50 AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER 1 2007
AW
MARK HENRICKS,
in Austin, Texas, writes about business,
technology, and other topics.
looking for green credentials but for people
whoknew their jobs andwere interested in
working for agreen company likehis.
Credentialscan’thurt, however, and they
are increasinglyavailable.Many communi-
ty colleges offer certificates and associate’s
degrees in environmental scienceand tech-
nology, and the trend is reaching all the
way up to graduate schools. Kerpan says
that “GreenMBA” degrees are now offered
at ahandful of universities,where students
with interests in theenvironmentandbusi-
ness can learn how to have a positive im-
pact onboth.
Not too long ago, having a green career
meant working for a nonprofit group or
a research organization. Nonprofits still
represent amajor career path, but increas-
ingly, businesses of all types are interested
in hiring people who can help them with
their sustainability initiatives,Kerpan says.
Andmanypotential employersarepopping
up specifically toaddressproblems and sell
sustainability solutions, particularly in
the hot areas of renewable energy, green
building, and transportation. “Prettymuch
anything can be a green career if you do it
in the context of solving one of these prob-
lems,” Kerpan says. You can identify green
employers by using directories such as Co-
op America’s National Green Pages (www
.coopamerica.org) and by schmoozing at
green-business conventions and check-
ing sources like the Sustainable Business
Institute’s list of green enterprises (www
.sustainablebusiness.org).
The only bad news about green careers
is that pursuing onemay not pay very well
—yet. “Unfortunately, all toooften itmeans
takingalittlelowersalary,”Sivansays.“There
are lots of great opportunities right now to
get inon thegroundfloor, butgenerally that
comeswithapay cut and some risk.”
Remember that no-
body can completely
elımınate the ımpact
that lıvınghas on the
envıronment—but
we canall dobetter.
had sprung up across the nation.
}
Mexico RivieraMaya:
BarcelóMayaPalace, BarcelóMaya Tropical &Colonial Beach,
BarcelóMayaBeach&Caribe
Puerto Vallarta:
Barceló La JolladeMismaloya
Ixtapa:
Barceló IxtapaBeach
Cancun:
BarcelóCostaCancun
OPENINGDECEMBER2007!
All Junior Suites... All-Inclusive... All YouCouldWant in aVacation!
LuxuryHasANewName... BarcelóMayaPalace
SPECtaCulaR!
Formore informationor
reservations, please contact
1 800 321 2121
AmericanAirlines andAmericanAirlinesVacations aremarksof AmericanAirlines, Inc.
0054BarceloAmericanWay2.indd 1
8/14/07 10:59:57AM
8jhidbbV\Vo^cZh Vi VXa^X`d[ VWjiidc#
K^h^i
VVeXjhidb#Xdb
[dgbdgZYZiV^ah#
cZlWjh^cZhhXdciVXi/
7Zc?d]chdc // -&, .+("*.*+
aap_ad(.333 hori).indd 1
7/23/07 5:34:10PM
