So, what in the world is a Green Business?
Some say it is an enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy.
To be green, an enterprise would have to participate in environmentally-friendly or green activities to ensure that all processes, products, and manufacturing activities adequately address current environmental concerns while maintaining a profit.
And, a green business meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
If only defining a green business was that easy.
Take the case of Subaru of America (SOA): 
SOA won’t sell its first hybrid or electric car model for several years; it has opted instead to promote its 2010 models stocked with new high-mileage Diesel-powered engines and Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) systems.
It doesn’t appear that hybrid Subarus will grace showroom floors anytime soon.
But SOA can make at least one very significant and totally admirable claim; in early 2008, the company announced that its huge final assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana was recycling 99.8 percent of the facility’s refuse, while the perimeter around the plant includes a pristine wildlife refuge.
To today’s green business executive, we suspect that SOA’s achievements might be viewed as bright green. But five years from now? Maybe not.
Thus, the current definitions for green business are loosey goosey, shaped by nuance and one’s momentary attitude (state of mind).
Perhaps in the next three to five years, when…
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a great number of companies expand beyond rudimentary and commonplace paper, plastic, and glass recycling;
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they start powering their factories and workplaces with alternate forms of energy (such as solar or wind power);
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and they greatly expand the variety, scale, and sophistication of their corporation-wide sustainability efforts,
…the definition of a green or sustainable business will be more concrete. But for now, if a hiring company is doing one or two “green things” well, then that may be enough to motivate a green business executive to accept the job.
The fun part? We all get to play in this sandbox. We all get to work together to develop tomorrow’s green business careers.
And when we say tomorrow…
