Call it green chic: Eco-friendly automobiles could grab attention by displaying a commitment to reducing our carbon footprint--and our astonishing good taste. That is why sales of hybrid cars that look like regular cars are dwarfed by sales of hybrids that scream, "Look at me! I'm eco-tastic!"

Automobiles made of cardboard, covered in moss, and blanketed in birds' nests could become the next "classic" and soon be regarded as no less ridiculous than a hand-painted muscle car or rim-spinning, bass-thumping Escalade. "It used to be 'My house is bigger than your house. My car is cooler than your car,'" Thompson says. "Now it's 'I'm greener than

you are.'"