25 Ways to Invest Green

Money always has been power. Ask any politician. Without finding the best man will not win. The one with the most money will.

In the same way you can support causes you feel strongly about by how you invest your money. Blindly investing in mutuals or anything else without doing research on the companies involved shows not only a lack of social responsibility, it shows foolishness on the part of the investor. If you are strongly against Wal-mart's overseas policies, for example, then not shopping there is not enough..you want to make sure that your money has as little positive impact as possible on that company. You would do research to see which companies support Wal-mart, and how, and which investment portfolios carried those stocks. And then, you would totally steer away from them.

You would choose instead to put your money to work in companies that are clean, that are pursuing and supporting the same goals and causes that you are.

1. Research companies on the web. .Put the name in google and see what comes up about them.

2. Read news stories. Know what they are about. What are they doing on a social level?

3. Watch the stock market for a few weeks. How are the companies doing?

4. If possible shop or have some interaction with the company. Do you like it? What is your gut feeling?

5. Talk to your financial advisor about the company and it's prospects.

If all of that checks out then you are ready to invest.

1. Invest in a company that has a strong record of community relations and involvement. Building large stores and shutting down the Mom and Pop stores then moving on to a new location is prevalent among some chain stores.

2 Invest in a company that treats its' employees well. You know that people tend to be real with family and fake with others..well it is the same with companies. If they are not honest and supportive with their employees then you can't trust themat any level

3 What is their foreign policy? A few years ago I was contrasting Target and Wal-mart in an effort to decide if I was going to shop at one or both or either. It had bothered me that Target had stopped allowing Salvation Army to raise money at their stores at Christmas...but I also hated the way Wal-mart treated employees and took over the communities in which it built. As I was doing my research I found that Target donated large sums of money to Salvation Army in lieu of allowing them to raise money at the store level AND they have an impressive foreign policy with procedures in place to enforce the child and slave labor prohibits that they have written in to their foreign policy. They inspect regularly and any company found in noncompliance is suspended. Walmart has little or no foreign policy that I could find... These differences caused me to choose to shop at Target when I could not choose a Mom and Pop Store.

4. Choose to shop locally when possible, at locally owned shops. This is not often considered an investment per se, but I consider it an important one.

5. Avoid investing in companies that use shady business practices, are not earth friendly, or invest in companies that you dislike.

6. Remove stocks from your portfolio from companies that do not share your beliefs and personal values.

7. Be involved as a shareholder. Meetings, voting, comments..you hold some power over the decisions made. Use it.

8. Check Merril Lynch's new tool, Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) which identifies companies and their impact on the environment in regards to CO2 emissions.

9. Invest in a company whose products are sustainable or made form sustainable materials

10 Invest in a company that is making wise financial and business choices, don't choose on the basis of just sustainability and social responsibility Look at a company whose CEO and others high on the corporate ladder are living what they are preaching. If they are jetting off to an island somewhere weekly in a private jet then perhaps they are not taking their convictions home with them.

1.Vestas Wind Systems:2006 performance: 131%

2. Fuel Systems Solutions: 2006 performance 114%

3. Interface: developed climate neutral carpeting, has sustainable materials carpeting in the works. Aiming for 0 wate and closed loop production 2006 performance 76%

4. Ormat- recovered and geothermal energy. 2006 performance: 46%

5. Hewlitt- Packard-a leader in dealing with environmental issues. 2006 performance 46%

6. Winslow Green Growth Fund-a top performing earth friendly fund.

7. Whole Foods

8. Color Kintetics

9 Appleseed Fund

10. New Alternatives Fund

We often feel that we don't have much power. Since we are not wealthy, influential or newsworthy we feel unseen and impotent in the marketplace. The truth is that as consumers we wield incredible power whenever we sign our names on a check. Use it wisely.