The 25 Best Green Business Blogs
As we become more conscious of the effects that humans have on the environment, businesses are adapting their practices to incorporate more sustainable, or “green,” systems, following the demands of their consumers. By definition, a green business has little to no negative impact on the environment, economy, or society as a whole; and it makes a commitment to incorporating sustainable principles into the many facets of its organization. Below is a list of the most insightful, enjoyable, and compelling blogs on this topic.
- earth2tech: What's not to like about tying Kevin Costner, the World Cup, and video chatting into climate issues? Just as attractive as it is approachable, earth2tech's blog covers all manner of environmental news as it relates to business. It's main focus is clean power, with articles regularly featured on nuclear power, wind power, and electric cars.
- Inhabitat: Written up in such impressive places as Vogue, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, Inhabitat is a blog maintained by New York City-based designer Jill Fehrenbacher. It is intended to create a space for reading, discussion, and imagination about green technologies, materials, and products.
- Green Business Notebook: This site is all about green business practices for small and medium-size enterprises. They discuss helpful ideas like sustainable office furniture, energy conservation tips, and how to offset air travel. These are concrete, straightforward suggestions that can make a big difference in your business today.
- Triple Pundit: Written by journalists and social media specialists interested in socially responsible business, this blog discusses the importance of the TBL, or Triple Bottom Line: the economic, ecological, and social successes of an organization. Their blog discusses these issues – profit, planet, people – as they relate to current business models and current issues of direct relevance to various enterprises.
- ecogeek.org: This blog defines an “ecogeek” as someone willing to work to figure out how six billion people can coexist happily without simultaneously ruining our planet. The site is dedicated to exploring “the symbiosis between nature and technology,” and figuring out how technology can be used to promote sustainability. Let's be honest – don't we all have a bit of an ecogeek within us?
- Green Economy: Run by the Worldwatch Institute, this blog is meant to be “a super assessment of relevant new studies, reports, and developments in the move towards a greener economy.” Articles are interesting and thought provoking, and they rightly point out that economic and environmental crises are linked and have to be solved together.
- ecolect: This tree-friendly blog aims to “help designers, architects and builders discover eco-material alternatives.” It highlights sustainable materials, analyzes case studies, comments on relevant topical issues, and creates discussion about green building. Ecolect is part of a larger site where users can browse through photos, reviews, and descriptions of sustainable building materials.
- Eco-Lingo: Eco-Lingo is the perfect site to find snippets of information about hot topics in green business. Each blog entry features a new word with a description and a photo used as explanation. The writers are witty and knowledgeable. Recent lingo includes straw bale house, energy star, bamboo, wastewater, and deconstruction.
- GreenMonk: This blog is run by a company that helps other organizations better understand their relationship to sustainability. Its writers analyze sustainability reports, provide round-ups of important statistics related to green business, and highlight issues that plague (or fascinate!) companies today.
- Green Tech: Edited by Martin LaMonica, Green Tech is a news blog about green business issues. The blog is most helpful for its articles that highlight innovative green products like solar powered light bulbs, electric cars, wood pellets, and bike paths made from printer cartridges.
- MetaEfficient: This blog acts as a guide to sustainable, efficient products. Recent reviews and ratings have included chlorine alternatives for swimming pools, the best computer speakers under $400, best non-toxic sunscreens, eco-friendly lawn care products, organic underwear, commuter bikes, and much more. This site is handy because it allows shopaholics to shop a bit more guilt-free.
- The Good Human: This site “encourages people to be better humans through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues and being more aware of one's life and surroundings.” This site is a great catchall for a wide variety of green issues – from green books to recycling ideas, efficiency suggestions to news analysis. It also reviews sustainable products.
- The Green Skeptic: Scott Edward Anderson is a cleantech entrepreneur, investor, and commentator. His blog is hard-hitting, eye opening, and provides a much-needed critical perspective on environmental degradation that sometimes gets swept under the proverbial media rug.
- TreeHugger: This blog is a longstanding player in the world of green business. It is dedicated to taking sustainability mainstream, and it has accomplished that goal in many ways: it has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, the Sundance Channel, and Martha Stewart. It's comical, entertaining, insightful, and a pleasure to read – and with 10 million page views every month, it's clearly one to follow.
- EcoStreet: EcoStreet is written by people who really walk the talk. They lead simple, creative, sustainable lives and blog about it. The blog is their avenue to spread messages of green consciousness far and wide, and hot topics include activism, eco art, recycling, transport, travel, gadgets, and fashion.
- The Green Guide Blog: Run by National Geographic, this blog is aimed at green consumers. Its articles highlight sustainable consumer choices at a variety of businesses. It also discusses books, practices, and inspirational stories in the news.
- Smart Solutions for Sustainable Business: The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability uses this blog as a platform to discuss issues of sustainability as they relate to the global economy. The people involved with this organization aim to halt damaging climate change and achieve 90-percent sustainable products market penetration by 2015.
- Sustainable Business Design: This blog covers sustainable business ideas from current events. Recent posts include discussions of KRAFT Foods' packaging reduction efforts, United Postal Service's use of bicycle delivery service during the holidays, and how solar panels helped Haiti relief efforts.
- Upstate Forever Office Project: The organization Upstate Forever blogs about its efforts to renovate and restore its main office in Greenville, South Carolina. It follows the progress from the beginning all the way through to completion, and serves as a model for other offices seeking remodels as well. Issues include roofing, insulation, flooring, solar panels, landscaping, windows, and more.
- Think 2100: This blog is dedicated to the idea of promoting healthy choices now in order to help create a better tomorrow – a great idea! Its articles are organized into the following categories: organic gardening, green consumer information, fair trade, climate change, book reviews and summaries, green business and marketing, and general commentary.
- Paydirt: Aside from an awesome name, this blog has a clever purpose: it helps clients develop “practical sustainability strategies that deliver maximum benefit to both the environment and their bottom line.” Smart, right? Some of the issues discussed include carbon neutrality, local food, water-related energy consumption, and paper use reduction.
- Go Green Nation: Go Green Nation is a sustainable business created to help other businesses go and stay green. Its blog examines environmental resources and news articles to build awareness of green activities. It also promotes green technologies, green jobs, and green communities. This blog is a delight to read, as its writers are all professional journalists and authors.
- Shiny Green Button: Dedicated to discussing sustainability, brands, and communications, this blog is written by employees at a marketing communications firm. Their focus is on helping companies communicate their stories of sustainability to their customers. The blog also highlights creative marketing strategies used by companies like Panera Bread and Walmart, and how companies like Nestle and BP could have better dealt with their environmental debacles.
- Setting the Example: With honesty, intelligence, and an easy-to-read style, this blog aims to “inform about current trends, educate on new developments, endorse successes and challenge propaganda when it comes to advancing best practices in sustainability and social responsibility.” This blog is likeable for its personal, down-to-earth feel.
- Buddha Labs: This blog is a collection of discussions about new environmentally friendly technologies and products. It reviews interesting and innovative products like recyclable shoes, electricity-free espresso makers, radio and television wave-powered cell phones, and pocket showers. If you're looking for interesting, eco-friendly gadgets from sustainable businesses, this is the place to look.