5 Green Trends for Small Business

Consumers and governments are driving a rapidly growing movement away from disposable plastic bags to more eco-friendly alternatives. Reusable bags that dont get thrown away probably are the greenest option for shopping bags. If you already own a store, selling bags with your logo on the side might be a savvy green business move, and giving them away might even pay off. With that bag, you buy increased brand recognition for your company, you associate your brand with being green, and you may create increased loyalty.

At first, people might worry about how they look carrying their own bags. Cool designer bags will help overcome this concern. One of the neat things about bags is that they are so simple and yet people are endlessly creative with them. The opportunity is to create not just bags, but green fashion statements. Some bags even are made from recycled material, for an extra boost of greenness. Maybe thats another use for old T-shirts. What if, from the start, green grocery bags were made to be returned in some other form, a cradle-to-cradle shopping bag?

Opportunities for green shopping bags include:

Producing low-cost compostable shopping bagsCreating reusable logo bags for stores to give awayDesigning novel bags for shoppingDeveloping fold-up bags that are easy to take with youProducing homemade bags from recycled material

Environmental MicrofinanceThe Market Need:Microenterprises in the developing world can have a significant environmental impactThe Mission:Support development of environmentally sound microenterprisesKnowledge to Start:Finance, sustainabilityCapital Required:$10,000 to $99,000Timing to Start:Months to yearsSpecial Challenges:Influencing the direction of large numbers of microenterprises

Surprisingly small amounts of money can make a substantial difference in peoples lives. With loans as small as $100, people in the developing world can start their own business and move out of poverty. By supporting environmentally sound microbusinesses, green microfinance is mobilizing a grassroots green revolution in the developing world while also spurring green business in the developed world.

Microfinance works, and the rate of repayment on microfinance loans is high. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and its founder Professor Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for work with microfinance, validating that it can change the lives of the entrepreneurial poor.

Opportunities for green microfinance include:

Forming nonprofit organizations in the developed world that support microfinance effortsConsulting and raising money to support the growth of green microfinance institutions in the developing worldForming microfinance organizations that support environmentally-sound business practices in the developing world

Green Building CertificationThe Market Need:As the number of green buildings grows, their true effect on the environment needs to be measuredThe Mission:Rate green homes and buildingsKnowledge to Start:LEED professional accreditation, or knowledge of other green rating systemsCapital Required:Under $10,000Timing to Start:Months to yearsSpecial Challenges:There are still relatively few green buildings, although the number is growing quickly

What makes a building green? Green is a big word these days and sometimes green is in the eye of the beholder. What seems green to one person can appear downright gray to someone else. To ensure buildings are as green as people say they are, independent verification and certification of homes and buildings are needed.

To provide this independent certification green-building groups have developed rating systems. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the leading system for the certification of green buildings in the United States, broadly adopted as the standard by the burgeoning green-building community.

Opportunities in green building certification include:

Creating a business helping green builders through the LEED certification processDeveloping a business commissioning green buildingsTraining teams to maintain green commercial and industrial buildingsPerforming inspections and creating green reports for homes when they are sold

Glenn Croston , Ph.D., is a veteran scientist, green entrepreneur and the author of 75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference , available from Entrepreneur Press . He has written five biology and chemistry books and is involved in developing entrepreneurial businesses with a focus on green research. He lives an eco-friendly life in both his business and at home. Visitstartingupgreen.comfor more information on how you can become a green entrepreneur.