Presented by “nationally-renowned cocktail specialist” Natalie Bovis-Nelsen (who wouldn’t want that job?), Sustainable Sips offers expertise in more than just sustainable ingredients…it’s a primer in alcoholic concoctions. To be held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza’s über-cool X bar, the class offers how-to’s on the ingredients and tools essential for setting up a home bar, creating a well-balanced mixed drink, and even delves into a little cocktail history.

During the class, students will learn to mix four different sustainable cocktails, including a non-alcoholic one. Learning the details on the different cocktail products, including why they are considered organic or biodynamic and how to use them, enables students to create their own signature cocktails. To soak up some of that alcohol, X bar will provide light snacks.

Also known as The Liquid Muse, Bovis-Nelsen is a journalist by training, and “self-proclaimed gourmand, who delights in all things deliciously decadent.” In addition to delighting, she stays abreast of lifestyle, food and drink trends around the world, reviewing liquors and writing articles dedicated to cocktails.

The class will be held on Tuesday, July 24th at 6:30pm. The cost is $27.50 and reservations are required. For more information, contact Bovis-Nelsen at Natalie@theliquidmuse.com or (310) 717-2850.

With more and more organic choices available in the libations department, including Anheuser-Busch’s line of organic beer, maybe drinking isn’t such a bad habit after all.

Editor's note: Since David was only able to spend one day at WINDPOWER 2007, we asked Jessica Jensen, co-founder of Low Impact Living, to offer her take on the rest of the conference. Here are her impressions of Day 2.

Day 2 at WINDPOWER 2007, the national wind energy expo hosted by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) continued to be exciting. With over 400 companies exhibiting and 6000+ visitors, this is by far the largest wind energy conference in the U.S. Yesterday's events focused on the small wind energy market. Small wind is defined as systems producing < 100 KWs. Home wind-power systems typically require 1-10 KW (generated by one turbine) and farms and small businesses can use anywhere between 10-100 KW.

The day started with an excellent session on "Growing the Market for Distributed Wind Energy." Trudy Forsyth of the National Renewable Energy Lab spoke both of very encouraging growth in the small wind market but also about the obstacles to greater growth. Certain states– including California, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts offer strong financial incentives for investment in wind systems and also make the permitting processes navigable.

Many other states, however, do not help make wind an attractive option for consumers and small businesses– even states with progressive solar energy support policies. Andy Kruse, Co-founder of Southwest Wind Power (one of the big firms in the small wind market distribution) commented that, "25 states have significant support for solar– and it's more like 4-5 states on the wind side." He added that SWWP is partnering with another other major US small wind power firm, Bergey Windpower, on lobbying for better policy support in Colorado and Pennsylvania. Almost everyone speaking today heralded the need for better federal and state level incentives to make the investment in small wind technologies appealing to consumers and small businesses– so the lobbyists have their work cut out for them.

Image source: AWEABut even with the policy hurdles still to be overcome, the growth in the small wind industry seems to be very strong. Steve Wilke, Sales & Customer Service for Bergey Windpower, wouldn't share unit or dollar specifics but noted that Bergey is doubling its production capacity this year to meet demand. He cites improved state-level support for financial incentives and growing consciousness about the need for green power alternatives. Bergey’s primary production facility is co-located with the company headquarters in Norman, OK. The company has also recently opened a new manufacturing facility in China. "We're doing a lot of development in China– the demand is huge," he added. Other manufacturers echoed the sentiment that growth is steep in the small wind market both in the US and abroad.

One of the most compelling presentations at the end of day focused on wind energy as a power solution for schools. As it turns out, schools are often ideal candidates for wind power. Schools typically have the land and clearance needed for turbines. They also have access to cheap capital and are comfortable with payback periods in excess of 8-10 years. The market potential for the school segment is massive: there are over 5,000 schools in Texas alone and almost all of them would need systems around 50 KW. Developing this market across the US would not only replace the use of polluting coal-fired plant capacity but would also help to drive down costs in the wind-system manufacturing industry by growing production volume. So tell your kids to ask their principals if they have looked into wind power.

Today was the conference’s last day, so if you were in Los Angeles, we hope you had a chance to stop by. It’s very heartening to see so many companies and people dedicated to renewable energy.

The answer on both questions? Yes and no. My skepticism of the motives of corporations aside, I must admit a bias in favor of the impact that businesses (especially businesses the size of GE) can have on the climate crisis we currently face. However, companies must be able to make a “business case” for green initiatives. In other words, going green has to be profitable for the company. Remember, the three elements of the triple bottom line include profit. Yes, it would be nice if companies made changes to improve their footprint out of a concern for people and the environment, and a few companies do just that, but the business world is not designed to reward such behavior. To get a critical mass of companies on board, profit must be achievable.

Apparently, GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt feels the same way. His new mantra is “green is green,” meaning that green business equals green money. This could not be more true for GE. According to their May 24th press release, “Revenues from its (ecomagination) portfolio of energy efficient and environmentally advantageous products and services surged past $12 billion in 2006, up 20% from 2005, while the order backlog rose to $50 billion.”

Wow.

Immelt goes on to say, “These extraordinary revenues and orders are the initial payoff from directly aligning our product portfolio with our customers’ needs and evolving trends, while ‘doubling-down’ on investments in leading edge technology and innovation. Ecomagination is growing beyond our expectations, evolving into a sales initiative unlike any other I’ve seen in 25 years at GE.”

Though skeptics will point to the fact that ecomagination represents a small piece of GE’s business, this growth can only be good news. A company the size of GE can have a huge impact with their investment in new technologies, as well as in spreading the word through their visibility.

Immelt announced at the press conference a series of new partnerships and investment in many divergent industries, including:

• Water desalination: slated to open in 2010, the Carlsbad Seawater Desalination Plant will draw water from the Pacific Ocean for use in San Diego County. The facility will use GE’s ZeeWeed® ultra filtration technology.
• Hydrogen energy: GE, along with BP, is forming a global alliance to develop and deploy 10 to 15 hydrogen power projects.
• Wind energy: GE Energy Financial Services will invest in its biggest wind farm to date, the 241-megawatt Sweetwater 4 facility and a sister project, both in Texas.
• Transportation: efforts here include the first hybrid locomotive with Union Pacific, and investment in A123’s work toward the next-generation battery technology for hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
• Lighting: Wal-Mart, the largest individual electricity user in the country, will be installing motion-activated LED lighting in its refrigerated cases. In addition to using less energy for lighting, less heat will be generated reducing the amount of energy used for refrigeration.
• Housing: RWO Acquisitions is retrofitting an old Air Force base in coastal South Carolina into a green community, featuring energy efficient homes and GE’s first energy-efficient mortgage. Homes will offer the GE SmartCommand™ Dashboard, which provides current and historical data on water and electricity usage.
• Carbon emissions offsetting: with AES Corp., GE will invest in projects to capture and destroy GHG emissions from agricultural waste, landfills, coalmines and the like. The partnership will then sell the resulting offsets.
• Entertainment: NBC Universal has launched “Get On Board,” a program to improve the environmental impact of its operations by reducing greenhouse gases, raising awareness about green issues, and stimulating change in the media and entertainment industry.

After the press conference, we had time to view examples of some of the new technologies in the exhibit hall, before returning for a discussion on sustainability with Immelt and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though the questions posed by NBC’s Lester Holt were pretty much softballs, it was an interesting discussion. The gist? From the Governor’s point of view, in finding ways to balance environmental initiatives with economic concerns California can lead the way for the rest of the nation, including the federal government. Keys to success include giving industry enough time to meet new standards, and the realization that new technology brings new jobs.

Immelt’s answers did not waiver from his earlier message: GE is into green as a business initiative. When asked about GE’s biggest areas for growth, Immelt responded that taking these new technologies to India and China, where they are needed most, would be a coup for whoever delivers them affordably.

Both agreed that the US must provide leadership for the rest of the world by first cleaning up its own act. The US remains the world’s biggest polluter, representing just 5% of the population while being responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. The US must remedy this situation to have credibility when offering help to developing nations.

After a long day, I left the event with the sense that we’ve turned a corner. If companies like GE and Wal-Mart can make tons of money with green initiatives, while communicating the message that greening doesn’t cost money but makes money, other companies will follow their lead. This offers real hope, without the Kool-Aid.

Atlanta: Arms Around Atlanta sounds like a blast. It's all going down at Grant Park on Saturday & Sunday.

Boston: Clean Up the Charles on Saturday, April 21!

Chicago: Check out Green Festival happening all weekend long! Green vendors & organizations galore!

Dallas: Run, don't walk to downtown today for EarthFest from 10am - 2pm.

Denver: Visit the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and enjoy yourself at their Earth Day Renewable Energy Expo April 21-22.

Houston: The Houston Zoo is celebrating Earth Day all weekend - family fun.

Los Angeles: Lots to choose from. Clean Rivers, go to a Conscious Living Fair, or Let Worms Eat Your Garbage!

Miami: Check out EarthFest:WaterFest Gone Green a full day of music, eco-village, food, and fun. (Organized by yours truly.)

New York: Choose from a variety of events, and don't forget the slideshow in Grand Central!

San Francisco: Get on over to East Bay on Saturday and have fun at the Berkeley Earth Day Festival.

Seattle: Do a little Earth Day tour and check out several events this weekend in Seattle.

Washington, D.C.: Go to GreenDC Week Earth Day Celebration or check out some other events.

I didn't mention your city? Search for local events at Earth Day Network or EnviroLink.

Rather not party it up? Do something green like a beach clean-up or planting a tree.