Green careers on the rise
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BY JENNIFER DeWITT/Lee Enterprises
As a new generation prepares to head into the work force, it will be drawn by the green — not dollars but collars.
Green-collar jobs, or green careers, are booming as environmental responsibility extends past the social consciousness and into every corner of the job market. Today’s young people and an older work force — that will need to be retrained — will find green careers across a wide spectrum of industries and skill levels.
According to a Yahoo! HotJobs report, a survey by Cleantech Network, a venture capital firm for green business, found that in the next three years up to a half million new jobs will sprout up in ecologically responsible trades.
Here’s a look at some ways for companies and their employees to be more green at work:
Low-cost steps for companies
*Initiate or expand telecommuting to cut the number of employees driving to the office. Such a move will lower auto emissions as well as energy use.
*Maintain a slightly cooler office temperature during the winter and slightly warmer temperature in the summer to lower heating and cooling costs.
*Organize employee car pools.
*Save paper that normally would be discarded. The clean side of the paper can be reused in the office copier and fax machines.
*Have employees bring in their own coffee mug to eliminate the need for Styrofoam or paper cups.
*Establish a recycling program for plastic, cans and paper.
Low-cost steps for employees
*Go to sleep. Enable the “sleep” function on your monitor and computer, which automatically sends the equipment into a low-energy mode when not in use.
*BYOWB ” Bring your own water bottle to work to cut down on the need for disposable paper cups at the watercooler.
*Bring in a real plant. Real plants have a positive impact on the work environment not only adding beauty but also adding oxygen.
*Unplug those cords. When not in use, unplug all the power cords used to charge cell phones, laptops, Blackberrys, etc. Also turn off and unplug your computer before you go home.
Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Green careers, once thought of as jobs that directly affect the environment, will emerge beyond the traditional fields of agriculture, environmental advocacy and the sciences. Any organization that works to improve the environment — or its corner of it — will have green-collar opportunities in the future.
Jobs will be available in air quality, emergency preparedness, energy technologies, environmental laboratory services, natural resources management, safety and health, hazardous waste management and sustainability, according to a report by the Advanced Technological Education Program of the National Science Foundation and the Advanced Technology Environment and Energy Center.
“Everybody suddenly is talking green. We’ve been talking about this for a decade, and nobody was listening,” said Ellen Kabat Lensch, the executive director for resource development and innovation at Eastern Iowa Community College District in Davenport, Iowa.
The district, one of the partners in the Advanced Technological Education Program, led the nation in developing a hazardous technician program with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“Some of the reasons that green careers are so prominent is because we’ve gotten ourselves in a mess,” she said. “When we’re looking at $4-a-gallon gas, some of the technologies that looked like they weren’t viable before now are viable.”
New emerging energy technologies — such as ethanol, biofuels and wind — also will fuel thousands of new jobs in the years to come.
According to U.S. Department of Energy estimates, developing energy crops to fire biopower generators could create 120,000 jobs by 2012. With a forecast of an 87 percent increase in geothermal generating capacity over the next 20 years, there could be the potential for 35,000 new jobs in drilling, power plant construction, equipment supply and manufacturing, and operation and maintenance.
A “Fuel Cells at the Crossroads” report said increasing investment in fuel cells could yield nearly 200,000 new jobs in the next 20 years. A “Clean Energy: Jobs for America’s Future” report found that as climate protection initiatives are implemented, the industry could see an increase of more than 700,000 jobs in 2010, rising to 1.3 million jobs by 2020.
Kabat Lensch said new technologies are only half of the green job-growth picture.
“There will be existing jobs that are going to have to learn new technologies or ways of doing things,” she said. Architects and builders will become certified in LEED, or Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design, which will add a new green component to their work.
“You’ll see more sustainability coordinators,” she said. “As you hear of more companies concerned with sustainability and lessening their carbon footprint, they will need a person to say where they can save energy and how you even measure your carbon footprint.”
And being green also is beginning to matter to the employer and its employees. In fact, a leading workplace issues expert forecasts that eco-friendly employers are likely to have a significant recruiting advantage over their competition.
“As employers struggle to fill positions amid rock-bottom unemployment, those who underestimate the recruiting power of being green could be making a serious mistake, especially considering that several recent surveys indicate a growing number of Americans want to work for an environmentally conscious company,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a global outplacement consultant.
A survey conducted by Harris Poll, on behalf of the staffing firm, found that 33 percent of Americans would be more inclined to work for a green company. The poll also revealed that 52 percent of employed adults think their companies should do more to be environmentally responsible.
“A decade ago, a workplace was eco-friendly if it simply kept a recycling bin in the break room,” Challenger said. “Today’s environmentally conscious workers are more demanding. A company is not even considered green unless it makes a significant commitment to reducing its impact on the environment, from the products and services it offers to the way it heats and cools its offices.”
Reach Jennifer DeWitt, reporter for the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa, at jdewitt@qctimes.com.
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