Is the Green Bubble a Good Thing?

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Lately, I have heard lots of talk about the "Green Bubble" as the next looming boom and bust on the horizon. It is true that far too much loosely invested money is driving up prices on any company to tied clean energy, biofuels, or clean water. The green revolution in business does fit the bill for a looming bust. Many see eco-innovation, especially alternative fuels and energy sources as the future, and rightly so. But looming trends in innovation often cause over-exuberance and "gold rushes" into a market, which can only sustain so much growth and investment. The dot-com and housing busts are just the most recent examples.

Yet, I have to wonder if the green bubble might be a positive in the long run. I believe that to truly achieve a sustainable future, much more investment into green technology is necessary to continue to drive the innovation and infrastructure needed to address our environmental woes. Sure, many starts-ups will fail and investors' money will be lost, but in return will surely come more affordable and efficient ways to produce alternative energies, biofuels, and sustainable products and practices. Plenty of people got burnt in the dot-com bust, but where would our lives be without Google?

What do you think about the Green Bubble? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Nonexistent?

Tom Szaky

Tom Szaky is the founder of TerraCycle, a New Jersey based company that makes fertilizer using worms and produces retail products from recycled goods. The firm was started while he was a student at Princeton University. Tom was named "The No. 1 CEO Under Thirty" by Inc. magazine in its July 2006 issue.