Quickly: which company is greener? UPS or DHL? Stonyfield Farm or General Mills? Google or News Corp.? You may think all of these are no-brainers, but, in two of the three cases, your perception may not align with reality… at least in terms of action related to climate change. A new study, MapChange 2010, finds that, in many cases, there’s little alignment between real action by a company, and its “green” public perception.

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Got a favorite book on sustainability? One that changed your view of our relationship to the environment? In my case, Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael series, and Ray Anderson’s Mid-Course Correction all opened my eyes to ideas of more sustainable relationships between the economy and the environment.

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Suzy Amis Cameron for Red Carpet Green Dress from Red Carpet Green Dress on Vimeo.

If you’re an aspiring green fashion designer, and didn’t get picked for Franca Sozzani’s workshop in Biella, Italy, fear not: Suzy Amis Cameron — model, activist, and wife of some guy named James — is offering you a shot at red carpet exposure. Her “Red Carpet Green Dress” competition, launched last month, challenges upcoming designers to “create a black tie dress made of natural/organic or sustainable materials while also encouraging these future designers to estimate carbon footprints when creating their clothing lines.” Amis Cameron will wear the winning dress for her various red carpet appearances in February and March, and bring the designer to LA for consultation and some VIP treatment.

A long-time environmental activist, Amis Cameron launched Red Carpet Green Dress to widen the spotlight on sustainable fashion, and to raise funds for MUSE Elementary, a non-profit educational organization she started with her sister Rebecca Amis. Serving pre-kindergarten – 5th grade students from across the socio-economic spectrum, MUSE aims “…to inspire children to live more conscious lives in relation to themselves, one another and the planet.” Amis Cameron notes “Red Carpet Green Dress perfectly connects to MUSE Elementary’s global green philosophy by applying environmental awareness to our everyday lives… I look forward to Red Carpet Green Dress becoming a signature event, not only for MUSE, but also for Hollywood’s award season.”

Got a design in mind? Don’t wait around… the deadline for entries is January 22nd. Let us know if you submit something… and we’ll keep an eye out for the announcement of the winner.

The phrase “military sustainability” may strike you as an oxymoron: these guys are known for tanks, not treehugging. Over the past decade, though, the US armed forces have recognized the necessity of resource management to military readiness: various branches have tested out renewable energy, and the Army even released a sustainability report in 2007.

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Hope can be a precious commodity in developing countries like Haiti. With 80% of the population living below the poverty level, residents will likely welcome any economic opportunity, regardless of social or environmental consequences. The documentary film BLOOMING HOPE: HARVESTING SMILES IN PORT-DE-PAIX documents efforts by a few Haitian citizens, community leaders, and aid workers to build financially, socially and environmentally sustainable business models in one of the country’s poorest region.

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If you’re an urbanite, you likely think of nature as something that exists outside of the city limits. That thinking is prevalent, and may contribute to the growth of nature deficit disorder among our kids… and ourselves. “Nature,” however, is all around us, and city government officials, planners, and community advocates are realizing that actively incorporating green spaces into urban settings makes for more livable environments (remember the High Line?).

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While certified green theatre may still be an anomaly, the live entertainment design community is discussing its environmental impact, as well as broader notions of sustainability, both online and in person. Yesterday, Live Design magazine published a blog post (the first in a series) from lighting designer and theatre consultant Curtis Kasefang on the concept of “sustainable theatres.” Kasefang’s notion of a sustainable performance space can be summed in up in one word: reuse.

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Got a child looking at colleges? Or, are you looking for yourself? More and more, sustainability efforts may be one of the criteria you and others use to choose a “good” school. For several years, the Sustainable Endowments Institute has made the search for that information a little easier with the publication of its College Sustainability Report Card. The 2009 edition was released last week, and colleges and universities around the country are bragging (or not) about their “grades.”

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What were you thinking about on September 16, 2008? Green business ideas probably weren’t at the top of the list… September 15 was the day that Lehman Brothers went belly up, and you were probably more focused on your portfolio and savings. As such, Tim Sanders’ book Saving the World at Work (released on — you guessed it — September 16) got buried under talk of a second Great Depression.

Sanders and publisher Doubleday decided to give the book another go, and relaunched it on September 16th of this year. I’m glad they did: while the title led me to believe I was going to be reading another “how to” book on greening the workplace (which is not a bad thing), Sanders goes well beyond tips on saving paper and electricity.

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But will it float...?

David de Rothschild’s Plastiki is a seaworthy boat made from reclaimed plastic bottles. Michael Reynolds’ Earthships (the subject of the documentary GARBAGE WARRIOR) are homes built from reclaimed materials, and designed to provide basic needs for the homeowner: energy, food, water, and waste disposal. Put the two together, and you get the Landlord Independent, a work-in-progress by Providence, Rhode Island-based artists and activists Dan Gladstone and Zachary Weindel.

Their idea: a boat designed as “an open biodome,” or a “micro-continent,” according to Weindel. The Landlord Independent currently isn’t much more than a giant raft (made mostly from found and reused materials), but Gladstone and Weindel envision both energy and food production (including animals and gardens) onboard. Besides a concept of more sustainable living, the two young artists see “seasteading” as a way to free themselves from “…leases and rents, mortgages and taxes, electric bills and grocery-store visits.” Eventually, they’d love to build seafaring communities around the concept.

Nuts? Revolutionary? Something in between? You make the call…

via The Providence Journal and The Providence Phoenix

Image credit: Dominic’s pics at Flickr under a Creative Commons license

You probably don’t use the words “sustainability” and “prison” in the same sentence very often. The housing and feeding of inmates requires huge amounts of water and energy, though, and generates tons of waste. The Sustainable Prisons Project, a partnership between the Washington State Department of Corrections and the Evergreen State College, works to make prisons more efficient… and perhaps even reduce recidivism rates by providing “green collar” training to inmates.

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