What is Green Entrepreneurship?
Industrialization, rapidly increasing population, and environmental problems caused by modern life are bringing the end of the world. Environmental pollution, rapid consumption of natural resources and depletion of biodiversity necessitate sustainable development goals. As a result, sustainable projects; It highlights innovative and creative entrepreneurs who are compatible with technology. Green entrepreneurship, also known as eco-entrepreneurship, which focuses on the environment, is the new focus of entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. So what is green entrepreneurship?
Contributing to the sustainability of the world is important for the balance of nature, economy and society. In this sense, entrepreneurs who bring green project ideas to life in order to leave a more livable world to future generations are on the rise.
In its basic definition, green enterprise is defined as providing products or services that will cause the least harm to the environment with an innovative approach. Its features include being sustainable, improving environmental conditions and acting with innovative ideas both socially and economically.
What is Green Entrepreneurship?
The combination of the concept of entrepreneurship and the concept of ecology revealed eco-entrepreneurship, that is, green entrepreneurship. The aim is to create an economically sustainable environment as well as protecting the environment and greenery. In short, green entrepreneurship is a type that produces benefits and value for future social needs.
Today, the demand for natural and environmentally friendly products and services is increasing. In this context, green enterprises that produce produce also give priority to nature and economy. Reducing carbon and energy use is among the main goals of these initiatives. Recycling also has an important place.
A healthy and harmless development approach is very important in order to protect the environmental rights of future generations. With the developing environmental awareness, consumers are being sensitive. In summary, they demonstrate environmentally responsible moral behavior by purchasing environmentally friendly products and services. Long-term thinking in consumption also positively affects ecoentrepreneurs.
Difference from Traditional Initiatives: Circular Economy
The aim of the new type of green entrepreneurship, also called eco-entrepreneurship, is to reduce the damage to nature and the environment. It combines environmental problems with innovative and ecologically sensitive solutions to reduce this destruction.
But protecting the environment is not the only goal of green entrepreneurs. They also aim to create an economically sustainable world. They set out to improve the quality of life of the society they live in. They revise the concept of "sustainability" by minimizing negative environmental impacts.
Unlike other entrepreneurs, eco-entrepreneurs add sustainability to their entrepreneurial efforts by taking advantage of opportunities in the market. Its activities include eco-tourism, recycling, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, organic agriculture and renewable energy.
Eco-entrepreneurs create products, services or business models that are economically profitable, create social value and are based on environmental awareness.
Grants Are Given to Green Entrepreneurship Projects
Sustainability-based projects and ideas have the potential to create the most important business areas of the near future.
Especially in recent years, they have received different incentives and investments from socially responsible green investors and popular crowdfunding platforms. Countries with awareness pave the way for green entrepreneurs. They implement many regulations that will enable them to receive investments.
Ecological movements have emerged as a new market for entrepreneurs. Green entrepreneurship, which emphasizes areas such as low carbon use, energy saving and clean technology, has found its place as a new type in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Sensitivity to environmental and social issues combined with entrepreneurship.
Green entrepreneurs, who create value in the long term, differ from traditional entrepreneurs at this point. They eliminated short-term solutions with nature-friendly and sustainability-based works that consider future generations.
Now the majority of consumers want to make a difference to save the planet. Prefers environmentally friendly products and services. Especially from innovative environmental technologies to vertical farming; Striking headlines that are developing today, from smart foods to policies that protect global greenery, attract attention.
Fastest Growing Green Entrepreneurship Examples
When we look at where we are today and where we have brought the world, we can clearly see that something is wrong. Still, there are initiatives that identify the source of the problems, offer peaceful suggestions for these problems, and take action to bring us one step closer to sustainable solutions.
Urban Gardening
Worldwide, urban gardening is seen as the first window to sustainable living. Because, depending on your location, you can set up your garden on local lands or terrace floors within walking distance. The best working model of this is The Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver; He designed two separate terraces for food production and greenhouse cultivation. The plants on these terraces are grown without using any pesticides, fossil fuels or other harmful resources and are distributed to the surrounding markets. Green terraces also balance the density of rainwater, improve air quality and pave the way for reproduction.
Vertical Farming
The science of growing plants in air has opened new doors for people who want to control the supply chain of their food and grow their own fresh vegetables and fruits. Although vertical farming with Tower Gardens has been on the agenda for several years, people still think that they need organic soil and hectares of space to grow plants. However, with this initiative that encourages us to rethink agriculture, it is possible to grow a wide variety of plants without soil and with 95% less water; even in your home. In addition, since moving vertically requires 90% less space, the only thing stopping you is the ceiling compared to traditional methods. This means that you can grow your favorite fruits, vegetables and plants indoors with the help of LED lights as well as outdoors. This tower logic seems to direct the agriculture of the future.
Green Design Expertise
Green design experts, especially in countries suffering from air pollution such as Dubai, Mexico and China, have started to cover tall buildings with plants and use them as filters. For example, the honeycombs on the surface of the Manuel Gea Gonzalez Hospital in Mexico City absorb harmful gases from approximately 1000 cars a day.
Smart Foods
New generation smart foods, which emerged with the idea of being an alternative to animal products, are seen as priority food products by many consumers. Meat, chicken, milk and dairy products, fish and fish products, which have an important place in nutrition, are consumed with anxiety by many consumers today. Unfortunately, preventive animal health solutions that are mandatory to protect herd health negatively affect human health. If foods are produced to meet people's nutritional needs, they need to be healthy as well as sustainable.
New Generation Materials
A new generation material has begun to be used against the fact that the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of the world's water pollution and that the toxic chemicals used to produce and dye fabrics negatively affect the health of many textile workers; seaweed. German-Israeli company Algalife developed fibers and dyes using algae. Using a zero-waste closed-loop model, Algalife requires only sunlight and water during cultivation. The discovery of this new generation dyestuff, which is at peace with nature and does not harm the skin of the wearer, may be a rational solution for nature to heal itself.
Global Green Protection Policies
Many products we use in our daily lives are produced by cutting down trees in some way. This uncontrolled loss of trees is responsible for 20% of current greenhouse gas emissions today. Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace and conscious consumers are forcing many companies to take precautions regarding this issue. The Hershey Company guarantees that 100% of the palm oil it uses comes from traceable sources. It guarantees that no trees are cut down while producing the palm oil they use in their products.
