Webware

Ever fling fast-food wrappers from the window of your speeding Prius? True Green Confessions invites you to tell the tale. Unlike so many other green social networking websites that encourage you to practice bicycling, recycling and other planet-friendly habits, here you can share the shame of not doing enough or not caring enough about your fat carbon footprint.

There are many confessions about driving, like taking the SUV to the organic grocery store, as well as rants against "self-righteous" vegans. Other posts are a bit more twisted. One mother-to-be wrote: "I dont (sic) think I am contributing to overpopulation by having this baby...SOMEBODY has to help to supply the world with smart people."

This site is a fun Friday time-waster, but it should do more, like provide sinners a chance to communicate with each other or maybe do something to assuage their guilt. But the point seems less to atone than to flaunt your eco-flaws. (also see MakeMeSustainable and PostSecret.)

MakeMeSustainable is a new green social networking site. Although entering a crowded field, the service wisely translates how greening your everyday habits saves money. It tallies dollar signs, trees, and carbon emissions to track changes in your usage of electricity, heating, transportation, and travel over many months. I like that it takes you directly to sites where you can achieve a goal instantly, such as by buying CFL bulbs or carbon credits, or downloading a power-saving app for your PC. And you can form and join groups based around your interests.

MakeMeSustainable builds a personal profile based upon your quick setup interview. If I already polluted a lot more, I'd get more tools for setting worthy green goals. I'm far from eco-perfect, but giving up my car last year was painful, so if I can't moan about it, then I at least want to brag a bit. But since I rely on a bike, the site didn't show my eco-progress or suggest how my transportation could get greener. For instance, it didn't ask if I rent cars or take taxis. But this service is only in beta testing and will evolve. I found Yahoo Green's action plan (more here) a bit more intuitive.

I'd also like MakeMeSustainable to show how my carbon footprint measures against national averages, which BeGreenNow, ZeroFootprint, and the Nature Conservancy's carbon calculator display.

MakeMeSustainable keeps tabs on your carbon costs.

Despite those wishes, MakeMeSustainable's efforts are an impressive start, especially for a tiny startup that is only beginning to secure outside funding. I plan to keep using it. Within the next few months, it will roll out a lifestyle section, forums for product reviews, and widgets for Facebook. Blog badges will help you to show off your sustainability. Green sites need to work together rather than reinventing the wheel to add new tools, and the makers of MakeMeSustainable seem to have the right idea. They plan to integrate their service with others, such as by later integrating Yelp business ratings into the embedded Google Maps. They might also add RSS tie-ins, browser add-ons, and a Twitter-like feature.

I also like that MakeMeSustainable pledges not to share your individual details with third parties and lets you register with OpenID. Should you ever tire of the site, its detailed privacy policy even offers an e-mail address where you can ask for your details to be deleted. That offer alone makes this a personally sustainable service.