Green Transportation3.
Many forms of transportation (such as traditional, gasoline-engine cars) contribute to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Gas-powered cars also create smog in our cities, which can harm overall public health. Starting a business that offers alternative transportation solutions can benefit both the environment and community health. You can do this in any number of ways, from something as simple as fixing up old bikes to something more ambitious like starting up a green cab company in your city.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Electric Bike and Scooter Dealership• 31
Refurbishing Bicycles: • Refurbish and sell used bikes.
Example: Bikes 4 Life in Oakland, California32
Community Bike-Share Program• 33
Example: SmartBike DC34
Green Cab Company: • Use hybrid vehicles to help people get where they’re going.
Promoting Alternative Transportation:• Start a non-profit to find innovative ways to promote alternative forms of transportation.
Example: Nuride offers rewards (e.g., restaurant coupons, retailer discounts, tickets to shows) to online community members for transportation choices that reduce greenhouse gases.35
Car-Sharing Program• 36
Green Product Innovation and Consumer Goods Retail4.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the health and environmental impacts of the products they use every day (e.g., the enormous amounts of water and pesticides required to produce cotton).37 Demand for safe, effective, non-toxic products that do not harm the environment is steadily growing. Opportunities abound for innovative entrepreneurs to meet this demand with home-based businesses.
30.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Organic Clothes:• Design and produce organic clothes for babies and adults using sustainable materials like organic cotton and natural dyes.
Example: WilloToons in San Francisco, California38
Online Retail:• Take advantage of a growing market by selling goods online, such as sustainable baby goods or green home and bath products.
Example: Black Energy in Atlanta, Georgia39
Natural Make-Up and Body Care:• Market all-natural make-up and body care products, made from organic ingredients and not tested on animals.
Example: Sweet Beginnings in Chicago, Illinois40
Green Everyday Products:• Develop daily-use products that help consumers cut their greenhouse gas emissions, minimize waste and reduce their exposure to toxins.
Example: reusable water bottles, biodegradable containers, biodegradable trash bags
Green Home- and Office-Cleaning Services5.
As awareness about the health and environmental impacts of toxic substances grows, so does the demand for fewer toxins in the home and workplace. Toxic cleaning agents can be harmful to humans, particularly janitors, house cleaners, and residents in buildings where volatile organic compounds (VOC) may affect indoor air quality. Some toxic ingredients in cleansers not only can harm those in the buildings where they are used, but can pollute the greater environment and adversely impact community water quality as well.41 Many businesses are implementing new sustainability initiatives that address employee health, create safe workplaces, and reduce the environmental impacts of their operations. These businesses, as well as concerned residents, are creating a market for cleaning companies that use environmentally friendly cleaning products and techniques.42
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Green Housecleaning: • Offer green housecleaning services using all-natural and biodegradable cleaning supplies.43
Example: Home Green Home in San Francisco, California44
Green Janitorial Services:• Offer green janitorial service for offices or schools.
Example: EnviroClean USA in Atlanta, Georgia 45
38.
Train and Certify Green Cleaners: • Start a training and certification program for low-income residents to open their own green cleaning businesses, or to green their existing cleaning businesses with new products and techniques.
Example: Urban Solutions in San Francisco, California46
Become Part of the ReUse Revolution!6.
Recycling is a great alternative to throwing things away, but reusing materials is even better. Making new consumer goods from landfill-bound materials reduces waste, preserves space in overflowing landfills, and curbs global warming. Remaking consumer goods (also called upcycling) is also becoming hip as entrepreneurs find ways to make fashion statements with recycled clothing and salvaged furniture. And a niche market is growing within the construction industry for used building materials.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Salvage: • Become a salvage expert, removing, selling, and installing used building materials for a profit.47
Example: Heritage Salvage in Petaluma, California48
Furniture: • Make furniture out of scrap materials, or refurbish old furniture to be sold as improved.
Clothes: • Design and produce clothes from recycled or used fabrics.49
Example: Ekologic in Troy, New York 50
Energy-Efficient Homes and Green Building Retrofits7.
With energy costs rising at an alarming rate, many homeowners and businesses are turning to efficiency experts to help them reduce their monthly utility bills. Increasing efficiency not only cuts costs, it also helps the environment. American buildings are responsible for one-third of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions; they consume more than 60% of America’s electricity. Constructing and operating buildings also takes an environmental toll, requiring large amounts of raw materials and water.51 By bringing existing buildings up to current standards, we can avoid constructing new buildings, drastically reducing raw materials consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Public and private investors are working to expand the opportunities in this field further. For example, John Doerr, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, was recently quoted in the New York Times proposing a “Cash for Caulkers” program akin to the successful “Cash for Clunkers” automobile trade-in program. “Cash for Caulkers” is the kind of policy innovation we are seeing more of—putting unemployed contractors and construction
workers back to work making America’s homes more energy efficient.52 A number of tax incentives already encourage businesses and homeowners to make energy-efficiency upgrades to their buildings,53 and more incentives are likely in the future.
Those with backgrounds in construction, roofing, electrical engineering, or architecture have a range of opportunities to start new businesses in the booming green building and energy-efficiency fields. Those with little or no experience have the chance to gain skills and create their own career opportunities.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Energy Audits: • Offer energy audits that help homeowners and businesses improve energy efficiency and save money on their utility bills.54
Duct Cleaning and Repair: • Improve indoor air quality and seal up leaks, which increases energy efficiency.55
Green Retrofits: • Perform energy-efficiency and green building retrofits (e.g., weatherization, solar panel installation and solar thermal installation) to help building owners reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing the value of their property.56
Example: Recurve in San Francisco, California57
Cool Roofing:• 58 Install cool roofs, made from materials that reflect the sun’s heat instead of allowing a building to absorb that heat. Cool roofs increase energy efficiency and reduce the heat-island effect in urban areas. Cool roof installations comply with green building codes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Green Roofing:• 59 Install green roofs (or “living roofs”) covered with vegetation and soil. Green roofs have many environmental and energy-efficiency benefits, helping reduce urban air temperatures, providing building insulation, and creating habitat for wildlife.
Green Building Products:• Supply green building products to the growing green construction industry
Example: EpOxyGreen in Venice, California60
52.
Green Landscaping and Green Plumbing8.
People with backgrounds in plumbing or landscaping are in high demand as buildings look to conserve water and reduce their energy consumption. Water and energy efficiency are prerequisites for the increasingly valuable LEED certification, expanding demand for these services even further. Many consumers are also considering alternatives to grass lawns, which require significant amounts of water (about one third of residential water use in America)61 and chemicals to maintain. Gas-powered mowers make grass lawns even bigger environmental liabilities, polluting as much in one hour a car does during a 20-mile drive.62 Green landscaping can minimize chemical, fossil fuel, and water inputs.
Conserving water is particularly important. Climate change and an ever-expanding human population are squeezing the supply of potable water.63 More than a billion people worldwide have no access to clean drinking water, a point that is likely to lead to political tension and instability as the demand for water grows. The U.S. is a leading waster of water, nearly doubling Europe’s water consumption (7:4) and completely dwarfing sub-Saharan Africa’s (70:4).64 Inefficient plumbing and wasteful landscape irrigation are major culprits in America’s water waste. That means that green plumbers and landscapers have a prime opportunity to save consumers money while conserving one of our most important natural resources.
Potential Business Opportunities pportunities :
Green Landscaping:• Help property owners protect the environment, conserve water, and have beautiful gardens.65
Example: Middlebrook Gardens in San Jose, California66
Native-Plant Nursery:• Grow and sell drought-resistant native plants in your community.
Green Garden & Lawn Retail:• Offer environmentally friendly lawn and garden care products.67
Green Plumbing:• 68 Install tankless water heaters, low-flow toilets, and passive solar water heating systems in client buildings.
Example: Green Plumbers, LLC in Los Angeles, California69
Green Plumbing Retail:• Become a retailer of and advocate for low-flow, water-
61. Retrieved
efficient toilets,70 tankless water heaters, and passive solar water heaters in your community.
Green Information Technology (IT) 9.
Computers and other IT products (e.g., data switches, routers and servers) are essential to many businesses operating in the world today. Many medium and large businesses dedicate significant space to this equipment, creating data centers in centralized, secure, temperature-controlled conditions. Most companies are looking to save money by reducing the costs associated with their data center operations, which have significant power requirements, without sacrificing quality or security.
This creates a number of green business opportunities for IT specialists, many of whom have been recently laid off due to the recession. It is also an excellent opportunity for those looking to start a new career in the IT field. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment for administrators of computer networks, systems, and databases is expected to increase as much as 53% leading up to 2018.71 IT careers also provide good wages; the median annual salary of network systems and data communication analysts was $71,100 in May 2008.72 And these opportunities are available to people from diverse educational backgrounds. Some IT career paths require only an associate’s degree, perhaps with minimal vocational training or technical certification.73
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Efficiency Consulting:• Offer businesses analysis of their data centers’ energy consumption and propose cost-saving changes.
Example: MegaWatt Consulting in Reno, Nevada74
Green Data Center Design and Construction•
IT Training: • Enhance overall efficiency by teaching best practices to IT teams at large corporations.
E-Cycling:• Recycle electronic waste.
Example: Earth E-Cycle in Tulsa, Oklahoma75
Green, Grassroots Community Lending and Microfinancing10.
Many great business ideas never take shape due simply to a lack of access to capital. In particular, entrepreneurs in low-income and distressed communities find it nearly impossible to borrow money from traditional banks. They often lack credit history or sufficient collateral, and may be asking for a loan too small to be considered. This presents opportunities for socially responsible entrepreneurs to make seed funds available at low rates.
Supporting green entrepreneurs in distressed communities can stimulate economic development, scale green jobs, and reverse the environmental degradation of urban centers.
If you are a trusted, well-connected member of your local community with a financial background, consider launching a non-profit green microfinancing institution (MFI) or a green microlending program. There are a few different models of microfinance and microlending, so we recommend you contact organizations that can help you get started.76
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Green Microfinancing:• Start a green microfinancing institution to fund new entrepreneurs who aim to enhance environmental quality and social equity.
Example: Grameen America in New York City, which offers loans to low income entrepreneurs.77
Community Lending Circle:• Organize a community lending circle with fellow women, fellow community members, or fellow immigrants.78
Example: Cesta Populares in San Francisco, California79
Online Finance Community: • Start an online community to connect green U.S. microfinance institutions and green lending circles so that more low-income entrepreneurs can benefit from this model of community green financing.
Example: Seattle Microfinance Organization in Seattle, Washington80
Many forms of transportation (such as traditional, gasoline-engine cars) contribute to climate change by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Gas-powered cars also create smog in our cities, which can harm overall public health. Starting a business that offers alternative transportation solutions can benefit both the environment and community health. You can do this in any number of ways, from something as simple as fixing up old bikes to something more ambitious like starting up a green cab company in your city.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Electric Bike and Scooter Dealership• 31
Refurbishing Bicycles: • Refurbish and sell used bikes.
Example: Bikes 4 Life in Oakland, California32
Community Bike-Share Program• 33
Example: SmartBike DC34
Green Cab Company: • Use hybrid vehicles to help people get where they’re going.
Promoting Alternative Transportation:• Start a non-profit to find innovative ways to promote alternative forms of transportation.
Example: Nuride offers rewards (e.g., restaurant coupons, retailer discounts, tickets to shows) to online community members for transportation choices that reduce greenhouse gases.35
Car-Sharing Program• 36
Green Product Innovation and Consumer Goods Retail4.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the health and environmental impacts of the products they use every day (e.g., the enormous amounts of water and pesticides required to produce cotton).37 Demand for safe, effective, non-toxic products that do not harm the environment is steadily growing. Opportunities abound for innovative entrepreneurs to meet this demand with home-based businesses.
30.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Organic Clothes:• Design and produce organic clothes for babies and adults using sustainable materials like organic cotton and natural dyes.
Example: WilloToons in San Francisco, California38
Online Retail:• Take advantage of a growing market by selling goods online, such as sustainable baby goods or green home and bath products.
Example: Black Energy in Atlanta, Georgia39
Natural Make-Up and Body Care:• Market all-natural make-up and body care products, made from organic ingredients and not tested on animals.
Example: Sweet Beginnings in Chicago, Illinois40
Green Everyday Products:• Develop daily-use products that help consumers cut their greenhouse gas emissions, minimize waste and reduce their exposure to toxins.
Example: reusable water bottles, biodegradable containers, biodegradable trash bags
Green Home- and Office-Cleaning Services5.
As awareness about the health and environmental impacts of toxic substances grows, so does the demand for fewer toxins in the home and workplace. Toxic cleaning agents can be harmful to humans, particularly janitors, house cleaners, and residents in buildings where volatile organic compounds (VOC) may affect indoor air quality. Some toxic ingredients in cleansers not only can harm those in the buildings where they are used, but can pollute the greater environment and adversely impact community water quality as well.41 Many businesses are implementing new sustainability initiatives that address employee health, create safe workplaces, and reduce the environmental impacts of their operations. These businesses, as well as concerned residents, are creating a market for cleaning companies that use environmentally friendly cleaning products and techniques.42
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Green Housecleaning: • Offer green housecleaning services using all-natural and biodegradable cleaning supplies.43
Example: Home Green Home in San Francisco, California44
Green Janitorial Services:• Offer green janitorial service for offices or schools.
Example: EnviroClean USA in Atlanta, Georgia 45
38.
Train and Certify Green Cleaners: • Start a training and certification program for low-income residents to open their own green cleaning businesses, or to green their existing cleaning businesses with new products and techniques.
Example: Urban Solutions in San Francisco, California46
Become Part of the ReUse Revolution!6.
Recycling is a great alternative to throwing things away, but reusing materials is even better. Making new consumer goods from landfill-bound materials reduces waste, preserves space in overflowing landfills, and curbs global warming. Remaking consumer goods (also called upcycling) is also becoming hip as entrepreneurs find ways to make fashion statements with recycled clothing and salvaged furniture. And a niche market is growing within the construction industry for used building materials.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Salvage: • Become a salvage expert, removing, selling, and installing used building materials for a profit.47
Example: Heritage Salvage in Petaluma, California48
Furniture: • Make furniture out of scrap materials, or refurbish old furniture to be sold as improved.
Clothes: • Design and produce clothes from recycled or used fabrics.49
Example: Ekologic in Troy, New York 50
Energy-Efficient Homes and Green Building Retrofits7.
With energy costs rising at an alarming rate, many homeowners and businesses are turning to efficiency experts to help them reduce their monthly utility bills. Increasing efficiency not only cuts costs, it also helps the environment. American buildings are responsible for one-third of the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions; they consume more than 60% of America’s electricity. Constructing and operating buildings also takes an environmental toll, requiring large amounts of raw materials and water.51 By bringing existing buildings up to current standards, we can avoid constructing new buildings, drastically reducing raw materials consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Public and private investors are working to expand the opportunities in this field further. For example, John Doerr, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, was recently quoted in the New York Times proposing a “Cash for Caulkers” program akin to the successful “Cash for Clunkers” automobile trade-in program. “Cash for Caulkers” is the kind of policy innovation we are seeing more of—putting unemployed contractors and construction
workers back to work making America’s homes more energy efficient.52 A number of tax incentives already encourage businesses and homeowners to make energy-efficiency upgrades to their buildings,53 and more incentives are likely in the future.
Those with backgrounds in construction, roofing, electrical engineering, or architecture have a range of opportunities to start new businesses in the booming green building and energy-efficiency fields. Those with little or no experience have the chance to gain skills and create their own career opportunities.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Energy Audits: • Offer energy audits that help homeowners and businesses improve energy efficiency and save money on their utility bills.54
Duct Cleaning and Repair: • Improve indoor air quality and seal up leaks, which increases energy efficiency.55
Green Retrofits: • Perform energy-efficiency and green building retrofits (e.g., weatherization, solar panel installation and solar thermal installation) to help building owners reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing the value of their property.56
Example: Recurve in San Francisco, California57
Cool Roofing:• 58 Install cool roofs, made from materials that reflect the sun’s heat instead of allowing a building to absorb that heat. Cool roofs increase energy efficiency and reduce the heat-island effect in urban areas. Cool roof installations comply with green building codes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Green Roofing:• 59 Install green roofs (or “living roofs”) covered with vegetation and soil. Green roofs have many environmental and energy-efficiency benefits, helping reduce urban air temperatures, providing building insulation, and creating habitat for wildlife.
Green Building Products:• Supply green building products to the growing green construction industry
Example: EpOxyGreen in Venice, California60
52.
Green Landscaping and Green Plumbing8.
People with backgrounds in plumbing or landscaping are in high demand as buildings look to conserve water and reduce their energy consumption. Water and energy efficiency are prerequisites for the increasingly valuable LEED certification, expanding demand for these services even further. Many consumers are also considering alternatives to grass lawns, which require significant amounts of water (about one third of residential water use in America)61 and chemicals to maintain. Gas-powered mowers make grass lawns even bigger environmental liabilities, polluting as much in one hour a car does during a 20-mile drive.62 Green landscaping can minimize chemical, fossil fuel, and water inputs.
Conserving water is particularly important. Climate change and an ever-expanding human population are squeezing the supply of potable water.63 More than a billion people worldwide have no access to clean drinking water, a point that is likely to lead to political tension and instability as the demand for water grows. The U.S. is a leading waster of water, nearly doubling Europe’s water consumption (7:4) and completely dwarfing sub-Saharan Africa’s (70:4).64 Inefficient plumbing and wasteful landscape irrigation are major culprits in America’s water waste. That means that green plumbers and landscapers have a prime opportunity to save consumers money while conserving one of our most important natural resources.
Potential Business Opportunities pportunities :
Green Landscaping:• Help property owners protect the environment, conserve water, and have beautiful gardens.65
Example: Middlebrook Gardens in San Jose, California66
Native-Plant Nursery:• Grow and sell drought-resistant native plants in your community.
Green Garden & Lawn Retail:• Offer environmentally friendly lawn and garden care products.67
Green Plumbing:• 68 Install tankless water heaters, low-flow toilets, and passive solar water heating systems in client buildings.
Example: Green Plumbers, LLC in Los Angeles, California69
Green Plumbing Retail:• Become a retailer of and advocate for low-flow, water-
61. Retrieved
efficient toilets,70 tankless water heaters, and passive solar water heaters in your community.
Green Information Technology (IT) 9.
Computers and other IT products (e.g., data switches, routers and servers) are essential to many businesses operating in the world today. Many medium and large businesses dedicate significant space to this equipment, creating data centers in centralized, secure, temperature-controlled conditions. Most companies are looking to save money by reducing the costs associated with their data center operations, which have significant power requirements, without sacrificing quality or security.
This creates a number of green business opportunities for IT specialists, many of whom have been recently laid off due to the recession. It is also an excellent opportunity for those looking to start a new career in the IT field. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment for administrators of computer networks, systems, and databases is expected to increase as much as 53% leading up to 2018.71 IT careers also provide good wages; the median annual salary of network systems and data communication analysts was $71,100 in May 2008.72 And these opportunities are available to people from diverse educational backgrounds. Some IT career paths require only an associate’s degree, perhaps with minimal vocational training or technical certification.73
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Efficiency Consulting:• Offer businesses analysis of their data centers’ energy consumption and propose cost-saving changes.
Example: MegaWatt Consulting in Reno, Nevada74
Green Data Center Design and Construction•
IT Training: • Enhance overall efficiency by teaching best practices to IT teams at large corporations.
E-Cycling:• Recycle electronic waste.
Example: Earth E-Cycle in Tulsa, Oklahoma75
Green, Grassroots Community Lending and Microfinancing10.
Many great business ideas never take shape due simply to a lack of access to capital. In particular, entrepreneurs in low-income and distressed communities find it nearly impossible to borrow money from traditional banks. They often lack credit history or sufficient collateral, and may be asking for a loan too small to be considered. This presents opportunities for socially responsible entrepreneurs to make seed funds available at low rates.
Supporting green entrepreneurs in distressed communities can stimulate economic development, scale green jobs, and reverse the environmental degradation of urban centers.
If you are a trusted, well-connected member of your local community with a financial background, consider launching a non-profit green microfinancing institution (MFI) or a green microlending program. There are a few different models of microfinance and microlending, so we recommend you contact organizations that can help you get started.76
POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Green Microfinancing:• Start a green microfinancing institution to fund new entrepreneurs who aim to enhance environmental quality and social equity.
Example: Grameen America in New York City, which offers loans to low income entrepreneurs.77
Community Lending Circle:• Organize a community lending circle with fellow women, fellow community members, or fellow immigrants.78
Example: Cesta Populares in San Francisco, California79
Online Finance Community: • Start an online community to connect green U.S. microfinance institutions and green lending circles so that more low-income entrepreneurs can benefit from this model of community green financing.
Example: Seattle Microfinance Organization in Seattle, Washington80
