Green Businesses You Can Start Now!

In honor of Earth Week, why not start a “Green” business?  There are many ideas for Green Businesses – 75 of them, in fact.  From Glenn Croston’s book 75 Green Businesses you Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference, here are some great business ideas.  I have selected businesses that are:

• Home-based (most of them)
• Easy to start
• Require little capital (most of them)

For example:

Green Schools and Teachers. You could make a nice living going into schools and talking to students at all levels about the environment and how they can live and work in a more environmentally friendly way.

Green Homes and Businesses. If you are handy with fixing things or doing repairs, you could start a business to make homes and offices more environmentally friendly.  Repairing appliances, adding insulation, changing light fixtures, cleaning out ducts and fireplaces all can improve the environment, and give you a nice income.

Helping Businesses Go Green. Businesses need help making their workplaces more environmentally friendly and you could be the person who provides that help.  You could show people how to go “paperless,” re-design their packaging (finding them eco-friendly packaging), using green building materials, and furnishing their offices with recycled furniture.

Green Food. Several ideas from Dr. Croston’s book were appealing. For example, if you have a green thumb, try organic local gardening and selling at a farmer’s market this summer.  Or garden on a larger scale and set up a co-op where people come and buy produce you have picked.  How about creating eco-friendly fast food to sell to local supermarkets?  Lots of ideas here. Croston also mentions that people can learn more about green farming methods, using methane, creating green fish farms,

Green Services. My favorite idea is a green Bed and Breakfast.  Imagine the wonderful organic food and the green products.  How about starting a green cleaning service or an eco-salon, where the products are all environmentally friendly.  You could start a green restaurant or coffee/tea shop.  I get great Free Trade coffeee that tastes fantastic.  If Starbucks can have green products, why not?

Green Travel. For travel enthusiasts, become a green tour guide and take people around the glove to view wildlife or see the tropical rain forests before they disappear.  Or organize cruises to places like the Galapagos or Antarctica or an African safari, where people can see vanishing species.

The ideas are limited only by your imagination.  I hope I gave you some ideas to think about.

Images: StockXpert

and awottawa at sxc