A sweet affair: a new lesbian cruise line is riding the green wave.(Working Girls)(Sweet Travel)(Interview)

SHANNON WENTWORTH has spent her life as an activist. With strong beliefts about human rights, charitable work and the environment, this lesbian entrepreneur made good use of her experiences and struck out on her own. The founder of Sweet Travel, Wentworth has decided to use her new company to address the lesbian community's concerns by giving travelers an opportunity to do some good while they relax on an all women's cruise.

What makes Sweet Travel different from other cruise lines?

We're different in a number of ways. But, we're working really hard to create a green business. Cruising, air and sea travel [are] not very green. We're working really hard to make them greener by buying carbon offsets for all of our air and sea travel. We're also doing a number of volunteer projects ... So our first trip ... leaves our of New Orleans and we're going to do a three-day pre-trip where people have the opportunity to help out with the Katrina relief effort by day and then party in New Orleans' legendary night by night. But our goal is really to have this mix of doing good and having a blast at the same time.

What inspired you to create a green lesbian company?

I was an environmentalist and. human rights advocate before I was a lebian. And all of those things really came together for me in looking at how I wanted to take a vacation and what I feel like needs to happen in the gay and lesbian marketplace. I really wanted to create this vehicle for all of the things I wanted to do with my life and in the world. This company is kind of a blend of all of my ideals.

And there are so few opportunities for lesbians to volunteer and be with their partners at the same time.

It's not mandatory that you volunteer, bur for people who want to do that, I think it's going to be tremendously fulfilling. I mean, how fun to spend the day working wildwife rescue with 100 women or cleaning up a beach. It ...