There are many great benefits from being an entrepreneur, such as having flexible work hours and having complete control over how the business is run. However, there are also downsides to it. A common challenge with entrepreneurship is how stressful it could be if one is not well-skilled in time and tasks management. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur who doesn’t want to deal with such stress, then why not start or switch to an eco-friendly business?
Using waste containers in gardening is eco-friendly
The benefits of starting an eco-friendly business
An eco-friendly business, also known as a green business, is a sustainable enterprise which has a positive effect or at the very least has minimal negative impact on the environment. This could be in the form of recycling waste material that is harmful to the environment, efficient use of natural resources (e.g. water), or avoiding harmful chemical substances.
Some other benefits of starting a green business include:
A growing customer base: With the changing times, an increasingly growing number of people are becoming more inclined towards eco-friendly products. Not only do people buy the products, they also promote them so that other people can buy them as well.
Profitability: The L.E.K Consumer Sustainability Survey (2022) found out that 50% of consumers are willing to pay a premium amount for sustainable brands. This number continues to grow as people are becoming more convinced of the need to protect the environment..
Investment security: Eco-friendly businesses can be sustainable and profitable in the long run, even if one doesn’t know how to scale them immediately or make a little profit in the first few years of operation.
Savings on bills: Eco-friendly businesses help the owner save money on utilities like electricity since they use renewable resources (wind, solar, etc.) instead of fossil fuels for power generation.
Eco-Friendly Business Ideas
For those looking for simple ways of starting a green business, below are some great ideas that do not require huge capital.
A thrift/second-hand store: This is a sustainable means recycling used items (e.g clothes, books) that are still in good condition and sold at a lower price. It can be an online or a walk-in store. It reduces unnecessary waste and helps the economy.
- Green restaurants: Opening a restaurant that has vegan options and sells locally-sourced foods will attract customers that want to live healthy lifestyles as well as help the environment.
Nursery and plant delivery service: Due to awareness on how plants can be beneficial to our health, people are buying plants much more than in the past years. Indoor plants are also used in modern day architecture to beautify the interior of houses. Hence, opening a nursery for such plants could be very lucrative. Offering delivery services of the plants is an additional revenue source to your business and people would gladly pay for the convenience of getting the plants delivered rather than picking them up. The delivery service is also sustainable because mass delivery can be carried out at once. This reduces the carbon emissions from every customer having to use their vehicle. Another idea is to partner with interior designers to be supplying the plants they need on their projects.
Green event planning: Events generate a large amount of plastic waste as well as compostibles. Opening an eco-friendly event planning company will reduce the amount of waste generated and plastics used in that event by substituting plastic with other reusable options like glass and delivering all the compostable waste to a composting site. Eco-friendly event planners save cost by reusing materials. Also, they are recognized and promoted while spreading awareness on climate change in their events.
Eco-friendly gift shop: This kills two birds with one stone. People buy organic gifts for their loved ones while also indirectly helping the environment.
Not quite set for any of the above ideas? Here are more green business ideas you may look into:
Organic food, cosmetics and clothing
Bamboo products
Baby and pet products
Organic garden products (gardening gloves, fertilizer)
Cleaning products
organic home decor
Eco Friendly Services
There are also services you can offer with even less or no capital investment at all. These include:
Fundraising and writing grants: If you have a nonprofit, grant-writing or fundraising experience, this is for you. A lot of donors are willing to give funds for nonprofits driving towards sustainability. You can offer to write proposals or organize fundraisers for non profit organizations for a fee. You get to make your own input in driving towards a sustainable world while making profit out of it.
Eco-friendly cleaning services: Detergents and other cleaning agents commonly used in households have hazardous chemicals. Also, the disposal of each plastic container of a cleaning agent rather than replacing the products is unsustainable. Starting an environmentally safe cleaning service could target reducing the amount of the hazardous waste and also limiting the amount of plastic waste being generated from households. You can also make and sell environment friendly cleaning agents in packages other than plastic.
Sustainability, environment and waste management blog: As a side hobby, publishing blogs on sustainability and environmental awareness can attract wide readership. Such blogs or websites can be monetized by charging for ads.
Solar panel installation: Households are slowly moving towards renewable energy. Acquiring the skills for solar panels installation is another way to build an eco-friendly business.
The next time you think about starting a business or even just looking for ideas on how to do so, try checking out these eco-friendly businesses. As you must have noticed, they are all very different from one another but all share an environmental friendliness objective. I await your feedback with the success story of whichever idea you picked.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment section below!
Aisha is a communications assistant at GHI headquarters, Abuja. She is a humanitarian at heart, she loves helping others as it makes her feel accomplished. She is strongly against acts that promote global warming; as such, she loves gardening.
