Image by Sarah Grice via Flickr

Mark my words: Green technology is going to fuel our economy more than anything for the next 10-20 years. If America takes the bulls by the horn and becomes the global leader of green technology we would be able to take our technology to every country in the world.

The businesses that take advantage of this will become extremely wealthy.

1. Green Shuttle Service. Utah has a shuttle that goes from Vegas to St. George, and I think even to Salt Lake. They charge about $45 per trip. I live in Ohio, now but I always thought that would be a good business to turn green.Many states don't have travel solutions to get between major metropolitan areas. The idea here is to get a fleet of vans and drivers to drive people around the state, and perhaps even to the nearest big cities on the bordering states.  You would use modified vehicles that burn biodiesel or hydrogen or electricity, and help the environment.
2. Green Taxi Service.  Start a taxi service using cars that have a low carbon imprint.
3. Green upscale restaurant delivery service. There are many companies that will pick up food from different local restaurants and deliver that food for a fee. This saves gas and time for the person ordering, and is a way to make a lot of cash.Most companies charge a flat fee of $5-10 per delivery, and a percentage of the order amount.
4. Green Business Consulting.  There are many ways that a business can go green, helping businesses maximize their green awareness, or minimize their carbon footprint is a great green business waiting to be started.
5. Home Energy Consultant. Along the same lines as the previous entry, only this would be helping homeowners live greener lives, and energy proof their homes.
6. Renewable Energy Installer. Install wind turbines and solar panels for homes and businesses.
7. Green Teacher. Teach a community class on what people can do at home to save on energy costs, and help the environment.
8. Green Tech Blog. Blog about green technology, provide the best resources on the industry, and make a difference in the industry.
9. Green Cleaning Service. Most cleaning supplies involve using dangerous chemicals that are bad for the environment, not to mention our health. Start a cleaning business cleaning homes and businesses using 100% eco-friendly cleaning supplies.
10. Water-safe landscaping. I lived in Arizona for awhile. In the western states the trend is to forgo grass for a rock garden type landscape. This can be very beautiful if done right. This is a great business to conserve water, which is a needed resource that is dwindling world-wide.
11. Eco-friendly Dry Cleaner. There aren't many of these yet, so it'd be a great way to get a foot in the world of green businesses.
12. Green Car Rentals. Self-explanatory, but very profitable.
13. Organic / Green Catering Service. Organic foods are generally bought locally meaning lower carbon imprint via trucking. They also help the environment because they involve less chemicals.
14. Organic Fast Food Restaurant. Make a fast food restaurant that is not only convenient, but healthy, tasty, and green!
15. Green Publishing Company. Make flyers, brochures, etc using recycled paper, cardstock, vegetable based inks, etc...
16. Electronic Recycling Company.  This industry has become a multi-billion dollar industry recently as newer and better electronics are constantly replacing their counterparts of only a few years. Here is a very good e-cycling business plan starter document in pdf.
17. CNG Gas Station Owner. CNG(Compressed Natural Gas) is a big part of Pickens Plan - which you may have seen ads for recently. Of course many say that it's because he has large stake in a CNG company, but CNG does have a better carbon imprint than petroleum, and would help us get off foreign oil. The problem right now with CNG is the lack of CNG fueling stations, so this may be a hot business to start in the coming years.

On top of all of these ideas is the fact that ANY business can be greener. All it takes is some ingenuity. If every corporation would just switch to recycled paper, that would make a huge change in the global carbon imprint.

If every company would recycle their electronics, or use hybrids for their fleet vehicles, or energy proof their businesses, use renewable energy, etc... There's many things that can be done in the business sector to further the green industry - be creative.

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