I spent four hours last weekend at the Going Green Expo, which was a very curious mix of really good, valuable, creditable presenters and some questionable participants, including Waste Management, Vita Mix, and some cookware manufacturer whose name I can't recall, even though I sat through the demo and have done so before, at the Home Show. (That won't make them happy!)

I may or may not comment more on that show, but for now, I wanted to note the proliferation of green-based conferences and trade shows around here.

Last night at the February gathering of Green Drinks, I met Jen Baldwin, who's helping to organize d2e, which is 21st-century for Down to Earth, which her card describes as "an exploration into sustainable living. " Link here. It is scheduled for March 28-30 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

And of course, there is well established BuildingEnergy '08, being put on again this year by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association at the World Trade Center in Boston March 11-13. That one, I've been to at least twice before, and it is killer. True, I've gone on press passes, which has afforded me entry to the conference rooms, as well as the exhibition floor. I found the latter to be valuable, interesting, and entertaining, but I found the conference rooms to be where the premium was. More than one discussion was almost over my head, because they are designed for professionals and other experts; I suspect it's because they are corporate write-offs that they can charge as much as they do for them.

I hope to be allowed back in this year on the same basis, but I'll see. I've never forgotten that the most important part of my byline all these years hasn't been the first line, which carries my name. It was always "Globe Staff" on the second line. Yes, it still can say "Globe Correspondent," but that's already a step away from the power.

As for d2e, I'll probably be checking out it out too; Jen said general admission will be $10. That's what Going Green was, before I got half off for being a member of Mass Energy. Jen said her job, in part, is to enlist exhibitors, and "greenwashers" need not apply, which I found encouraging.

What is greenwashing, you might ask? That's when companies advertise their contributions to sustainability/efficiency/etc., hoping to curry favor with green-thinking people, while barely being part of the solution, if at all. I'm certainly susceptible to it, and I think of myself usually as a thinking consumer.

For an example, let's start with ... Waste Management! It has started tapping the methane that comes out of the huge landfills it has filled with our crap, and is trying to persuade us that that makes them green. True, they're not responsible for creating the waste, and that's where the problem begins, but it will be a while before I can think of dump truckers as green ambassadors.