Being green doesn’t necessarily equate with being broke. There’s an increasing number of really smart green business initiatives out there.

Here are 5 We Love

1 CitéGreen: rewarding ‘good’ behaviour
This French initiative operates on a basic principle: ‘you act, you are rewarded’. Using an incentive scheme, participants are rewarded with points – redeemable for various gifts and discounts – when they perform actions that are good for the environment.
www.citegreen.com
* Note: site is in French, browsers such as Google Chrome offer a pretty good translation service.

2 Indian carpooling service does more than just connect commuters
We’re all aware of the environmental benefits associated with carpooling and a number of great ride-sharing sites have sprung up around the world in response to this. This new service has expanded its offering by also providing periodic summaries of the savings resulting from using their service.
www.olivetrips.com/web/about.jsp

3 Cargohopper: an eco-friendly delivery solution
The Dutch have come up with a greener way to distribute supplies to inner-city businesses: Europe’s largest solar van. Saving up to 30 tonnes of CO2 a year, the cargohopper is definitely something for other congested cities around the world to investigate.
www.cargohopper.nl

4 Aquaponic farm on Berlin rooftop
A twist on the familiar concept of the roof garden, this rooftop farm will produce both vegetables and fish reared according to sustainable aquaculture guidelines. A great initiative with the potential for application just about anywhere.
www.ecf-center.de/en/

5 Transform your printer in to a tree planting machine
A variation on the ‘click and give’ model, Print a Forest is free computer software that turns the environmental negative of printing in to a positive by facilitating the planting of a tree for every 100 pages you print. Clever.
www.printaforest.com

Alsco Ecosafe Washers

And here is a great use of the Bioremediation technology.

Alsco Ecosafe Washer eliminates the need for harmful solvents while providing an economical, safe and effective car part cleaning solution. Ideal for engine cleaning and industrial parts washing, the Ecosafe Washer provides an environmentally friendly alternative: no harmful chemicals, no fumes, non toxic, non flammable, no waste disposal and no health concerns.

Image courtesy: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers