A lot of people feel torn between their goal to be an entrepreneur and their desire to make the world a better place.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to choose between the two!
There are a lot of green business ideas where you can earn and income in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Let’s take a look at ten green business opportunities.
1. Eco-friendly Landscaping
What is eco-friendly landscaping?
You’ll want to determine exactly what you mean by the phrase while planning your business. The first things you might consider are avoiding the use of gas-powered tools as well as chemicals and pesticides.
If you really want to wow your clients with your sustainable practices, consider incorporating ideas and plans from permaculture design.
2. Ethical Retail Store
People are becoming increasingly skeptical of fast fashion, but that doesn’t mean they want to stop shopping entirely.
Instead, they want to buy items that were handmade, from quality materials, by someone being paid a fair wage, in an ethical manner. Starting a shop that houses handpicked products from ethical companies is an awesome sustainable business idea. Just be sure to do your research and locate your brick and mortar store in a place where the market will appreciate what you have to offer.
3. Second-Hand Store
Who doesn’t love a great thrift store?
Having a second-hand store is the ultimate green business. Not only are the items being saved from the landfill, but the purchaser isn’t buying a newly produced product.
When you think of just how much stuff has already been manufactured in the last several decades, it really makes sense to make use of what already exists. If you’re a dedicated environmentalist, having a second-hand store is the perfect entrepreneurial endeavor.
4. Green Housekeeping Services
Many cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that are unhealthy and pollute our air. For this reason, it’s more and more common for households to use greener options.
Starting a green cleaning business is an excellent service business for an environmentalist. Not only is there increasing demand for this service, but it’s also a business that’s easily scalable.
5. Environmental Blogger
If you feel like your strength lies in your ideas, becoming an environmental blogger might be the right choice for you.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to what kind of blog you could start. You could review green products, report on environmental news, or share homemade recipes for natural household and beauty products.
6. Furniture Upcycler
This is a great sustainable business idea for an artistic or crafty entrepreneur.
A lot of time old furniture still has many years left to live, but aesthetically it looks a little worse for wear. Furniture upcyclers take objects that others are giving away or selling cheaply and give them a second life.
You have a couple of different options when it comes to selling your upcycled furniture. You could utilize sites like Craiglist or you could sell your wares in a physical store. If it’s overkill for you to have your own store, contact local artisan or second-hand shops to see if they’d be interested in selling your furniture.
7. Green App or Software Developer
Green business opportunities don’t have to be low-tech by definition. On the contrary, a lot of people are looking to technology for green solutions.
If you have a great app or software idea that could aid in people’s ability to live a sustainable lifestyle, you might just be able to capitalize on the idea while making the world a better place.
If you’re a tech expert, you no doubt have used Dropbox many times. If you’ve never used this app on a mac, there’s a handy guide at https://setapp.com/how-to/use-dropbox-on-mac to show you how.
8. Eco-friendly Beauty Salon
People are becoming increasingly aware that many shampoos, conditioners, and hair products contain harsh, unhealthy chemicals.
This is one of the green business opportunities that could be used to retrofit an existing business. If you already have a salon but are becoming increasingly skeptical of mainstream hair care products, consider making a transition to a more sustainable business.
9. Green Consulting
Have you already ran successful sustainable businesses? Or are you more of an ideas person than a doer? Consider starting a green consultation business.
As a green consultant, you help others who are starting businesses who want to be both successful and sustainable. You’ll also advise companies that already exist and are hoping to transition into ethical and eco-friendly practices.
10. Composting
If you’re the type of person who prefers to get their hands dirty, this might be the job for you.
By starting a composting business, you can help save food scraps from going to the landfill. Food scraps and landscaping waste instead get broken down into organic material which can be reused, thus returning the nutrients to the earth.
You can either service residential homes, commercial businesses, or both. One of the great things about composting as a business is that you can charge for the service of picking up the compost as well as sell the broken down compost to farms and gardeners.
Green Business Ideas: Start a Business You Believe In
This list is only a small representation of the types of sustainable businesses you could start. Brainstorm about what you like, what you dislike, your strengths, your weaknesses, and your main sustainability goals. Using that information you can think critically about which businesses are a reasonable possibility and which really wouldn’t make sense for you.
If you love this article about green business ideas, be sure to check out the rest of our blog for more environmentally friendly content!
