Sustainable Business Ideas for Ethical Entrepreneurs
A green business’s commitment to sustainability impacts your community while targeting a valuable market gap that allows you to grow. These sustainable business ideas can help you reach that goal.
A green business has sustainability packed into each and every aspect of it. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur hoping to create a positive impact in the world by offering a quality product and minimizing environmental damage, this article is perfect for you. One great way to go about this is reverse/re-commerce. Sounds great but struggling to find inspiration? This article will discuss the top sustainable business ideas for the ethical entrepreneur inside of you. Let’s begin:
Upcycling
Upcycling is essentially a procedure of transforming unwanted products and giving them a second life. This is a vast category. From furniture to crockery, to fashion, and everything in between, it is a great way to offer a unique product to your consumers while dramatically dialing back on consumer waste.
Refurbishing/Recycling Tech
If you are a tech whizz, this idea is perfect for you. This idea can mean anything from a basic clean-up to a full-on repair or reselling of devices upon repair. Secondhand tech allows buyers to get quality products at a fraction of the cost and greatly minimizes the tech waste going out into the environment. You might consider recycling parts from different old products and creating a new tech product.
Green Cleaning
Bleach is a common component of surface cleaners. It is pretty self-explanatory. Most of the cleaning products we use today contain harsh chemicals that aren’t only harmful to the environment but a major contributor to pollution. Moreover, nearly all of the cleaning products come in single-use plastic containers, which are thrown out once the product is used.
There is a huge opportunity here. You can begin your green cleaning business. Start using a simple, clean formulation, eliminate single-use plastics, and use your commitment to green cleaning as a major selling point. You can find creative ways to minimize waste and cut water usage when cleaning.
Mobile Apps
Creating apps is a sure-shot way to create a greener future with minimal to no environmental impact. You don’t need a lot of tangible materials to get the business up and running, which minimizes the waste going into the world. All of it is a win-win situation. The choice of apps is endless. You can go wild.
If you want to go super green, create an app that will help people find the nearest thrift shops or recycling centers. You can also create a catalog of the environmental practices that minimize the carbon footprint of different brands. It is a great idea to partner with local, sustainable businesses and create an app that revolves around sustainable shopping.
Reusable Food/Drink Storage and Cutlery
Did you know that decomposing a single plastic straw can take up to 200 years? This is an alarming number. The number of plastic cups, straws, and culture alone can create havoc on the environment. You can start your very own business that revolves around reusable cutlery.
Stainless steel cups, plates, and straws are all great options that can dramatically cut down the waste. You can incorporate fun prints and colors to make the products more appealing to buyers. A great way to go about this is to create different themes for birthdays, dinners, picnics, etc.
Zero-Waste Grocery Delivery Service
Many consumers are keen on cutting down on the packaging in their weekly shops. You can offer a great solution to this by purchasing the grocery in bulk and wrapping them up in recyclable packaging. You might want to start this service with your local community to slowly ease into the business. Reach out to local farmers for fresh produce and cut down on single-use plastics as well as the hefty price tag.
Ink Cartridge Refill
Printing on paper is unavoidable, no matter how hard we try. However, by offering an ink-refill service, you can help people make their printing needs a little bit greener. Reusing old ink cartridges will save a lot of non-biodegradable materials from piling up in landfills. Moreover, it is a high-profit business when done right. Look out for the competition in your area and set a competitive rate combined with stellar customer service to win your share in the market.
Sustainable Construction
Construction doesn’t always need to come at the cost of the environment. In fact, you could be the one making a true difference. Start using recyclable and renewable materials for your projects and minimize waste wherever possible. Be efficient with your energy consumption, protect the natural environment and build eco-friendly structures.
Reusable Shopping Bags
This is the simplest of all the ideas yet the most fun one. You can create fun designs on responsibly sourced canvas bags, grocery bags, and totes that people can use for their daily shopping, beach day, and grocery runs. You can custom-create tote bags with the initials of your clients, full names, and even pictures. There is no limit to creativity here.
Sustainable Event Planning
Yes, event planning can be sustainable. Regardless of the size of the gathering, waste is bound to happen. Think balloons, plates, tents, cold drink/beer cans, it all adds up. You can change this and offer sustainable event planning services. How is it possible?
First, look for green weddings, birthdays, and parties for ideas. You can start with e-invites, use reusable cutlery, switch out balloons for lights, try sustainable fabrics as table clothes that you can reuse at other events, and cut down on paper where possible, the list is endless.
Final Takeaway
We hope you found this post inspirational and got some sustainable business ideas for your green business venture. With any new business, we recommend working out of a co-working space instead of spending money on an all-new office. It is not only an affordable but also a sustainable way to go about it. Which of these would you like to go ahead with, or which interests you the most? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
