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Hi Everyone,
I’d like to thank Green Options for inviting me to join their team of writers.
I’ve been an eco-entrepreneur my whole career, over 25 years. These days, I help connect green leaders and the general public in new ways that accelerate benefits to people and the biosphere.
One of the most vital, energetic, and promising links between green leaders and the general public is green investing. In my opinion, the world of finance shapes our economy even more than [...]
By John Ivanko •
May 13, 2008
This is the first of several posts describing “Strategies of Abundance” for ecopreneurs and green business owners.
Even in financially tough times, these Strategies of Abundance reflect interrelationships between personal finance and business, especially for small business owners. The key for ecopreneurs is how they use their business to make the world a better place. Profits from a green enterprise are the catalyst for ecopreneurs to achieve their Earth Mission, whether to restore ecological integrity or make photovoltaic systems affordable to all.
STRATEGY #1: Stop paying the banker.
The longer you hold a mortgage, the more you work for the bank and the more profitable you make them. For comparison, below is a chart from our book, ECOpreneuring, reflecting how interest can pile up on a $100,000 mortgage at 7 percent interest for terms of 15 and 30 years. While the monthly payment is less for the 30-year mortgage (the primary reason many of us choose it), we end up paying more than double for the use of the same pot of money.
By accelerating our mortgage payments on our 30-year fixed mortgage by paying down the principal when we could, we have the ability to earn less income to pay the bank than if we did otherwise over the long-term. Prepayment on principal is usually acceptable and completely legal. Every time you pay down the principal, the remaining interest and balance is recalculated, meaning that more of your regular monthly payments go to the principal and not interest payments.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs: A National Green Jobs Conference highlighted green success stories that are unfolding around the country and the world. Explore three innovative, inspiring examples to discover the possibilities within the green economy.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs: A National Green Jobs Conference is coordinated by the Blue Green Alliance, a strategic partnership between the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club. A diverse group comes together to talk about how to move the green economy forward with good, well paying, stable jobs for workers in the United States and beyond.
By Carol McClelland •
February 22, 2008
Kevin Doyle’s recent post on GRIST offers a State of the Green Job report.
By Heidi Strebel •
October 2, 2007
The first phase in the French government’s environmental "New Deal" is complete. Jean-Louis Borloo, the minister of ecology and sustainable development, hosted a conference in Paris last Thursday to present the results of that initial phase and to launch the second phase. In his press release, Borloo employed rousing terms to describe a momentous turning point in French society.
After a time of inquiry, now is the time for action, and France will be
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