Lawn care was always synonymous with pesticide use, but as times changed so did the use of chemicals on our lawns and gardens. The use of organic and environmentally friendly lawn care products has skyrocketed over the past decade to the point where a person walking past a lawn sprayed with pesticides might be a little taken aback. What else could be done in the lawn care industry to go further in protecting the environment? An answer is The Silent Gardener – a small green business that takes lawn maintenance to the next eco-level.

Using mulches and organic fertilizers, these professional and certified gardeners take care of lawns with a clean conscience. As the name implies, instead of using gas powered equipment, people-power is the name of the game at The Silent Gardener. Rakes instead of leaf-blowers and hand push lawn mowers instead of noisy gas-powered lawn mowers help ease noise pollution in a community. Their slogan, “working towards a quieter, more livable city” beautifully encapsulates what they set out to do.

This might be the perfect idea that you are searching for in starting a green business, for adults or students alike, or for those who contract out lawn care for their business, it might be a way of beginning to make your current business a little more eco-friendly. We salute The Silent Gardener for creating a green business that leaves a lasting environmentally friendly impression in their community.

Small businesses in North Carolina – listen up! The North Carolina Green Business Fund is open for business and wants to give away individual grants of up to $500,000, totaling more than $8,000,000, funded by the Recovery Act. The money will be awarded to entrepreneurial, job creating endeavors in the state of North Carolina. This fund is directed at small and medium-sized businesses with 100 or fewer employees. The proposals must keep or create jobs in areas of the state that are having a difficult time economically. The proposal must fulfil at least one of the following criteria: Save energy, install or generate renewable energy, reduce green house gases, produce alternative fuels, promote building energy efficiency.

These are just a few of the areas that are keys to being successful in your proposal. More information can be found at the NC Green Business Fund website. The pre-proposal deadline is January 19th, 2010, so get cracking and get some of the grant money that you deserve to further develop your business. This is a wonderful opportunity for small green businesses to grow in the green economy. Even if you don’t think you have a chance to get a grant, read all of the site’s documents, you never know.

Two University students gave up lucrative careers in finance to start a business based on sustainability. They grow gourmet mushrooms from used coffee grounds – how amazing is that?  The company’s name is BTTR Ventures and they operate out of Fresno, California. The company’s name is pronounced ‘better’ and it stands for ‘back to the roots’. Its founders, Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora, parlayed their love of business and the environment into a thriving green business that already has grocery giant Whole Foods as a client.