Any good ideas of a "green" business to start? (solar panel, recycling)

[UrbanTile]

I own a tile and stone installation company in the Kansas City, Missouri area but would like to start a eco-friendly business to go along with my tile company, or something totally different. Does anyone have good ideas of what to start for a low cost and high demand? Being in the Midwest, it seems that we are slower to catch on to the new up and coming products that tend to start along the coast.

[southdown]

Have a look at this

National Community Wood Recycling Project

The UK is full of Social Enterprise businesses, Furniture Now is a big one that's doing really well too. Plenty of ideas!

[my54ford]

how about solor heated flooring? ........... MMMM I should sell you that idea.......

[riveree]

How about recycled tile, paving stones, bricks, etc.?

You could just become a distributor for these things, or you could contact home renovators and tear-down developers and obtain these materials as they come out of old homes in your area - go real local on it .

[lastinshow]

Originally Posted by riveree

How about recycled tile, paving stones, bricks, etc.?

You could just become a distributor for these things, or you could contact home renovators and tear-down developers and obtain these materials as they come out of old homes in your area - go real local on it .

Sounds like a plan. Something the OP is familiar with (better chance of success) and it is very popular right now.

[killer2021]

I've had an idea for a while. Simple in theory but requires lots of capital.

Basically you find and develop properties for renewable energy. Build wind turbines where there is plenty of wind, build geothermal plants where there is heat etc. When these properties are complete you sell them in the form of a royalty trust. You can IPO the shares for building cost + 10% profit. A royalty trust is an investment vehicle similar to a stock that distributes 90% of its earnings to the shareholders and the other 10% is used for reinvestment/maintenance whatever. There is lots of royalty trusts in the oil and gas industry that buy up oil and gas rights then pump them out. If only we could do the same for renewable energy.

Like I said though, the idea requires lots of capital as you'd have to build an operating power plant. So you'd need at least a couple million to get the ball rolling.

[UrbanTile]

Killer2021, that is a good idea and you have put some thought into it, it seems. I do know that there are a few companies out there that in the process of doing something along these lines. It would take a little more money than I have to invest. If you front the money, Im in!

Thanks everyone for all the other ideas. I have thought about a recycled building material company and contacting demolition crews to see if I could salvage material before they demolish the building. There are a couple companies in my area that are somewhat doing that and they will pay the demo crews good money to allow them to go in and take reusable items out. Maybe I should just start a demolition company and and recycle all the materials I tear out.

I also like the furniture idea and using old barn wood or different recycled materials to create a modern yet eco-friendly look.

The solor heated floor idea is GREAT! Maybe just because Im in the flooring business and hear customers complain a lot about their heat bill or water bill being outrageous once I have installed a electric heating element or the radiant heated floor that is hot water fed through plastic tubing. You can almost expect your water or electric bill to double in price if you get either of those systems installed and run them all the time at a warm temperature. How would you go about creating a system that heats the floors with solor energy? It almost sound to simple if you think about it, since there are already solor panels that are heating a entire house.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by UrbanTile

Killer2021, ... Maybe I should just start a demolition company and and recycle all the materials I tear out.

I also like the furniture idea and using old barn wood or different recycled materials to create a modern yet eco-friendly look.
....

Here is a local non-profit that does both (Portland, OR)
The ReBuilding Center

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by UrbanTile

The solor heated floor idea is GREAT! Maybe just because Im in the flooring business and hear customers complain a lot about their heat bill or water bill being outrageous once I have installed a electric heating element or the radiant heated floor that is hot water fed through plastic tubing. You can almost expect your water or electric bill to double in price if you get either of those systems installed and run them all the time at a warm temperature. How would you go about creating a system that heats the floors with solor energy? It almost sound to simple if you think about it, since there are already solor panels that are heating a entire house.

Just hook up a hot water solar panel on their roof or in the yard to the tubing in their floor, and use a small pump (maybe powered by another solar panel) to circulate the glycol.

Once it's in, they have free heat in their floor.

[southdown]

A report on a successful green business model; recycling building materials in UK

The new style in salvaging - Times Online