Does it drive you crazy when people forget to recycle? This may feel frustrating now, but in the future, you could turning your frustration into action as a Chief Sustainability Officer. This emerging career is the result of an encouraging trend among large companies: Many want to have a leader who is specifically in charge of making a business more "sustainable," or eco-friendly. A "CSO" might focus on changing the packaging of a company's products to recycled materials that don't pollute the air or water. Other programs a CSO could introduce include helping the company to "go paperless," use less energy or buy updated equipment. Sustainability is a concern even in fashion, where designers seek to use environmentally-responsible materials and fair trade practices in production. So if you have a passion for the planet—and a wide set of solid organizational skills—you may find this job immensely rewarding.
The Details
Master's Degree
Things as simple as encouraging recycling and as complicated as decreasing a company's carbon footprint can make a huge difference over generations.
As of 2005, nearly all of the 150 largest companies in the world had a sustainability officer with the rank of vice president or higher, and numerous business programs had incorporated sustainability training.