In today's world, many people are worried about our environment. This concern is valid with all of the things that are happening in the world around us. It is key to remember that we live in the world we create. We can make a choice to be part of the solution or become a part of the growing problem. The problem that we are talking about is environmental issues.

There are two types of business. One type of business creates garbage and another type does something to improve the environmental issues. Which type of business do you want to be? Have you ever thought of starting your own business doing things that will help to reverse the harmful effects of environmental pollution? Well, perhaps it is time.

There are many business ideas that you can use to create an environmentally friendly solution. First take a look at your strong points and find out what talents you have that can be used. There are so many things that can be recycled and turned into wonderful products if you start to think outside of the box.

Let's take a look at an old car tire. What do you do with it when it can no longer be used on your car? Most people just throw it away or let the new tire place take care of it. However, it has other uses. You can make things from that old rubber. You could make a business by collecting types of rubber trash and reusing them.

You can use this rubber to make things like bags, hats and berets, gloves, jewelry, wallets and many other handy things. Rubber is not the only thing that can be recycled. You can recycle almost anything with the same unique business idea.

Here is another idea for you that could start a great business. Harvest rain water run off. They do this in places where water is not readily found. You could create a rain water storage system and sell them. Place them around the town and show people how to use them.

You can use things like old wood that people throw out to create things. These created items can be put up for sale with ease. Many people love to buy stuff that looks old. Here is another one for you to consider, rebuild old bikes and toys. Take parts from one and add them to another to create a new bike or toy idea. It is just another spin on re-cycling.

You do not have to throw out something like a bike just because it does not work in its current condition. You can use these other parts to mend it and get it back on the road to being useful. By starting your own green friendly business you are doing your part to help correct the environmental issues that many people want to help fix but don't know how. Think about how we are taught to throw things away. Did you ever notice that no one teaches us how to recycle? Perhaps you could with your new business. You have the opportunity to become part of the solution and not part of the problem.

What if you could imagine just how far your idea could go? What if you could see its full potential?

I was interested to read in the press the other day that the Chinese have just created the world's newest and faster super computer. It can perform 2750,000,000,000,000 calculations a second. That's 2750 trillion! It's called Tianhe-1, which means 'Milky Way'.

So I began pondering the evolution of the computer.

I began by boring my kids with how I once owned a Microbee computer and when I first left school sold Vic 16's, which had 16k of memory (that's not a misprint by the way it is 16 kilobytes not megabytes) and Commodore 64's (which held a massive 64k of memory). At the time of course, these were the newest and faster personal computers.

I worked out that my MacBook Pro has a hard-drive, which would hold the equivalent of somewhere around 5 million Commodore 64's! No, that's not a misprint either, (320gig divided by 16kb).

The world's first supercomputer was built in 1949 and called ENIAC and it is said to have been able to make 5000 calculations in just seconds.

What's interesting is that I don't think the team who designed ENIAC 61 years ago had any understanding of where their creative endeavors would lead. How could they? And if you project yourself another 61 years who knows just how advanced supercomputers will become.

As new technologies develop they open the door to newer ones. As new ideas are conceived they open the door to others. To achieve such an amazing thing as Tianhe-1 (Milky Way), it has taken over six decades (not for that project itself of course) of incremental improvement, of learning from what's gone before, massive quantum leaps of faith, who knows how many failures and dead ends, a heap of perseverance, masses of new ideas, experiments, and exploration? The designers of it are certainly extraordinary people who are extraordinarily clever and innovative. But let's not forget those who were extraordinary before them.

So what's my point? Well there are two.

Firstly we need to understand that where we begin with an idea is not where we finish. More importantly, we need to understand that sometimes our ideas have the potential to become more than we can ever possibly imagine.

I think we need to start a movement called 'Milky Way Thinking' in honor of the Supercomputer. Not its evolution but it's potential. So next time you have an idea ask yourself, what's the 'Milky Way' version of that. In other words, how big can you imagine it's potential to really be? How big can your vision ultimately be? That's important because it helps open up possibilities and stretches your creative mind to see greater potential and achieve greater results.

But here's my second point - and it's the kicker.

If you had been one of the designers of ENIAC back in 1949 and your boss asked what the potential was and you had answered 'oh I don't know, potentially, given a bit of time, about 2700 trillion calculations per second' there's a very good chance you would have been ridiculed or sacked. And if I had said to a customer back when I first left school that one day I would have a computer that could hold the equivalent of 5 million Commodore 64's I would most likely have been ridiculed and sacked as well.

Yes it's important to think 'Milky Way' but it's more important to encourage it and nurture it in others. So don't kill the galaxy! Next time someone in your team comes up with a totally out there idea or concept, don't ridicule them, congratulate them, because there's potential and opportunity in there somewhere. And when someone has an idea, don't play safe and just accept it as it is, help them see it's full potential by asking 'what's your Milky Way version of that? How big and audacious can you get it?'

One of the biggest challenges facing organizations these days is translating IDEAS into INCOME. Most organizations (both large and small) are fully aware of the need to come up with big ideas and many have sophisticated systems, processes and techniques for doing just that. Unfortunately, this is often where creativity and innovation meet a roadblock. Organizations, both large and small, don't always know what to do with those ideas that are generated. They don't know how to translate those ideas into income - into results and outcomes. They don't know how to bridge the gap.

As a leader in a large organization, or as an entrepreneur/small business owner, your success lies in knowing how to close that gap. So, then, you ask, how exactly do I do that?

Here are a few suggestions and questions to get you started:

• First, define your challenge - the problem - you are trying to solve or need you are trying to meet. Be clear on the challenge and what success looks like, including a big goal that will compel you to make a change and inspire creative thinking and action.

• Then, check how you are going about the process of getting insights. Secondary research is important--statistics--about what people like or don't like about your products/offerings. It is equally important to observe your clients, watch them in their natural environment, and spend time understanding them to come up with fresh, novel ideas with value.

• Check your idea generation processes. How are you generating ideas? How do you challenge those in your organization to come up with big, bold ideas - different from what your competition down the street comes up with? Remember to be aware of your beliefs that don't serve you or limit you from taking risks.

• Once you've determined that your idea generation process is most effective, what system and tools do you have in place to capture those ideas, and vet them? As well as approve them and find sponsorship - that is, someone who is willing to go out on a limb and support the ideas?

• And finally, gain success and momentum by piloting or testing your ideas on a few or a limited population. Through some trial and error you will help to realize your success more quickly if you test (prototype) your ideas and then work out the kinks before a full-scale launch© Copyright 2010 Andrew Pek and Jeannine McGlade. All rights reserved.