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Green-Collar Careers

Green-Collar Careers

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Green-collar careers aren't some specific subset of jobs strictly for the environmentally conscious; it's best to think of the burgeoning movement as a philosophy that's bound to affect business culture itself. In a few decades, corporations have gone from the uncooperative targets of forceful legislation to the proud heralds of their own green initiatives. Whether these companies are being altruistic or pragmatic isn't even all that important, since the end result is the same: More corporations value energy efficiency and responsibility, more consumers embrace the trend and more professionals are needed to do all the creative and technical stuff that people like to pay for.

What all of this means for anyone interested in green-collar careers is that these jobs aren't carved in stone. Sure, for as long as there have been solar cells people have been hired to install them, but a conceptual position like a green designer is more a creation of the philosophy than anything else. There can be — and are — green programmers, green travel agents, and green graphic artists. Just about any position can be reinvented to better serve environmental goals, so don't feel confined by the existing titles or green-collar careers if you're inspired to let your work reflect your passion.

Wind technician

Industry type:  Wind energy
Employers: General Electric, Horizon Wind Energy, Westar Energy
Compensation rate:

If you find protecting the earth from the relative safety of the ground a little too dull, you could always spend your workday perched 30 stories in the air, maintaining gigantic turbines with 100-foot blades. You'll be performing complex tasks in the face of high voltages and lethal machinery, but such is an average day in the life of a wind technician.

These $2 million turbines currently represent only 1% of U.S. energy production, but optimistic projections by the Department of Energy estimate that wind could provide as much as 20% by 2030. Even if that prediction falls short, technicians are in demand to maintain the turbines already in place, so if you have mechanical sensibilities and nerves of steel, your green-collar career outlook is pretty good.

Green product designer

Industry type: Commercial design
Employers: Herman Miller, Intel, Unilever
Compensation rate:

Less a specific industry than an increasingly visible trend among companies, eco-friendly design efficiency is no longer merely a niche embraced by a few quirky manufacturers. Responsible design is quite simply becoming good business due to both growing consumer interest and some government prodding (the EPA and DoE's ENERGY STAR program, for example, has identified and rated energy-efficient products for 17 years).

The goal of a green designer is in creating an efficient product that maximizes longevity and minimizes waste. Beyond that, the actual work is as varied as design in general, and involves the better, smarter production of everything from microchips to aircraft. As more companies embrace the benefits of efficiency and pollution reduction, a designer who already considers his product's environmental impact will be one step ahead of a designer who doesn't.

For more green-collar careers, read on...

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