75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference. Glenn Croston
higher efficiencies probably will be more expensive when first introduced and may find their first uses in electronic devices rather than rooftop solar panels.
INNOVATION TO GO
One opportunity might be using solar-concentrator technology in the mobile solarcharger market. Using a reflective surface to capture more energy might keep the cost down, minimizing the amount of actual photovoltaic material required, solar concentrators are gaining interest for other applications and might be useful here as well. ❦
One limitation for mobile solar chargers is that they will require users to pack another item adding weight and complexity to the trip. Who wants to carry another bag with your laptop? What really makes consumers go gaga is an innovation that makes power a given, something they do not have to think about, something built right into the device. Integrating solar in a device means never having to say your battery is dead. Calculators have been this way for a long time; why not your blender or other household appliance? More and more items that today are powered by batteries or plugged in with a cord will run off solar power in the future. Think LED (light-emitting diode) flashlights with solar panels on the handle. Because you usually don’t use a flashlight every day, having it charge slowly may be enough for it to be ready when needed (as long as it is not in a drawer or closet).
A few of the opportunities for mobile solar power include:
Ultimately, power should be so integrated that it just happens without any thought. Batteries never run out because solar recharging is built into the devices. Going green in this case means freedom—freedom from the grid, and freedom to use gizmos whenever and wherever you want. As long as the sun shines and the urban WiFi never fails, you can sit in the park Googling all day long.
CHAPTER 2
Seeding Entrepreneurial Green Careers
Being entrepreneurial is more than starting your own business. It’s about taking charge and trailblazing a path forward, and this can happen anywhere. Employees work as entrepreneurs inside businesses or government, taking risks and innovating to create change. The evolution of the modern economy forces us to be entrepreneurial in our daily work. Globalization, outsourcing, telecommuting, the internet, and the flattening of hierarchies have hastened the evolution of the company man of the 1950s into the one-man, mobile work force of today. We can’t rest on our laurels, slowly rising up the career escalator based on our years of service. Today to survive, we must get out in front and live the change we want to see in our organization and our world.
Eco-entrepreneurial individuals in government, business, and nonprofits are engineering sustainability from the inside out, but what starts as an inside job need not stop there. The evolution of work blurs the line, and the green wave you start in your company may soon carry you to start your own business.
One place where eco-entrepreneurs are engineering change is in our schools, remodeling them inside and out (Opportunity 11). More efficient and healthier school buildings are just the start. Teachers are using green schools to prepare kids for a greener world ahead.
Eco-entrepreneurs also are working inside corporations in every industry, helping businesses ride the green wave. More and more businesses are finding environmental issues to be such an important challenge, and opportunity, that they are creating the position of chief sustainability officer (CSO) to lead the way (Opportunity 12). The CSO ensures the corporation complies with environmental regulations; deals with risks from climate change and pollution; looks for opportunities to save money through improved efficiency; and finds growth opportunities that the green revolution creates. The CSO cannot fake it or just go through the motions. When creating a vision for how the company will look in the green future, the successful CSO expresses his/her sincere vision of a sustainable world.
Another center of green change is the nonprofit world. Environmental nonprofits are not new—they have successfully moved policy, regulation, and action on many occasions. Now climate change has re-invigorated environmental activists, but at the same time, some are questioning if nonprofits are as effective as they could be. The proliferation of small groups with a fragmented, disjointed effort may not be effective in meeting a global problem such as climate change that requires decades or even centuries of effort. Helping nonprofits to be more effective, measuring their outcomes, and investing funds with the most productive methods will ensure that philanthropy delivers results (Opportunity 13).
Government stands smack in the middle of the green wave, creating laws and regulations about how we interact with the natural world. Some people wish government would get out of the way, while others wish it would do more. Governments at the local, state, and regional level in the United States have crafted plans to address climate change, and action at the federal level seems inevitable. We need sound government action that addresses these problems even as it encourages robust economic growth. Green lobbyists shape legislation and regulation on environmental issues at all levels of government (Opportunity 14).
We associate the green movement with clean flowing water, pristine mountain peaks, and solar panels. Lawyers may not be the first resource that comes to mind when thinking of the environment, but many green battles often are fought with legal papers. As companies increasingly become motivated to do the right thing, there are fewer battles, and opportunities abound for green lawyers working as partners with businesses to address environmental issues upfront (Opportunity 16).
The dramatic upswing in green business also has led to an upswing in the demand for innovative solutions that eco-entrepreneurs can use in their businesses. Universities are a key source of innovation, with university tech-transfer groups (Opportunity 15) ensuring that academic inventions don’t stay academic, but continue to seed the green businesses that will drive continued long-term economic growth.
Opportunities for entrepreneurial individuals to do right and do well are not limited to these; they are everywhere. Answers often lie right in front of us. Even if the first step is small, do something green at work today. Plant a seed of change, care for it, and watch it grow. Don’t worry about what people will say; before long, they will be joining in as the opportunities grow from the seed that you planted. That’s being entrepreneurial.
OPPORTUNITY 11 Green Schools and Teachers
| The Market Need | Teaching kids to work and live in a green world |
| The Mission | Work as a green teacher and build green schools |
| Knowledge to Start | Education, sustainability |
| Capital Required | $ (to start as a teacher), $$$$ (to start as a school) |
| Timing to Start | Months to years |
| Special Challenges | Being a green teacher or providing green supplies happens quickly; building schools takes time |
Kids are merciless. When they learn something at school and bring it home, they won’t let it go until they are satisfied that their families get it. Take recycling. The