Welcome to the GREEN SCENE where progressive people, places and products aim to enlighten and empower us to live sustainably. Regardless of where our lifestyle is in the green continuum each one of us can and should take simple steps to improve the state of our environment.

Can you dig it? EarthDance is a new agricultural adventure spouting up on the organic Mueller Farm in Ferguson. The vision is a 14 acre plot of land where you will find farm-based environmental education, healthy cooking classes for children, a bike delivered CSA, retreat center and much more. Find out more by emailing Molly at thinkexposure@live.net

GREEN PROGRAMMING – tune in to GREEN UP! St. Louis each Saturday at 12:30 pm – 1pm on CW-11. This educational TV series is bound to increase your green IQ!

GREEN CAREER MOVES - Located in Fairfield Iowa the The Maharishi University of Management (mum.edu) offers a B.S in Sustainable Living/Environmental Science or a MBA in Sustainability. The B.S. covers seven key areas including Renewable Energy, Bio Geophysiology, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Agriculture, Eco-Architectural Design, Green Business and Entrepreneurship and Social-Ecological Interface.

GREEN PRODUCTS IN THE LIMELIGHT:

V-Dimension introduces the Helius solar backpack (v-dimension.com), an innovative product that completely changes the way people use their backpacks. The V-Dimension bag utilizes light optimizing technology allowing convenient charging of iPods, cell phones, PDAs in room light or sunlight.

Timbuk2 (timbuk2.com) carries a line of bags made out of hemp and PET recycled plastic. These Laptop, Messenger, Cargo and Hacker bags made in San Francisco are durable and environmentally friendly.

Recycline (recycline.com) makes Preserve® -- a line of stylish, high performance, eco-friendly home and personal care products including toothbrushes made from recycled Stonyfield ® yogurt cups. The used toothbrushes can be recycled by mailing back in a postage paid label to be re-processed into plastic lumber for picnic tables, boardwalks and decks.

LOCAL GREEN BUSINESS: Autohaus BMW’s new building has many green features including E glass in the showroom to minimize energy loss. A white roof made of a state-of-the-art vulcanized material maximizing energy efficiency. Once operations begin they plan to integrate a large scale recycling operation into their daily operations. What’s next a BMW plug-in hybrid?

Dierbergs new store opening in mid-May in Arnold, MO is being touted as “tops in energy efficiency” and will use 15% less energy than the Dierbergs stores built just two years ago. Energy savings include dairy items behind doors and climate contolled refigeration and lighting systems.