It would be easy to dismiss the green lounges and eco-friendly products at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as only destination points for environmental activists and proponets of hemp — that’s marijuana, in another form. But a brief tour through the products on display here might change that image. 

    At the high end, automaker Lexus is promoting its Lexus Hybrid Living and  new LS600H luxury sedan, which along with being battery-powered, can park itself and has separate climate zones for each passenger. Kimberley Gardiner, spokeswoman for Lexus explained that early on, “the thought was that hybrid equaled Prius. We wanted people to think about hybrid in a new eco-luxury way.”  Hmmm, “Eco-luxury,” sounds far more country club living than roughing it in the outback.

    But not everything was luxury. At the Alive! Expo Green lounge, one could find Diamond Nexus Labs’ diamonds that rate a perfect “D” color. People can buy a one carat diamond for $40. And there was Smart Glass Jewelry made of recycled beer and champagne bottles. Worried about health? Umac-Core grows and harvests a wild marine Phytoplankton, said to help everything from diabetes to eczema. Aubrey Organics has natural hair and skin products.

    Passionate advocates representing green products see the future in terms of carbon neutrality, which would help offset global warming. Leslie Hoffman of Earth Pledge believes “we will all be paying for carbon in the near future.” So, while most people may not be able to afford the carbon reducing luxury of a Lexus hybrid, who wouldn’t want a $40 diamond ring, a hip soybean fiber sweater or a beige cotton and hemp dress with double-poof sleeves and a tie in the back. But just one reminder about the hemp dress, you can’t smoke it.