Understanding the Green Entrepreneur

This chapter examines green entrepreneurship in New Zealand, with a special focus on small and micro-sized firms. Micro-enterprises uses, the waste recycling and minimization sector, to illustrate some of the factors which work to promote and hinder green entrepreneurship within the country. Green entrepreneurship can be further refined according to shades of green or strength of commitment to environmental goals and strategies. Market orientation and entrepreneurial actions are a result of the manner in which green entrepreneurs interpret and react to intrinsic or personal environmental concerns and passions, and to the external forces that constantly shape and reshape these responses. The framework is a valuable contribution to the debate on green entrepreneurship, since earlier examples of typologies in the literature have predominantly focused on larger organizations. The global trend augurs well for the overall success of green entrepreneurship and provides increasing business opportunities.