How your kid can start a clean energy business

Owning and running a business isn’t an easy thing to do. But it can teach valuable life long lessons. And many kids look for ways to earn a little extra cash to buy a new bike or get the next big game. Here are some green ways that your kids can start a business.

Landscaping

Starting a lawn-mowing business is classic. It’s like the pre-teen/early teen version of a lemonade stand. Taking care of lawns and flowerbeds is already pretty green, but there are tons of tools out now that make it possible to do even more good for the planet while making the job of maintaining tools a lot easier.

Battery-powered and electric tools have a nice foothold in the market, and they prevent you from having to worry about gas, oil, and a lot of the maintenance that comes with gas-powered alternatives. Knowing your child is being “green” while taking care of the lawn can’t hurt their business either. So this is a good way to update an old practice.

Get in on the farmers market

Gardening provides a fantastic way for your kid to learn some responsibility. And, it can cost very little to start. With some soil, tools, and some seeds, they can start their own nursery and sell some nice, homegrown flower arrangements, or plant and harvest their own fruits and vegetables.

If they reinvest some of their earnings into building a greenhouse, they can improve their productivity and yield. There are also some great techniques for improving your greenhouse at no extra cost, such as compost heating. Then they can take whatever they grow to the farmers market and see if they can make a few extra bucks. People are often willing to pay a little extra for fresh, organically grown food.

Hydroponics

There are some other ways to cleverly grow plants, and one of the more recently popular ones is by a method called hydroponics. Hydroponics replaces soil with an absorbent material that can hold a seed and pull in water. Nutrients are placed in that water rather than the plants having to pull it from the dirt. And, with plenty of light, the plants will flourish.

What makes these unique is it makes it possible to grow plants almost anywhere. So, instead of growing and selling plants, your kid could learn to make these nifty plant growing systems and sell them around the neighborhood or through an Etsy shop (if you're willing to set it up and maintain it for them). There are plenty of guides online that explain how to make one and usually doesn’t take much more than some PVC pipes. With some luck, these can sell very quickly and provide your kid with some decent income while sharing a great “green” past time.

Community clean up

Many parks and neighborhoods need more attention than they get and cleaning them up is something people often want, but don’t put the time into doing. Your child can offer their (and their friends) services to do just that for a fee lower than what most city crews would cost. The city might be willing to donate part of their budget to support these young entrepreneurial minds and residents and businesses will probably be thrilled to see things looking nicer. With some recommendations, community clean-up crews could become a decent gig.

There are lots of great ways that kids can run their own business, but doing some good while they’re at it is always a great bonus. Share these ideas with your kid and maybe they’ll come up with their own.