Well, the stimulus is in full swing and the Obama administration is promising millions of new jobs through the creation of “green jobs”, but what do these really mean. Traditionally, a green job was a job working in a renewable energy sector, but this definition seems to be getting broader as more of the talking heads discuss it. So that got me thinking (and now writing about) what REALLY constitutes a green job.
If manufacturing solar cells and wind turbines are green jobs, why not production of hybrid vehicles? What about all of the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) in electronic manufacturing? Are these jobs any less green because they are not NEW? At VirTex Assembly, we take great pains to recycle, reduce and reuse as much as possible, while minimizing the impact on the environment. Does that make us green? I would like to think so.
If a company making solar power or wind turbines is inefficient and wasteful by spending huge amounts of fuel transporting goods around the globe rather than producing them locally, does that make them less green? I would like to think that is true too. Green should be more than the industry you are in. Green should be a corporate culture. Sustainability needs to become the focus and companies working hard to reduce emissions and decrease their carbon footprint should be afforded the same opportunities. Are the hundreds of thousands of new government jobs to oversee stimulus money so it is not wasted green jobs? What about the jobs created protecting the habitat of Speaker Pelosi’s beloved salt marsh harvest mouse? It’s environmental, right? Doesn’t that make it green even if it is just another case of ridiculous pork barrel spending?
I am not naive enough to think that any of the stimulus plan will trickle down to traditional small manufacturing companies. We are not a huge bloated behemothlike the auto industry who has squandered more money than we have donein revenue in our nine year history. We will need to continue to find ways to make ourselves more competitive by focusing on ways to add value in a down economy through increasing responsiveness of service and logistics. Saving money and fuel in reduced transport costs is green, Reducing the amount of packaging materials used to ship products is green. Redesigning boxes and packaging to accomodate more product in less space while providing the same protection is green.
I think I have a green job, as do all of VirTexAssembly’s employees. And I am going to keep thinking so, until something in the very un-green (except for the color on the money) stimulus plan tell me otherwise.
Brad
