What is a Green Opportunity?

Companies large and small, in the United States and beyond, are rapidly "greening" - committing to develop and implement earth-friendly solutions to protect the natural environment. GreenCareers is the connection between those companies and the millions of motivated job seekers looking to participate directly in this rapidly emerging green economy. GreenCareers helps job-seekers find green jobs, and jobs at companies that are "green" or "going green."

What is a green job?
A green job is a position that focuses primarily on environmentally responsible products or services, or any job in a green company or a green division of a company. If it's a job in a green company, no matter what the position, it's a green job. If the job in any company has a major focus on preventing pollution, reducing the consumption of natural resources or actively promoting the appreciation and protection of nature, it's also a green job. These jobs span all occupations and industries, and can be found in the smallest start-ups or the largest multinational firms. Some examples include:

• NJ State Park Ranger
• City Environmental Planner
• Residential Solar Energy Consultant
• ecoAmerica Project Manager
• Energy Efficiency Technician - Southern California Edison
• Marketing Specialist - Honeywell Energy Solutions

What is a green company?
These are companies, organizations or divisions that are proactively reducing humans' impact on the environment or promoting its restoration. This can be either through their practices (green practices company) or the industry they are in (green industry company). They also do not produce any significant pollution or harm our natural world as a direct or integral part of their activities.

Green Industry Company
If a company is in a green industry, selling exclusively earth-friendly products or services, we consider it to be green company. Green companies include firms from industries as diverse as:

• Organic foods and consumer products
• Residential energy efficiency or solar power
• Renewable energy
• Green building
• Recycling
• Environmental cleanup
• Socially responsible investing
• Sustainable tourism
• Non-profit environmental advocacy

Green Practices Company
A company or organization can also be green by their practices. Each company, from professional services to manufacturing, large and small may take many different actions, but they all:

• Include their green commitment in their mission and across their business in a comprehensive way with ambitious and measurable company-wide goals ... not just some projects or activities. This includes greening their operations and supply chain, and supporting 'green activities' among their employees and in their communities.
• Publically communicate their green goals and performance to their stakeholders including customers, shareholders, vendors and employees.
• While they may have more opportunities, green companies have already taken the actions necessary to green themselves and are very substantially, comprehensively, publicly and obviously 'green'.

'Going Green' Companies
GreenCareers also recognizes that there are many companies that have made a comprehensive public commitment to going green, and are already taking significant steps in this regard, but have not yet reached a level where they can say that they are substantially green or sustainable. We call these 'Going Green' Companies. Examples include Hewlett-Packard and Wal-Mart.

Companies that list their jobs on MonsterTRAK self-select using the criteria above. Companies or prospective employees can get a downloadable form with more detailed criteria on how we categorize a green or going-green companies. We encourage employers to provide links to their green or sustainability commitments, progress and reports in their postings on this website.

Each company has different opportunities and paths to going green, so drawing a line between 'green' and 'going green' is somewhat subjective. We use concept of 'very substantial attainment' to draw the line. If a company has a comprehensive public commitment, a plan and industry-leading goals to go green and can say that they are 'very substantially' (e.g. 75% or more) complete with their plan, they can consider themselves to be a 'green' company. If they have a lower level of attainment, they are 'going green.'

Your standards might be different than ours, and you should always do your own research to make sure that any company you"re considering meets them. These criteria represent our best judgment and should not be considered an endorsement of the company or their products. If you think any company is misrepresenting itself, or if you have suggestions on bettering our criteria, please let us know at: greencriteria@MonsterTRAK.com.

© 2008 MonsterTRAK