How do you define the 'green' economy?

I'm excited to be working on the content strategy for a new website that will be unveiled at the Green Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19. The website will set out a framework which defines the "green economy" and will call for video entries from companies and individuals who are creating new green jobs in America.

The way I defined the categories is based on the 5-part definition that Van Jones presents in his seminal book, The Green Collar Economy — energy, transportation, water, waste, and land management. But I pulled out an additional category from energy called "green building." Under each of these (now 6) categories I tried to keep it to 5 sub-categories. Of course its a starting point and will evolve, but for now it provides a helpful way to organize the many industry sectors that will be creating the largest number of green jobs.

Here are the 6 main sectors of the Green Economy:

Renewable Energy

Solar Energy

Wind Energy

Geothermal Energy

Wave Energy

Bio-Gas & Fuel Cells

Clean Transportation

Fuels of the Future

Electric & Hybrid Cars

PEV's (personal electronic vehicles)

Rideshare & Flex Programs

Water Management

Water Recycling

Grey & Rainwater Systems

Low-water Landscaping

Water Purification

Stormwater Planning

Waste Management

Recycling & Municipal Waste

Salvage - 2nd Hand

Toxics Remediation

Brownfield & Superfund Cleanup

Sustainable Products - Packaging

Land Management

Organic Agriculture

Habitat Conservation/Restoration

Urban Forestry & Parks

Reforestation & Afforestation

Soil Stabilization

Although I am a great believer that the best and cleanest energy is the energy we DON'T use, I felt it was important to break out the building sector as a separate category, including energy efficiency retrofits, rather than keep it in the 'energy' category. This enables me to list out other job types like home energy efficiency retrofits (weatherization, efficient appliances, solar hot water, etc.) as well as plumbing retrofits and interior redesign using green materials.

There is a 7th category I'm calling "green markets" which would include carbon trading, green banking and financial investment services, etc. More to come...