I think that in order to do green design or even socially responsible design, aside from having a pro-eco-design clients, designers should look for other funding sources/projects than simply clients-- i.e., doing pro-bono work, or looking for EPA grants or grants from the same sources that environmental scientists and Non-governmental organizations get their money-- if THEY can do environmentally conscious research, so should we-- in addition, almost any design student would kill to work with a working designer on an eco-design project- one way to demonstrate actual working models of green design to scared clients is to try it yourself first, and if you can get someone else to pay for it that has nothing to do with commercial interests, those client constraints go out the window.
Idealistic? yeah, but guess what, the above is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE!!!