As society becomes “greener,” a slew of green jobs have begun to emerge, the focus of which is to create a cleaner environment with less pollutants and carbon emissions. Indeed, demand for green jobs has increased exponentially. Here are some of the fastest growing green jobs:
Water Quality Scientists and Technicians: Water pollution is threatening sea life and has the potential to make humans and animals sick. In addition to testing water to ensure it is fit for human consumption, water quality scientists and technicians work on creating solutions to keep water free from contaminants or to effectively decontaminate them.
Clean Car Engineers: Clean car engineers develop vehicles that consume less fossil fuels.
Urban Growers: Green rooftop gardens in urban areas can deliver locally-sourced produce without pesticides or fossil fuels – and without the many pollutants utilized in the preservation and delivery process of rural-grown produce. Urban gardens also have the ability to improve air quality, insulate buildings, and manage storm water.
Solar Engineers and Technicians: Solar energy is power that can be harvested from the sun’s rays. Solar engineers and technicians create, install, and test anything within the solar energy field.
Green Design Professionals: Designing a green building, community, or city isn’t as easy as it sounds. Green design professionals need to understand the various types of materials and their uses, specifically in regards to their environmental effects, as well as conceptualize how to best save energy and create a sustainable environment – all the while developing a functional and visually-appealing space.
Wind and Wave Energy Producers: Wind power has grown dramatically in the last few years. The wind turbines that you sometimes see from the road – they produce wind energy.
If you haven’t heard of wave energy yet, that’s because the industry is extremely small. The motivation behind using wave energy is simple: The ocean is perpetually moving, so why not capture that movement to create power?
Both wind and wave energy are clean sources of energy and their respective proponents believe they can become a big part of the global electricity production industry in the future.
Biofuel Jobs: There are a wide range of biofuel jobs on the market, from engineers and technicians to plant construction and delivery servicemen and women. As more money is invested in renewable energies, jobs in the biofuel industry will continue to rise.
Environmental Engineers: Environmental engineers identify pollutants or hazards that affect the environment or the health of the population. They then create strategies to eliminate them.
Green Builders: Someone has to build these green buildings, communities, towns, and cities – and that’s exactly what green builders do!
Geoscientists: Geoscientists study the physical composition of the earth to learn as much as they can about it. It is very difficult, after all, to create green solutions without fully understanding the properties of the earth.
Of course, there are many other green jobs that didn’t make this list. In addition, a myriad of companies in traditional industries are continuing to amend their processes to be more mindful of the environment. In fact, clothing and manufacturing companies, which have been some of the biggest polluters in the past, are working on becoming more environmentally friendly and touting their environmental sustainability policies as a badge of pride.
This is as much a cultural transition as an economic and technological one, and we have yet to see how far it will take us.