be just the ticket.

Begun in Massachusetts, they’ve now created a franchise program for the budding ecopreneurist, where someone with the passion can put the backing of someone already doing it, together with what will increasingly become a known name for such stores.

The flagship g store has a host of green building/design services from interior and architectural design to eco events.

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In a miraculously concise statement of purpose, they say, “Our singular goal as a company is to take the complexity out of home energy.”

How do they do that?

Through telling their own stories. Exploring what’s going on out there. Teaching you how to best do it yourself. And know when it’s time to bring in a professional.

Then, armed with knowledge, encouragement, and others to identify with, they have a store full of ways to put talk into action.  My antennae went up when I saw they sell space heaters. Seeming to know this would be an issue, they have a quick, fun video in their blog entry YES! Sometimes an Electric Space Heater Makes Sense.

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The front page has pleasing images of piles of soft, fuzzy fabric and clothing, made from what it describes as, “…a 100% natural fiber product made from 60% merino wool and 40% paihamu spun together to make a premium cashmere-like fabric that is softer, warmer, and lighter than plain wool.” Sounds good so far, right?

My eyebrow started to cock when I read a seemingly throwaway sentence, without a connecting justification for it: “Eco-friendly and practical - talk about a great way to reduce, reuse and recycle.”

Going to the Ecological Profile page to learn more, I was surprised to read what I can say is the most unique claim to being sustainable I’ve seen in a while - Basically, by killing them for their fur, they are helping restore ecological balance on New Zealand.

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Such was the case for Evernote. It seemed so promising - a place to hold and make searchable all the random bits and pieces of your life, work, business. But for me, Delicious, with it’s simple interface and singularity of focus - tag enhanced bookmarking - fit and continues to fit the bill. For me.

And yet, last night when the internet was out, I began looking through the things I’d collected on Evernote - images of business cards, email articles from the network of Presidio, the sustainable MBA program I’m a graduate of, bits of wisdom from the web on management, and clips from articles I’d found about an advance in nighttime storage/alternate use of solar technology - all of which got me inspired to create new possibilities in my business, GreenSmith Consulting.

But it was the final, earliest note, that brought it all together.

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