Have you noticed ? The word green has suddenly become very popular - and the reason behind its popularity is not merely aesthetic ! It's just that the word green, apart from being a primary colour, stands for "eco-friendly" - a feature which nowadays every conscious customer looks for in a product. Needless to say, eco-friendly is something products of almost every market-oriented enterprise today is striving to be or at least - as in some cases - "pretending" to be.

Concern for health and environment is growing among people, and most businesses either want to cash in on the trend or else have no option but to swim with the tide. Surely, with problems like global warming staring in our face, we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to environmental issues and their impact on our health. And as far as our environment is concerned, it's probably not enough to "do our bit" - if possible, we should rather "do our biz" ! Now what does that mean?! Well, if you have an entrepreneural spirit and an idea that's beneficial for our environment, why not try and convert that idea into a sustainable business? That way you can help improve the world while increasing your personal wealth !

Such a sustainable business, engaged in environmentally sound products and practices, is called a "green business". With awareness for the environment growing the world over, opportunities in green business are thriving. More and more people are waking up to the fact that leading an eco-friendly lifestyle is going to help them save money, improve their health, and give them more independence.

But merely the passion to be eco-friendly is not likely to an eco-friendly world unless we have eco-friendly products of our daily use easily available at affordable prices. That's a need our "ecopreneurs" - that is, entrepreneurs with a "green" bent of mind - have to fill in. And the green trend is slowly catching on. Green business is now a very lucrative branch of the commercial world and businesses ranging from small home-based firms to large multinational companies are joining the fray.

A Green Business is essentially a business that engages in eco-friendly practices and complies with all environmental norms. There are certain simple steps that businesses big and small need to take in order to go green.

And Green Business isn't just about greening an existing business - it's also about embarking on new ventures that provide eco-friendly products and services for people interested in leading a green lifestyle.

A business concern needs to use eco-friendly products and practices in order to be considered a green business. Ideally, a product can be called "eco-friendly" if components used to manufacture it are - as far as possible - natural or organic; and its manufacturing process causes little or no pollution - in terms of emission of green house gases and hazardous by-products. The business concern also needs to ensure that its factories don't flout environmental laws and don't disturb or destroy the flora and fauna of the areas where they are located. Besides, the factories should - if possible - use renewable sources of energy and manage their waste products effectively. Going green has indeed helped several businesses reduce costs, conserve resources, improve productivity and thereby increase profitability.

The concept of greening a business is seen by some as a logical extension of the erstwhile philosophy of CSR or Corporate Social Responsibilty. Greening entails giving an additional environmental slant to a corporate body's duties pertaining to social and humanitarian aspects. Every business today needs to "green-up" its activities. But there is no better way for a business to project itself as an environmentally responsible firm than by providing at least one eco-friendly product or service.

A green business essentially means meeting customer needs profitably without harming the environment in any manner. Surely a business can create value for its customers, its investors and the environment at large if it strives to be eco-friendly in all its functions. An organisation's first step towards greening its act involves ensuring that all its processes and services adequately address current environmental concerns.