What are Green Jobs and Green Collar Workers?

While the definition of a green job is constantly evolving, green jobs can simply be defined as jobs that help the environment. A green-collar worker is a worker who is employed in the environmental sectors of the economy, or in the agricultural sector.

Environmental green-collar workers satisfy the demand for green development. Generally, they implement environmentally conscious design, policy, and technology to improve conservation and sustainability. Governmental environmental regulations as well as growing social expectations are causing many companies to seek professionals with expertise with environmental, energy efficiency, and clean renewable energy issues. Companies are trying to make their every day business practices and operations more sustainable as to be seen more favorable to public opinion, governmental regulation, and the Earth's ecology. In additional individuals are making lifestyle changes to help lessen their impact on the environment.

Green collar workers include professionals such as conservation movement workers, environmental consultants, environmental or biological systems engineers, green building architects, holistic passive solar building designers, solar energy and wind energy engineers, nuclear engineers, green vehicle engineers, green business owners, organic farmers, environmental lawyers, ecology educators, and eco-technology workers.

Green collar workers also include vocational or trade-level workers such as electricians who install solar panels, plumbers who install solar water heaters, construction workers who build energy-efficient green buildings and wind power farms, construction workers who weatherize buildings to make them more energy efficient, home efficiency consultants who perform home efficiency checkups or other workers involved in clean, renewable, sustainable future energy development.