This Sunday afternoon I went downtown to The Philadelphia Convention Center to check out the Go Green Expo that has been advertised in local media and sustainable networks. I was really looking forward to seeing some new ideas, small companies and visionaries who were helping shape Philadelphia's sustainable future. What I found was pretty disappointing. While I did find about four booths of inspiring companies and ideas, the rest fell short. It wasn't too different than the Valley Forge Convention Center Home Show, which feels like a bland blend of infomercials and large companies just setting up booths for the sake of it.The Go Green Expo calls itself "The Nation's Premiere Eco-Friendly Tradeshow", but in reality it was a mostly a sales pitch for companies public relations departments.
The Good:
Grid - GridPhilly.com - A new local magazine focusing towards a Sustainable Philadelphia. I read both of the first two issues on my train ride home and it's very well written with great sustainable ideas.
SOLIBS - Building Green on Montrose - The small firm has a very interesting project going on over at their blog. I was able to talk to one of the partners, Christopher, and picked his brain for a little bit. They are very socially conscious and are building this project with a lot of emotion, sweat, and hard work. I wish them the best of luck.
The Bad:
WorkGreen - Workgreen.us - a company from LA pushing a green social network. "Really?" I asked, "are you doing anything different to set you apart from other social networks". Their answer was No. Basically an off-the-shelf, generic comminity site. Nothing is customized, they are just trying to get by on the word green alone. This is everything I hate about greenwashing. The sad thing is, this site will probably limp on for a while and they might make some money.
