One of my friends recently attended the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco and texted me about their awesome green initiatives. From the show. Yes, I’m sort of a nerd for this kind of thing.

We’re all about musicians lightening their footprints around here. According to the folks at Live Earth: “A single concert event can produce as little as 9,000 kilos (close 20,000 lbs) to as much as 90,000 kilos (197,000 lbs) of solid waste in a single day.” That’s a ridiculous amount of waste and doesn’t even take into account things like CO2 emissions from concertgoers driving to the venue or indirect emissions from the food and whatnot.

The folks at Treasure Island Fest set out to do things a little differently. Not only did they have a kickass lineup that’s making me more than a little bit jealous, they implemented all sorts of impressive green initiatives. Check our their greening and sustainability statement:

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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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This is a guest post by Caitlin Sislin, a public interest environmental attorney in Oakland, California and founder of the Transformative Advocacy program of Women’s Earth Alliance.

Barack Obama is committed to slowing and reversing climate change. Environmentally-friendly initiatives such as green jobs are at the center of his economic stimulus plan. So it’s no surprise that Obama’s inauguration will have the smallest “footprint” of any president in history.

>>See Also: Obama Could be Just the Third President to Mention Environment in Inaugural Address

The four-plus million people expected to flood Washington, D.C. in two weeks will be treated to numerous eco-friendly perks:

• For the first time ever, the Environmental Protection Agency will advise event organizers on techniques for throwing a greener party.
• Festivities will include not one, but two carbon-neutral Green Inaugural Balls — one hosted by Al Gore.
• Organic food will be served at official events.
• Bicycle-riders will be treated to valet parking.
• Public restrooms will feature air dryers instead of paper towels.
• Many of the festivities will be lit using energy-efficient bulbs.
• All catered events at the House of Representatives will use compostable or biodegradable plates and utensils.
• A small-wind turbine display from Southwest Windpower and Mariah Power

Environmental groups will also be on hand, working to raise awareness about sustainability among the millions of event attendees. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will hand out used fur coats to homeless people, as well as hot chocolate with soy milk in cups that read “Thank You for Not Wearing Fur!”

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The green them trend isn’t just for their environment, though. Going green helps

reclaim the significance of a rite of passage that has grown to emphasize the lavish party rather than the religious ritual.

The lavish parties might have changed focus, but their price tags can still remain steep. A green bar or bat mitzvah done by a professional planner in LA can run anywhere from $20,000 to $500,000. No, I didn’t add an extra zero there. Of course, those are professionally planned parties, and the price tag doesn’t need to be near that amount.

Kattler Kupetz, an LA green event planner, planned green bat mitzvahs three years ago for her twin daughters and now they have become half of her business. Some of the things she incorporates are:

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I can’t resist a plug for my alma mater, The Thunderbird School of Global Management. (Those of you who keep an eye on who went where to school where, should note that Josh Dorfman, The Lazy Environmentalist is a graduate too!)

For the second year, Thunderbird will be hosting the Annual Sustainable Innovation Summit, a global competition for business school students. Last year, the challenge attracted 118 teams from 59 universities and 15 countries.

Student teams are challenged with developing sustainable innovative business solutions for real-world companies and compete for a $20,000 prize and the title: Global Champions of Sustainable Innovation.

Reflective of the changing manner of education and working groups in the 21^st century teams can be made of students within a single school, within a single major or cross functional teams at different universities. As long as at least one member of the team is currently enrolled in an MBA program or has earned a graduate degree in business; you’re good to go.

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Seminars that go by blockbuster titles - as least for green entrepreneurs - such as “How to manage carbon risk” have authentic learning value.

In our over-wired world, live events are a luxury, an hour or three to feel how much we really love context and contact, not just stoic information glaring out at us from a screen when we’re learning complex stuff - like international carbon trading markets.

More to the point, events are becoming an even more attractive “pull” medium than ever. And, the savvy, green entrepreneur should know how to harness the reputation and client lead potentials of a well-orchestrated event - an eco-friendly supplied event, that is.

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Despite this year’s shortened Hollywood award season and last minute preparations, organizers managed to up the green cred for entertainment’s premier event, the Oscars®.

During the telecast, host Jon Stewart mentioned that the Oscars® had gone green, but didn’t go into any details…I was left wondering, “How green?” A quick trip to the Oscars website revealed a lot of detail. Some initiatives were simple prerequisites for any greening program, such as:

• Recycling collection for glass, paper, metal and plastics
• Use of low-VOC paints in the green room
• Reuse of anything and everything possible after the show, including plants, furniture, and set pieces
• Purchase of paper products containing post-consumer content

Other elements were a bit more interesting:

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