May
2008
Collars No Longer Restricted to Blue and White1
My sales pitch for the world: Buy Green! Buy Organic! Buy Lime Things!
You’ve probably already heard about the exciting news: collars are now also allowed to be categorized as green.
Last Sunday’s World Herald had a cover story called: Green Around the Collar, which explored the idea that jobs related to sustainability practices will become more and more popular with the increasing consumer demand for green products. (Why not lime ones? I don’t know either.)
The article also suggests that there are green collar jobs available that aren’t being filled because of the lack of training within the current job applicant pool. It goes on to recommend the Sustainability Business Program at Aquinas College. I don’t know about the program, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea that those who are interested in “green collar” jobs look for some job-specific training to get an edge on their competition. It’s a revitalized and growing consumer demand that will need to be met.
I also found this research article that lists 22 specific sectors in which to find the new green collar jobs. According to the article, many of the new green collar jobs will be available even to those with entry-level abilities, and also to those who are looking for apprenticeship opportunities.
I’m sure many of the green collar employers will not find anyone with the specific abilities required, so apprenticeships are the only option that these companies have. It’s an amazing opportunity to look into.
Treehugger.com has a seemingly popular environmental job board for openings all across the country.
Forbes.com also has an article that suggests several other universities which offer joint graduate degrees in business and environmental science, which include: Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of North Carolina… in case you were wondering.
Dually helpful to our economy and our environment, I’m definitely excited about these new job opportunities. We have to remember that they are primarily consumer-driven, though, so we need to carefully choose the companies that we support. And, although it’s initally hard on our bank accounts, especially with the awesome gas prices, we have to remember that supporting our organic/ green companies will be the only way to see the return within our economy, and for our environment.
Save the organic limes. Buy green.
