In the past few years, environmental awareness has been growing steadily to the point where many consumers now consider it when making their purchases. They want to know that the companies they are doing business with are being responsible with their practices. In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review, 65 percent of consumers said they want to buy products that were developed with sustainability in mind.
If you’re planning to start your own business sometime in the future, sustainability should be one of your main considerations. To help you out, here are a few of the best eco-friendly businesses you can start.
Green Retail
The products people use are among the biggest indirect contributors to carbon emissions. By starting your own eco-friendly retail business, you can help your community live more sustainably.
There are so many products and business models for you to try in this category. Here are a few of the most common ones.
- Sell locally made or sourced products. These can be fresh produce in a farmer’s market, handmade crafts, and more.
- Sell used clothes.
- Sell upcycled or refurbished furniture.
- Sell garden and ornamental plants.
- Sell eco-friendly personal care and home cleaning products
These are just some of the products you can sell for your green retail business. But whatever product you end up selling, just make sure that they do not impact the environment negatively in any stage of the production and distribution.
Green Restaurant
Starting a restaurant business is a great way to go green. You can take advantage of the freshest locally produced ingredients to make excellent dishes. Your customers will love the fact that they can enjoy their meals and do their part in keeping the environment healthy at the same time.
You can also enter organic catering. You can prepare food for events in your local area. With good and eco-friendly food, your restaurant is bound to be a favorite.
Aside from sourcing local ingredients, it’s also important to consider your kitchen. Fortunately, there are also environmental franchises of kitchen solutions that you can explore to make sure that every aspect of your restaurant is sustainable.
Green Construction
Although the industry as a whole may not be the first one you think of when sustainability is the topic, there are shifts happening now in construction that are paving the way for a more sustainable future.
One example of these changes is the shift to more eco-friendly building materials. More and more construction companies are using recycled and sustainably produced materials for their builds.
If you want to start your own green construction business, make sure you always choose the more sustainable option for your materials if they are available. But aside from that, there are also green practices when it comes to construction. Many of these relate to the energy efficiency of the construction process and the building itself once the project is completed.
Green Cleaning Services
This is a fairly straightforward business. You offer cleaning and housekeeping services to residential and commercial properties. What makes it green is that you only use cleaning materials that don’t contain chemicals that can harm the environment.
You’ll also have to make sure that you mind how you deal with the rubbish. This means segregating the garbage and sending the recyclables to their appropriate destinations.
Bike Shop
According to the Yale School of the Environment, the transportation industry emits around 1.9 billion tons of CO2 every year. The sector is one of the biggest contributors of carbon emissions. If you want to start a business that can combat this, a bicycle shop is hard to beat.
By selling bikes, you are promoting green transportation. Take it a step further and offer repair services so your customers will use their bicycles for longer periods of time.
Take Away
Consumers are now increasingly favoring sustainable businesses. Take advantage of this fact when you start your own. Pick one of the options listed here to get you started.