Schmooze or Lose

Green-business networking events are multiplying like investors chasing a hot stock. Among the eco-entrepreneur magnets: EcoTuesday, with four new branches from Seattle to Atlanta, and Green Drinks, which since early 2007 has tripled in size to more than 355 chapters worldwide. Good ideas flow along with organic merlot at these get-togethers. One Green Drinks event in Nashville, Tennessee, sparked a partnership between a garden center and Vanderbilt University. Now the leaves of Vanderbilt's more than 7,500 trees, formerly landfilled, are enjoying a second life as compost. ecotuesday.com, greendrinks.org

Illustration by Mark Matcho; used with permission.