Swimming With the Sharks to Get Green

Shark Tank, which airs on ABC and is in its third season offers budding entrepreneurs a way to kick-start their creative businesses or go to the next level to make their dreams come true. A panel of sharks looking to invest in the next best invention and make more millions for themselves and the small businesses featured can be viewed weekly. Season Three continues to make TV history by the Sharks offering over $6.2 million of their investment money.

According to Shark Tank’s website, billionaire Mark Cuban, owner and chairman of HDNet and the 2010-2011 NBA championship Dallas Mavericks, returns as a Shark and appears in all 13 episodes. Also, Lori Greiner, a prolific inventor of retail products and often referred to as the “Queen of QVC,” will join the show as a guest Shark investor for three episodes. Returning “Sharks” joining Cuban and Greiner are real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion and branding expert Daymond John and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary.

In exchange for the Sharks’ cash investment, the entrepreneurs give up a percentage of their companies’ equity. The Sharks love to hear a great idea so they will battle each other to own a piece of it. The very hungry entrepreneur who comes prepared with a great pitch really keeps the Sharks on their toes, but if the pitch is poor, they have no mercy for the unprepared presenters. There have certainly been lots of winners and those who’ve got eaten up. When the sharks say their out they mean business and they deal is over.

The products brought to the table have ranged from and many of which are in the green space.

Some eco-friendly companies that dared to swim with the sharks:

BuggyBeds Bug Bed Traps, which are non-toxic, pesticide, free and detects bed bugs before it becomes problematic.

EcoMowers.com makes it easy and enjoyable for any individual to eliminate their climate impact and transform lawn mowing to a clean future and a better experience. They want to make a shift in the consumer turf care industry towards more sustainable practices with the purchase of reel lawn mowers and green lawn mowers

Green Garmento Dry Cleaning Bags is an eco-friendly alternative to single use plastic dry cleaning bags. Their green ideal is getting the dry cleaning industry to reduce waste, lessen the plastic load to landfills & waterways, rid your home of plastic and green your routine.

Proof Eyewear Wood Sunglasses are manufacturers of fine hand-made wood sunglasses, which were started by three brothers. Made from sustainable wood sources, their sunglasses are “Naturally Classic”. A large portion of each sale goes to support worthy causes like eye clinics in India that give sight-giving surgeries to those that can’t afford it and helping reforestation efforts in Haiti.

For seafood lovers there is a company called Traditional Fisheries, which is the only commercial supplier of Lion?sh in the world and offers the highest quality Caribbean seafood available. Interestingly, their system for harvesting Lion?sh yields enough of a supply for distributors, reduces the Lion?sh population, and helps save the coral reefs struggling to survive due to Lion?sh proliferation and other complex factors. ?They partner with local ?shing cooperatives to source Lion?sh and other seafood. Their commitment to fair pay has transformed the economies of small ?shing villages

These are just some of the exciting and unique sustainable products/companies who dare to share.

When will it be your turn?