Top 12 Green Business Ideas for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Julie Starr • June 2, 2021



Climate change, carbon emissions, increase in global average temperatures and similar topics are not new subjects to discuss, which is why we’re seeing more and more aspiring business owners gravitate towards more sustainable and ecological business ideas. 

Starting a new business, and saving the planet at the same time, is not impossible.

In fact, being green and more ecological has become more of a prominent factor when it comes to consumers’ interest in buying a company’s products or services. People are starting to care more and more about how the products they’re buying are made and how they can affect the climate footprint. 

What Is a Green Business?  

A green industry business aims to use sustainable materials to manufacture its products and use as little energy, water, and other raw products as possible. 

Green businesses seek ecological ways to reduce carbon emissions or utilize these products in renewable and eco-friendly methods. 

Thanks to this strategy, eco-friendly businesses can lower their use of natural resources and their contribution to climate change.  

A green company also understands that the decisions made regarding its operations or services can have an impact both locally and globally. 

Why Go Green?

Going green not only helps the environment but has many benefits for the business itself too!

Reducing energy costs and improving operational efficiency are just a couple to name.

Top 12 Business ideas  

If you’ve decided that you want to go a different way about starting up your business, and make the planet a little bit healthier, then you’re in the right place. 

Here are 12 eco-friendly business ideas for green entrepreneurs. 

1. Eco-friendly Retail

You can open any type of retail business that uses sustainable products and biodegradable packaging, reducing the climate footprint. 

2. Organic Catering

An organic catering business is great for those with a passion for food. You can cater local or industry events with organic food locally grown ingredients. Using organic ingredients with no harmful components that damage the soil is a great way to provide the never-ending need for food consumption. 

3. Ink Refill Services

You can’t as easily just reduce the number of businesses and individuals that use printers on a daily basis, but what you can do is start a business that refills ink and toner cartridges that thousands of people have to replace every time they run out. 

By refilling something instead of replacing it altogether, you can have a role in reducing plastic pollution and helping the planet along the way.  

4. Composting Business

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture research , In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply. 

By starting a composting business, you can help take the uneaten food and turn it into nutrient-dense soil enhancers.

As a composting company, your business can gather food remains saved from companies or families and use it in gardens, nurseries, and local farms.

5. Green Beauty Salon

Hair and beauty products are notoriously known for having the harshest chemicals and other harmful materials. By starting a green beauty salon or spa, you can implement using organic products that are better for your client and the environment. 

The younger generation consumers are more eco-minded and are willing to pay more for products from companies that work towards environmentally friendly plans and align with their beliefs. 

6. Environmental Blog  

Knowledge about how we as human beings can be more mindful when it comes to buying or using certain harmful stuff can never be enough. 

If you’re someone who’s passionate about the cause, you can launch your website or blog page, helping to inform many others to become aware and hop on with you on this journey. 

There are many companies with great domain name ideas and quality logo designs that can help you with launching your very own website.  

7. Sustainable Events Planner

Whether your friend is having a huge wedding or a local business is hosting a corporate event, these kinds of meetings produce huge amounts of waste and consume valuable resources. 

As a green event planner, you can use sustainable methods to find eco-friendly venues, caterers, accommodation, and more. 

8. Eco-friendly Landscaping Services

Landscaping, in general, is a very successful and profitable business idea for many aspiring entrepreneurs since many homeowners take pride in having their exterior space in good shape. 

Many fail to realize that implementing or maintaining that kind of outdoor space often generates harmful effects on you and the environment. 

With starting a sustainable landscaping business, you can introduce plants that work with their natural habitat, need less care, water, and fewer pesticides. 

9. Second-hand Stores 

Thrifting is a perfect business option for those who want to shop a unique style and help the environment along the way. 

The planet doesn’t need new virgin fabrics being produced day in and out. You can open a second-hand store that sells vintage clothes and is sustainable.  

10. Climate-friendly Cleaning Products

Traditional cleaners are filled with harmful compounds and toxins. An eco-friendly business can use green products that won’t have the same effects and are more sustainable. 

11. Solar Panel Installation

As a solar panel installation business, you can take clean and renewable solar energy and transform it into useable electricity. 

Solar panels are particularly beneficial in rural places where power may be generated without being connected to the main electric grid. Still, they are also becoming increasingly common in new construction in urban areas.

12. Biodegradable Pet Products 

When it comes to shopping for pets, owners are willing to pay large amounts of money and go all out. Unfortunately, some of these products contribute greatly to our climate footprint. 

Eco-friendly pet products such as upcycled toys, compostable poop bags/cat litters, or organic pet shampoos can be great options for a more sustainable replacement. 

General Tips for Green Business Owners 

  • Use renewable resources such as recapturing heat generated by your computers or refrigeration equipment and using it to heat your water.
  • Donate material you no longer use.
  • Use digital record-keeping. 
  • Keep an eye on your water consumption.
  • Use sustainable packaging.

Earth Day is a Moment. Sustainability is a Journey.

By Julie Starr • April 7, 2025
Every April 22nd, Earth Day reminds us of our shared responsibility to care for the planet. It’s a powerful moment for reflection, recognition, and renewed commitment to environmental stewardship. But for companies like Taiga, Earth Day is not just a day—it's a checkpoint in a journey that spans all 365 days of the year. Beyond the Day: The Power of Year-Round Storytelling While Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to spotlight your company's environmental efforts, the true impact lies in consistent, transparent communication about your sustainability strategy. Customers, investors, employees, and partners are increasingly interested in how companies plan, act, and improve over time. To build trust and inspire action, companies should: Share clear targets: What are your goals for emissions reduction, circularity, or biodiversity? Make them specific and time-bound. Report results honestly: Celebrate wins and be candid about setbacks. Progress, not perfection, is the story. Connect efforts to impact: Highlight how your initiatives benefit ecosystems, communities, or supply chains. Leveraging Earth Day as a Strategic Moment Think of Earth Day as a milestone that anchors your broader communications. Some ideas: Launch or preview new initiatives that reinforce your long-term strategy. Tell human stories: Showcase employees, community members, or suppliers contributing to sustainability. Host interactive events: Webinars, volunteer days, or innovation showcases invite people into the journey. Publish a sustainability snapshot: A visual, engaging recap of the past year's progress. Engaging Stakeholders Year-Round To keep the momentum going beyond April: Create a sustainability content calendar to share updates, behind-the-scenes looks, and educational content. Invite feedback: Use surveys or listening sessions to understand stakeholder priorities and ideas. Collaborate: Partner with NGOs, academics, or startups aligned with your mission. Recognize champions: Celebrate employees and partners who go above and beyond. Bringing It Together: A Continuous Narrative Earth Day is a valuable opportunity to raise awareness, but lasting impact comes from building a continuous narrative. At Taiga, we see sustainability not as a series of campaigns but as a shared journey with our stakeholders . When we connect the dots between moments like Earth Day and the year-round work behind the scenes, we not only deepen engagement—we accelerate change. So this Earth Day, let’s celebrate progress and recommit to transparency, collaboration, and bold action. The planet needs more than promises. It needs a plan. And it needs all of us.

Greener Clicks: How to Reduce Your Environmental Impact with Sustainable Digital Marketing

By Julie Starr • March 31, 2025
In the race to decarbonize our world, one area often overlooked is digital marketing. While it might seem inherently clean compared to print or physical campaigns, our online activities have a real and measurable environmental footprint. From servers powering your website to emails filling up inboxes, every click, stream, and scroll contributes to carbon emissions. At Taiga Company, we believe digital strategies can be powerful and low-impact. Here’s how to get started. Optimize for a Low-Carbon Web Why it matters: Websites and digital ads are hosted on servers that consume electricity, often powered by fossil fuels. Every time a user loads your site or ad, it uses energy. How to reduce your impact: Host green: Choose web hosts that use renewable energy or offset emissions. Clean up your code: Streamlined, efficient code reduces load times and energy use. Compress and reduce images: Smaller files mean faster pages and fewer emissions. Limit heavy media: Videos and animations are carbon-intensive; use them mindfully. A faster, leaner website isn’t just better for the planet—it also boosts SEO and user experience. Email Marketing with Intention Why it matters: Every email sent, received, and stored requires energy. Multiply that by millions of sends, and the impact adds up. How to reduce your impact: Clean your lists: Remove inactive subscribers to avoid waste. Segment wisely: Only send emails to those who will truly benefit. Use plain-text when possible: It’s lower in data and often more accessible. Reduce frequency: Send fewer, higher-quality emails with genuine value. Intentional emailing reduces not only emissions but also improves deliverability and engagement. Sustainable SEO and Content Strategy Why it matters: Search engines crawl, index, and serve up billions of web pages daily. Thoughtless content and bloated sites add to the load. How to reduce your impact: Create evergreen content: Focus on high-quality pages that stay relevant longer. Streamline your site structure: Fewer clicks to find content = less energy use. Use minimal plugins and scripts: Especially ones that load on every page. Green your CMS: Some content management systems are more resource-efficient than others. Sustainable SEO isn’t just eco-friendly—it’s good strategy. Fewer, better pieces often perform better than content mills. Rethink Marketing Automation Why it matters: Automated emails, ads, and data syncing can create a lot of digital clutter. That clutter eats up storage and energy. How to reduce your impact: Audit regularly: Retire old workflows and outdated automations. Optimize syncing: Reduce how often and how much data is transferred. Segment with purpose: Better targeting means fewer wasted sends. Use expiration dates: Don’t let outdated content or assets live forever. Efficient automation can reduce emissions and improve performance. Digital marketing isn’t going away—and it shouldn’t. It offers powerful tools for connection, education, and growth. But like all tools, it can be used more sustainably. At Taiga Company, we’re committed to helping organizations lower their environmental impact without sacrificing reach or results. Sustainable digital marketing is not only possible; it’s essential. Ready to make your marketing aligned with your company's corporate sustainability plan? Let’s start the conversation.
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