Webware

WiserEarth, which launched in May, is an open-source database of more than 107,000 do-good organizations, with 5,400 users around the world.

The site incorporates Google Maps, wikis, and discussion groups, as well as listings of events, resources, and jobs. Users can create and maintain profile pages, and chat with members of other groups. Areas of focus range from agriculture to health to media to work, and popular forum discussions involve poverty, gender, and "planetary development." More calendars and regionally focused content hubs are being created.

Participants in the Bioneers sustainability conference this weekend were using WiserEarth and Google Earth software to map the work of their nonprofit groups and environmental studies classes.

WiserEarth is a project of the Natural Capital Institute. The institute is also working on the World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility (WISER) as well as an open-source Wiser Business database to track sustainable business practices. Environmentalist and author Paul Hawken, who helped to pioneer the concept of "natural capitalism," is behind these efforts.

With a similar theme as WiserEarth, the older Idealist has more than 195,000 users in at least 130 countries.

For those looking to find nonprofits or volunteer opportunities only in the United States, VolunteerMatch and Network for Good--or for young people, TakingITGlobal--are also solid places to start.

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.

Electrocity

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Like a mini-version of SimCity, the Flash-based Web game Electrocity lets you develop your own metropolis from the ground up. Rather than existing solely as a entertaining Web diversion, however, Electrocity has a hidden agenda.

The sponsor of the game, Genesis Energy, is an energy provider and retailer in New Zealand. Electrocity was developed to increase public awareness about energy usage, its cost, and its effect on the environment.

Electrocity is a fairly simple, turn-based strategy game. You get 150 turns to create your masterpiece, but the challenge is to allocate resources wisely as you build. One-hundred and fifty turns may seem like an eternity, but many of these will be skipped in the process of gathering cash and natural resources, so it's essential to build infrastructure early. A full game at average speed takes about 30 minutes. It's also easy to save any game in the middle, then restart later using a personalized city code the game assigns you.

Played on a 5x5 grid, Electrocity starts you off with a small urban center, a population of 10,000, a 25 percent tax rate, and one wind farm that provides all the town's energy. Surrounding areas are randomly populated with forests, plains, mountains, rivers, or oceanfront property.

Each area may provide resources that can only be discovered by prospecting. Once you've discovered coal or gas, you can build plants and start selling energy on the open market. You can raise and lower taxes, and upgrade your wind, coal, and gas plants as you see fit. Once you amass enough cash, you can start building luxury items such as sports stadiums, ski resorts, or beaches to attract a larger population. If you grow your population too quickly, however, you'll get crunched on your energy usage and end up paying through the nose on the open market.

I previously thought that I was much better at turn-based rather than real-time strategy games, but after playing through Electrocity, it turns out that I stink equally at both. Aside from building coal plants where there was no coal, my addiction to alternative energy and campgrounds proved to be idiotic.

On my first try, I accidentally went bankrupt in round 68 after building a large geothermal plant that send me plummeting into the red. My population barely peaked above 30,000 people. The second time, I lasted the whole 150 turns, but I couldn't seem to maintain more than 40,000 residents or keep much more than $1,000 in the bank. Good thing I'm not the king!

The city of Heter provides massive energy and numerous tourist destinations for a top rating in the Finished Cities chart

(Credit: CNET Networks)

If you make it to the end of the game, you'll receive a score based on your energy management, popularity, population, and environmental prowess. I spent all of my time logging and planting forests, so it's no surprised my environmental grade was "A." My energy management (since it never advanced beyond large wind farms and small coal plants) also received an "A."

My popularity was about 90%, which only merits a "B+" grade, and I dropped the ball completely on population, averaging 34,150 citizens, which received a "C-." Oh well. My overall score wasn't much better: 76 for a "B-." After you've received your final score, you can submit your city to the Finished Cities page, which also enters you into a prize drawing.

The Finished Cities ranking on the Electrocity Web site is determined by final score, though maximum population seems to be a tie breaker. Currently the city of Heter by the player Rong is No. 1, with a whopping population of 3,897,182. Your strategy is determined slightly by the random environment you begin with, but it appears that Rong topped the list by building three large nuclear plants on the edge of town, along with oceanfront development to bring in the tourists. Your mileage will vary. My only advice is don't build a large geothermal plant without the scratch to back it up. Good luck, and happy urban planning!