Do you selectively choose "green education" opportunities? In the Feb. 12 column, I encouraged participation in this type of opportunity and, as a result, the question was raised, "How green is green education?"

Although most certainly a valid question, I would not let it prevent your exposure to "green." You – as an accumulative force of consumers – have the ability to control the green of these events.

Ideally, such an event occurs in an urban area that has the benefit of an ideal public transportation infrastructure, but this is not always the case. Still, let me describe an event in which I participate – the Green Festival held in Washington, D.C. (www.greenfestivals.org).

Held at the D.C. convention center, which has at its disposal an ideal urban transportation configuration, when in session, from the exterior of this building, the thousands of attendees are invisible. Attendees are able to access the building through its internal subway system.

In addition to the ideal transportation configuration, the festival itself is an exemplary model of environmental responsibility. To demonstrate the commitment to "walk its talk" of reuse, recycle or compost, a responsible disposal of 90 percent of all show waste occurs.

Other festival eco-strategies are to provide and place throughout the show waste bins labeled by disposal category, position attendees at the waste stations to ensure proper disposal, and work directly with exhibitors to ensure their re-use of disposable items, recycle effort, carbon emission neutralization and overall commitment to eco-friendly practices.

In addition to the festival's adequate waste disposal and ability to provide an event in a location that accommodates mass public transportation, the coordinators provide for consumers an exposure to more than 400 green businesses, 150 speakers and dozens of community groups that together celebrate what's working in their communities – for people, for businesses and for the environment.

In other words, you – as a consumer – are given the opportunity to shop with conscience and "vote your dollars" to further a sustainable lifestyle as well as a socially responsible and inclusive green economy.

When less ideal conditions exist, green educational events (or for that matter any large-scale event) have the options to stage a carbon-neutral event by using green energy sources whenever possible or purchasing carbon offsets for energy used, such as planting trees to help with future carbon reduction; relying on clean-burning, domestically made bio-diesel fuel to power tour buses and trucks and even on-site generators; providing on-site recycling; and offering biodegradable food services and reusable or recyclable cups, plates and utensils.

Still, you – as the consumer – have the power to control the green of these events. It is your choice to support or not support an event through attendance, but more specifically, through how you chose to green individual participation: travel, housing, use of food services, recycle options, etc. So, when you select green education opportunities, accept individual accountability – the opportunity to make a greening difference.