I joined Ravelry in April, and since then, it’s my go-to place for (free!) knitting patterns and ideas. Just like Facebook or MySpace, users have a profile, make friends, and can join groups. It’s also got handy organizing features, such as a queue for projects you are working on or patterns you’d like to try, or cataloging features for your yarn stash or needle supply. It will also link to my blog and update my friends and my profile whenever I post there. It’s incredibly user-friendly–I’ve never had a technical problem using it.

There are several green-themed groups on Ravelry, each with a message board with tips for green crafting.

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One of my favorite things about using the internet to promote my business is that it’s green and inexpensive (if not free). So online marketing and social networking is a great way to get your name out there without using any paper or creating any trash. A good way to start your foray into the world of online marketing is to first establish a web site for your business. This will often be your potential customers’ first impression of your company, so it will be an important investment in both time and money. Once you have a web site, networking through social media sites is a great way to promote it and drive traffic to your site. Online marketing is a strategy that’s becoming more and more popular among entrepreneurs, and thankfully it is one with minimal impact on the planet.

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The Green My Ride Facebook App

Huddler.com, the new green community of crowd-powered product reviews (and other good stuff), just released a new Facebook app that gives you yet another excuse to avoid what you really should be doing.

Green My Ride has a simple premise: start out as a gas guzzling, flower crushing monster vehicle, and by earning credits through various actions (below), you can earn more efficient cars (up to a solar-powered electric car) to display on your Facebook profile.

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Editor’s note: We’re pleased to welcome Max Gladwell, of MaxGladwell.com, as a regular guest writer on sustainablog. Max Gladwell covers the nexus of social media and green living. We feel that these two trends and technological developments hold tremendous promise for improving quality of life for everyone on the planet.

If you’re reading this blog, then you’re on board with social media. There’s a good chance you belong to social networks like Facebook or MySpace. It’s likely that you Digg stories and even possible that you Twitter. These technologies and services, together with a growing number of others, make up the social web. It’s much like the regular web, but more interactive. More…social. It invites and even demands active participation from everyone. It has a global reach with viral capacity, and yet it’s bringing local communities closer together. It enables people to connect, organize, and make a difference as never before. Indeed, social media is a powerful force, one that the world’s CEOs are starting to acknowledge and take seriously.

Many entrepreneurs, activists, and marketers are leveraging the social web for positive change. In the process and by its very nature, they are giving each of us the tools to change the world and make it a better place. There are thousands of examples, which is precisely why Max Gladwell exists. Here are 10 worth exploring.

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National Geographic

Betsy Scolnik, president of National Geographic Digital Media, said "There’s something powerful about giving kids the tools to express themselves and to share common interests such as a love of animals and the environment that National Geographic represents. We hope that by using the social-networking tools that imbee.com provides, kids who visit our National Geographic Kids site can connect with other kids online who are inspired to care about the planet and the people, places and animals on it, in a safe, kid-friendly way."

The site also features content on animal, plant, and insect life, geography, science, and culture, and is highly controlled and secure so that the site remains safe for children. There’s also updates from the National Geographic Kids Hands-On Explorer Challenge, which led a group of 15 kids to South Africa in August 2007, and features their blogs and photos.

Overall, this site still has room to grow, but it’s a safe alternative to the MySpace/Facebook phenomenon. I appreciated the overlapping content with National Geographic Kids–the latter’s got phenomenal green stuff for the tween set. It’s worth checking out if you’ve got a kid who loves the environment and the computer.

The GO Facebook group is open to all members of the GO community. Join us, and add your comments to our wall, or your ideas to our discussion board. We’ll get photos and such up as we get them…

The GO MakeMeSustainable group is also open to all members of the community. We’ve set a goal of reducing our carbon emissions by 30% (though we’re already well beyond that), so add your cuts in CO2 to our effort.

At GO’s Squidoo space, you can keep a close eye on some of your favorite GO series, including:

• Green Myth-Busting
• Green Style Spotlight
• Red, Green & Blue
• Weekly DIY
• Weekend Grub
• Weekend Review

Remember: anytime you click on an ad on a GO Squidoo page, the money we earn goes directly to Dos Margaritas.

We’re just getting started with making our move into various social networking spaces… stay tuned!

A non-partisan event, Cook the Vote is advanced social networking with a dual purpose: 1) To provide the best, local seasonal food ingredients in a gourmet meal at a reasonable fee (something traditional restaurants, which generally speaking, either compromise on quality or charge exorbitant prices, cannot provide), and 2) to unite community and create an alternative media outlet for discussing our country’s politics.

This weekend, a Cook the Vote feast was held in a private home in Berkeley. A delectable three course Mediterranean style dinner with a Persian flair was served, right along with a healthy portion of grassroots democracy. The evening was moderated by a proctor who had done his homework and the topic of the evening was focused on just one candidate, Barack Obama. The intent is to continue hold dinner parties, to discuss all the candidates, and to follow the progress of the election, right up until the BIG day.

The dinner attracted a diverse crowd, from supporters, to skeptics, to the formerly disconnected coming forward to re-connect. After the last two presidential elections, many Americans have been disheartened at their ability to affect political change. On the other hand, there is also an ever-increasing network of people who believe that change is on the horizon. Cook the Vote, brought artists, performers, financial analysts, Internet professionals, chefs, activists, parents and bachelors together at the same table, to discuss a concern relevant to everyone in this country, its leadership.

The night provided insights, connections, and a room full of full bellies. Just like the environmental movement, Cook the Vote inspired me to be involved and educated about the vote, rather than apathetic. Connections like these are the force that is changing the world, right before our eyes. If we rely on traditional media outlets for passive information, we are doomed. Conversely, underground events like Cook the Vote contribute to an informed and active populous. Serve democracy at your next meal and participate in Cook the Vote.

Editor's note: As many of you know, we often do a Weekend Web Review, but decided we'd wait one day to introduce you to MakeMeSustainable.com, which launched today.

So, you've installed CFLs, started walking instead of driving on those walkable trips, and set your hot water heater at the recommended 120 degrees. You're doing your part to help fight climate change, and that's great. But, do you ever wonder how much impact you're creating with these actions? Or, do you want to know how your actions compare to others? The newly-launched MakeMeSustainable.com provides a set of tools that will help you do just that.

The site is the brainchild of CEO Benjamin N.S. Brown, COO David Delcourt, and Chief Creative Officer Adam Schrader-Brown. I got the chance to talk to Ben and David just over a week ago as they walked me through the site, and told me a little bit about their mission. One word really sums it up: empowerment. The team at MMS want to empower users with the tools and knowledge that will help them actively reduce their carbon emissions, and connect with others who want to do the same.

MMS gives users a number of ways to set and meet goals for reducing their climate impact. When a user registers with the site (which is free), s/he provides information on his/her home and car. That creates a baseline carbon footprint — the system tells you how much carbon you emit in a year from home energy use and driving. You then have the opportunity to choose from a predetermined set of actions that can lower that footprint. For instance, on setting up my own profile and choosing actions I'd already taken, I figured out that I'd installed CFLs in nine light fixtures around my home. I plugged that information into the designated fields, and then told the system that I'd completed that action. It, in turn, told me what kind of reduction this created in my overall carbon footprint. And, after you've taken the actions that are relevant and affordable for you, MMS also offers the opportunity to purchase Native Energy carbon credits to further reduce your load.

Numbers are nice, but MMS goes a further step by providing a user with a graph that shows the difference between the baseline and the reduced carbon footprint. Each time a user completes an action, his/her impact is reflected accordingly.

My profile… : with evidence that I have work to do!

MMS doesn't just stop with showing individuals the difference they can make, though: it also provides a range of social networking tools that allow them to connect with other users in groups, to create a group themselves (so, a company or organization, for instance, could track all of its employees' or members' carbon footprints individually and collectively), and to patronize local businesses that are also working to lower their footprints. Maps can be created within a user's profile to find nearby businesses; if there aren't any listed, you can even invite businesses that are doing good by the planet to join.

For a site in public beta, MakeMeSustainable is awfully impressive. There are certain limitations at this point: you can only figure your carbon footprint for home energy use and transportation — of course, that's the lion's share of it for most of us! There are a couple of other action choices I'd like to see available in addition to those the site has included — I can't get credit for using my reel mower, for instance. These are minor things, though… overall, the site provides a robust set of features for measuring the impact of what we do… or even what we don't. And the MMS team has more in store, so keep checking back… or, better yet, create a profile and start taking advantage of these tools.