Green Business

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Green Business Resources

Being a green business is now becoming mainstream in America.

Table of Contents

Overview: Green Business:
Green Resources:
Financing Options:

Overview: Green Business:

Over the past few years, we have seen this niche market grow into a billion dollar industry and it does not seem to be slowing any time soon.

Being green is something that you just cannot pay lip service too if you want your customers to perceive your business as being green.

You actually have to either provide actual green products and services and/or be as green as you can within your own company.

According to Wikipedia; "A sustainable business, or green business, is an enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy - a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:

It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.
It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replace demand for non-green products and/or services.
It is greener than traditional competition.
It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.

A sustainable business is any organization that participates in environmentally-friendly or green activities to ensure that all processes, products, and manufacturing activities adequately address current environmental concerns while maintaining a profit. In other words, it is a business that "meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs." It is the process of assessing how to design products that will take advantage of the current environmental situation and how well a company's products perform with renewable resources.

The Brundtland Report emphasized that sustainability is a three-legged stool of people, planet, and profit. Sustainable businesses with the supply chain try to balance all three through the triple-bottom-line concept-using sustainable development and sustainable distribution to impact the environment, business growth, and the society. Everyone affects the sustainability of the marketplace and the planet in some way. Sustainable development within a business can create value for customers, investors, and the environment. A sustainable business must meet customer needs while, at the same time, treating the environment well."

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Green Resources:

Greener World Media, Inc. - A leading provider of news, information and resources for the green business industry. Their goals are to better help your business align with the environment while still achieving economic success.

Their flagship product - GreenBiz.com

Other resources include:

Green Team USA - A full service advertising agency helping green businesses promote their brand that protect people, planet, and profits.

LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) - Helps businesses and individuals market to and educate consumers of health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice.

Green Order - a strategy and management consulting firm specializing in sustainable business.

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Financing Options:

Most of the normal or alternative financing options for any business are also available to your green business, provided it can service that financing (make payments or provide a return). But, these financing resources don't really care if your business is green or not - they just want to be repaid.

These include:

Business Loans | Asset Based Loans | Working Capital | Alternative Loans

The following are financing sources specifically for green businesses:

New Resource Bank - A full service financial bank with services for individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations. The founders of this organization are leaders in the green community who understand responsible, sustainable businesses.

DBL Investors - A double bottom line investors fund providing small amounts of seed capital to "companies that can deliver market-rate venture capital returns while enabling social, environmental and economic improvement in the San Francisco Bay Area's low and moderate income neighborhoods."

Omidyar Network - Provides seed capital and micro-loans to individuals and businesses to help develop "innovative organizations to catalyze economic, social, and political change."

Khosla Ventures - A venture assistance firm that "offers venture assistance, strategic advice and capital to entrepreneurs. (in). clean technology areas such as solar, battery, high efficiency engines, lighting, greener materials like cement, glass and bio-refineries for energy and bioplastics, and other environmentally friendly technologies as well as traditional venture areas like the Internet, computing, mobile and silicon technology arenas."

Your might even try to find and qualify for business grants designed specifically for socially conscience and environmental friendly business.

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