5 Low-cost Green Businesses You Can Start Now

Help save our planet with these low-cost, eco-friendly startup ideas.

Photo by Yoyo Dy on Unsplash

Our planet is approaching a critical turning point. Without considerable intervention, it seems likely that global warming will soon be irreversible.

Avoiding this tragic outcome will rely upon the ability of mankind to abandon practices that harm our environment. But it will also depend on how successfully we can adopt “green” ideas; those techniques, technologies and projects with the potential to combat anthropogenic climate change.

These green ideas are generally thought of as immensely expensive projects, only accessible to the occasional eco-conscious multi-millionaire or governments. There is, of course, plenty of truth to this; without large-scale green projects, we stand little chance of succeeding in our battle against global warming.

However, small businesses also have a vital role to play. Whether by changing people’s attitudes and influencing policy-makers or by offering a product that actively combats climate change, small businesses have the potential to lead the way in this critical struggle.

There are a number of low-cost, green business ideas available that could enable you to join the growing ranks of eco-entrepreneurs helping to preserve our planet’s future.

The ideas listed here may seem overly modest, especially given the focus that is paid to groundbreaking initiatives such as carbon capture and storage, electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell technology, and so on. But the relative simplicity of these ideas should do nothing to take away from their potential efficacy.

Here are 5 green business ideas that you could start with minimal or no qualifications and only a small amount of start-up capital:

1. Air duct cleaning

One green service you could provide is air duct cleaning. Air ducts readily accumulate dust and dirt over their lifetimes, leading to inefficient air conditioning. By offering an air duct cleaning service, you can reduce energy costs for customers while simultaneously helping to minimise unnecessary consumption. Granted, this idea isn’t glamorous but, with fairly low-level skills and minimal training, air duct cleaning has the potential to provide you with a steady, eco-conscious income.

Pursuing this idea is going to require some initial investment but, once you’ve got a foot in the game, many of these costs will fall away.

Once you’ve built a good reputation, you can expect to charge as much as £500 (~$620) for a two to four-hour cleaning job. However, justifying this fee would require a license to clean HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning) systems (such as a license for the servicing of F gas equipment in the UK).

One of the benefits of air duct cleaning is that demand for this service should remain fairly constant as ducts need cleaning once every 7–10 years, according to Dave Baker of WSB’s Home Fix-It Show.

2. Energy auditing

Energy auditors, also known as energy consultants, are expected to evaluate the efficiency of energy use within residential and commercial buildings. The findings of these audits are then used to determine where energy is being wasted, and how these inefficiencies might be combatted.

To summarise, energy auditors make money by advising on ways to help others to minimise unnecessary costs and energy consumption. Therefore, this idea is perfect for those that wish to improve the health of both planet and pocket.

Admittedly, pursuing this path may involve gaining some experience within a larger firm to get started and it may also help to gain a qualification via a practical school. However, neither a degree in a related field nor any specific certification is typically required (although this varies from country-to-country).

Unsurprisingly, the level of experience and the qualifications required (and hence the amount you can charge) is likely to depend on the complexity and depth of the work that is taken on.

According to Recruiter.com, energy auditors can usually expect to earn around $67,000 CAD in Canada, but no reliable nationwide data is available for the US or UK. However, this salary is likely to vary significantly from country-to-country and reveals little about the earnings potential for new entrants into this industry.

3. Environmental media

A media company, focused on environmental issues, can be pursued on a small scale (such as writing on Medium, like me) or on a much larger scale, incorporating multiple forms of media.

Whether via a blog, podcast, YouTube channel or magazine, if you can build up a bank of informative, useful and unique environment-related content, you stand a good chance of growing a loyal audience. These media streams can then be harnessed to make money through affiliate links, advertisement and sponsorship deals.

Inspiration for this kind of pursuit is readily available on YouTube, Medium, and elsewhere. However, although Medium provides some helpful statistics relating to the earnings of writers within its ‘partner program’, the likely earnings potential of a media business specialising in environmental issues is difficult to determine. Blogs, podcasts, etc, can range hugely in success depending on how much time, effort and skill is put in to them. As a general rule of thumb, a blog will need to be consistently updated for at least a year (maybe as many as three) to be truly profitable.

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

4. Up-cycling and restoration business

The restoration or up-cycling of old furniture, textiles, CDs, or picture frames could make for a profitable and rewarding enterprise. By breathing new life into disused or outdated items, restoration or upcycling can help to minimise unnecessary waste. As a bonus, people may be willing to pay well for your services in restoring decrepit items with sentimental value if you possess good DIY skills.

If you also happen to have an eye for design, this could be taken one step further by up-cycling old items into contemporary pieces of furniture or art. A few examples of successful up-cycling businesses are Zoe Murphy, a British designer specialising in the use of textiles to up-cycle existing furniture, and Thomas Wold, an American craftsman who typically designs bright and quirky creations from outdated furniture.

This kind of business could operate out of a physical store, but it is likely to be more cost-effective, and require far less effort, to operate from your own website or via Etsy, a well-known marketplace for handmade and vintage goods.

Again, the earnings potential for this kind of business varies wildly according to a number of factors, but there appear to be many Etsy sellers who have succeeded in establishing full-time up-cycling careers on the platform. The average seller on Etsy earns about $3,400 a year from the site, but it’s worth bearing in mind that this is probably nowhere near representative of the average full-time seller’s earnings.

5. Small-space gardening business

It is becoming increasingly clear that the production and transport of our food is unsustainable. This collective realisation has sparked renewed interest in old-school, self-sustaining and small-scale gardening projects.

Specialising in areas such as the design of rooftop gardens or the sale of miniature greenhouses, organic compost, or seeded plant trays could allow you to take advantage of this growing environmental industry.

This business idea doesn’t just help to reduce the environmental consequences of large-scale food production. Pursuing small-space gardening could also reduce your household food costs and avoid unnecessary trips to the supermarket.