West Coast Green Conference: San Jose

Website:

Who: Al Gore & Other Hippies
What: A House Made Out Of Shipping Containers! + Other Green Building Stuff
When: September 25 - 27
Where: San Jose
Why: Because Green Buildings Are The Next Hot Thing, Did I Mention The House Made Out Of Shipping Containers?

This green movement thing is only going to get worse, so you might as well get in on the ground floor. Admission is $575 bucks (talk about a lot of green) but it is a good way to learn about organic, recycled/ renewable, "eco-friendly", agro-forest, sustainable, building materials and to network with others who enjoy your passion of earth-destroying guilt reduction via green consumerism.

I am a little jaded about these things, for every new movement there is going to be a bunch of charlatans trying to capitalize on the next big thing.

Remember all the start-ups in the Internet age, and all the hype associated with how that is going to change everything? History might not repeat itself, but it definitely rhymes.

After a few years we will see how legit all these "high-end" green supply companies do.

The people who make the most money are those that are able to bring something elitist to the mainstream. Think of Henry Ford changing cars from a rich persons play thing to the workhorse of the everyman , Charles Schwab bringing Wall-Street to the masses, Bill Gates and Microsoft allowing almost anyone to use a PC (remember DOS?), Wal-Mart bringing everything to everyone.

Once the cross-over occurs these high margin green companies will bust or will have to go to an even more niche market.