6 Green Business Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Global warming is on the rise. We have overfilled landfills, sea life is suffering and there is an island of plastic in the ocean the size of Texas. So it’s safe to say that something drastic needs to be done. 

One way to help arrest the decline is for more businesses to be led by green initiatives. There are a number out there who are seeing huge profits by running a green-based business model.  

But what is a good green business? We’ll take you through 6 green business ideas for entrepreneurs. 

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

1. Eco-Friendly Fashion

2. Green Consulting 

3. Upcycled Furniture

4. Sustainable Construction Materials

5. Local Food Growth

6. Organic Beauty Products

Key Takeaways

1. Eco-Friendly Fashion

The fashion industry is famed for having a negative impact on the environment. Both in promoting the wasteful trend of ‘fast fashion’ and the way in which they source their materials.

But we’ve recently seen a huge rise of businesses basing their model on eco-friendly and sustainable materials. 

There has been a huge demand for sustainable fashion with green business practices. This has been reflected in the market. Sustainable brands collectively made $6.35 billion in 2019. This is predicted to grow to $8.25 billion by 2023.

2. Green Consulting 

The pressure for businesses to adopt sustainable, green practices is high and is only going to get higher. 

Not wanting to be left behind or lose customers, businesses all over the world are seeking out ways to become greener. 

This has seen a huge demand for green consulting experts who will come into a business and implement ways to make a company greener. 

They will look to cut their energy costs, their carbon footprint and help them become a more eco-friendly company overall.

3. Upcycled Furniture

The idea of upcycling has recently become widespread.

People are becoming more and more aware of the environmental impact of disposing of material things into landfill sites. 

Upcycling furniture is one way to help with this. Though it is sometimes seen as something people would only do as a hobby, we are seeing more and more people base businesses out of the process. 

With a low acquisition cost, a high resale value and plenty of demand, there are fantastic profit margins to be made in upcycling.

4. Sustainable Construction Materials

The construction industry is not something that would normally go hand in hand with sustainability. 

But some companies are now trying to change that trend. They are doing this by providing recycled materials for use in projects like infrastructure repair.

They are steering away from using non-sustainable materials like steel and concrete. Instead, they are looking to use recycled materials for construction. These materials provide results that are on par with normal construction methods. 

5. Local Food Growth

There has been a rise in the U.S. of direct, local food production and sales. 

Local goods and organic food are great ways to stimulate the local economy. They also produce much less waste than large producers do. Large producers contribute to the problem from packaging, large-scale production and worldwide transportation. 

It is possible to start a business with just a small garden and a table at a local farmers market for very low overheads. From there you can grow a local business that can eventually scale up. 

6. Organic Beauty Products

Similar to the fashion industry, the beauty and makeup industry has a bad reputation for all things ethical and sustainable.

We are now starting to see a shift away from testing on animals and a large carbon footprint, and more towards organic products. 

The global natural cosmetics market is estimated to be worth $36bn in 2019 and is now predicted to grow to $54bn by 2027. So there is clearly huge demand and potential for green products.

Key Takeaways

Having sustainable business practices is morally important. But with environmental laws being implemented throughout the world, it’s now financially important too. 

It’s also interesting to see that customers are becoming more environmentally conscious. They are tending to prefer brands that they see as taking forward-thinking steps to go green. 

This goes to show that now is the perfect time to start up a ‘Green Business’. 

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices? 

Then check out our resource hub.

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