We’re deviating from our regular schedule to bring you the best new business ideas of 2007, featuring our personal favourites. This isn’t a trip down memory lane-all of these smart concepts will continue to provide entrepreneurs with plenty of opportunities in 2008. Next up, green-green-green: eco & sustainability.

1. Wind power, still made here: Windunie (Dutch for wind union) is a collective of 230 wind turbine owners, most of whom are farmers who operate turbines as an extra source of income. All sell the energy they produce directly to consumers. Windunie’s customers can pick a specific farm they want to buy electricity from. More »

2. Eco-friendly pack and move solution: Moving supplies such as boxes, bubble wrap and other packaging materials remain piled up in landfills long after people have settled into their new abodes. EarthFriendlyMoving has set out to change that by offering eco-friendly moving supplies available at consumer-friendly prices.

Moving supplies such as boxes, bubble wrap and other packaging materials remain piled up in landfills long after people have settled into their new abodes. EarthFriendlyMoving has set out to change that by offering eco-friendly moving supplies available at consumer-friendly prices.

EarthFriendlyMoving’s RecoPack—short for Recycled Ecological Packing Solution—containers are made from recycled plastic and come in five convenient sizes. Customers can rent RecoPacks for just “a buck a box a week”, which, depending on how long they keep them, may actually be less than they might spend on traditional cardboard boxes. Even better, RecoPack containers are lightweight, sturdy and stackable, and EarthFriendlyMoving delivers them and picks them up in their bio-fueled trucks.

Customers who want to further protect their breakables might wrap them in EarthFriendlyMoving’s Giami packing paper, a honeycomb-like recycled paper made to replace bubble wrap. Instead of “packing peanuts,” customers can use RecoCubes, which are made from recycled paper sludge—simply toss them in the yard after use, and they’ll compost to help feed trees and grass. EarthFriendlyMoving even employs “Poopy Pallets,” each of which are made from 500 recycled baby diapers. These and other green solutions are available for rent or purchase, and customers can get free estimates as soon as they’re ready to begin planning their move.

EarthFriendlyMoving currently operates in Long Beach and Orange County, with plans to expand their reach through more of Southern California in 2007. The company hopes to go nationwide within the next few years. It’s a great example of finding a profitable—and ecologically sound—niche market within the trend to go green, and of bringing innovation to an industry that hasn’t changed very much over the past century.

Website: www.earthfriendlymoving.com
Contact: info2007@earthfriendlymoving.com

Spotted by: Wakako Takagi

read the article at: springwise.com