One of the newest buzz words to come out of the environmental crisis is the term “green-collar job”. What exactly is a green-collar job and will there be a need for green-collar workers in the future? Apparently so, as a study by the RAND Corporation and the Universtiy of Tennessee “found that if 25% of all American energy were produced from renewable sources by 2025 we would generate at least 5 million new green-collar jobs”.

Those numbers sound great, but what is a “green-collar? The United States is finally coming to realize that our dependence on fossil fuels is not only detrimental to the environment, it has negative economic ramifications as well. The need for new products and services that will help us develop a more energy efficient society is creating a host of new jobs and the redesigning of jobs that are already in existence. In order to bolster our economy, good jobs that are in green industries need to be created.

In 2007, the United States passed the Green Jobs Act, under then President George Bush. This provided funding to help train multiple skill levels in the areas of the renewable energy and energy-efficiency industries. Jobs that are included in this bill cover jobs such as:

1. Bio diesel related jobs ie, Car and truck mechanic jobs, production jobs, and gas-station jobs

2. The building of energy efficient homes and businesses will create all levels of construction jobs.

3. Construction jobs to retrofit existing homes to increase their energy efficiency

4. Large scale waste composting

5. Environmentally friendly landscaping

6. Recycling of construction debris.

7. Manufacture and sales of environmentally friendly cleaning products

8. Industries that use recycled materials to produce new products.

9. Ecotourism

10.The development,installation and maintenance of wind and solar products

11.All phases of hybrid car manufacturing, distribution and maintenance

12.Hazardous material clean up services

13.Bicycle manufacture, sales and support

14.Composting

Where to Find Green Collar Jobs

Online resources like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com have sections devoted to green-collar jobs. A Google search for green-collar jobs will give you a wealth of information on the latest sites that focus on green-collar jobs. But the best way to find jobs is the tried and true method of networking. Most jobs are never posted online or in the newspaper, so be sure to let your family, friends, and business contacts of your interest in a green job.

Another great way to network is to work as a volunteer doing something either related to your field of interest or at least in the environmental sector.

A Green Education

Getting the proper education to secure a green-collar job will be getting easier and easier since the “Green Job Act” will be providing funding for education. On the job training will be all that is needed for entry level positions, and vocational schools are starting to offer programs. More and more colleges and universities are providing baccalaureate, master’s and doctorate degrees in a variety of high end “green careers”.

OpenCourseWare is a program that offers free collegiate level programs through MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). While you don’t get college credits, you can have a world class education for free if you are disciplined enough to study outside a classroom.

Conclusion

It is projected that within the next 20 years, 25% of all jobs in the United States will be green-collar jobs. Now is the time to get in on the ground floor of a new job sector. Re-evaluationg your current job to be sure that it can be adapted into the “green market” may offer you job security in the future. If your job isn’t environmentally friendly you will need to think about “going green” today.

Author-Bio: Beverly Saltonstall is an environmental writer. Caring deeply about the environment, her website http://pollutionwebsite.com , offers articles, podcasts, news and products that help visitors understand the pollution crisis.

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