green-collar

See also: green collar

English

Etymology

By analogy with other compounds in -collar, especially white-collar and blue-collar, and taking green to represent the environment, environmentalism, and so on.

Adjective

green-collar (comparative more green-collar, superlative most green-collar)

1. Of or pertaining to employment in the environment or environmentalism industries.
   • 1976, Patrick Heffernan, “Jobs for the Environment — The Coming Green Collar Revolution”, in Jobs and Prices in the West Coast Region: Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Ninety-Fourth Congress, Second Session, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 134,
   • 1997, Geoff Mulgan, Perri 6 [sic], et al., The British Spring: A Manifesto for the Election After Next, Demos, page 26,

     The United States, Canada, Germany, and Denmark are all generating hundreds of thousands of new 'green collar' jobs, especially for young people, achieving remarkable reductions in energy, water, waste disposal and materials costs.

   • 2001, Diane Warburton and Ian Christie, From Here to Sustainability: Politics in the Real World, Earthscan, page 75,

     Studies for the UK suggest that the more than 100,000 existing 'green collar' workers in environmental occupations could be joined by many thousands more, both in the private sector and in the 'social economy' of community enterprises.

2. Of or pertaining to rural, agricultural employment; often contrasted with urban blue-collar employment.
   • 1983, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Forestry, Water Resources, and Environment, Cultivation of Marihuana in National Forests: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Forestry, Water Resources, and Environment, […], U.S. Government Printing Office, page 32,

     American [marihuana] growers, who have more recently become known as America's "green-collar" workers because of the bright green color of their product, […]

   • 2004, Martin Heidenreich et al., Regional Innovation Systems: The Role of Governances in a Globalized World, Routledge UK, page 394,

     Qualification structure of the workforce (%)	1980	1997
     Blue-collar	29.7	33.5
     Green-collar	21.2	10.0
     White-collar	25.0	31.7
     Grey-collar	24.0	24.8

Quotations

• 2003, “skye”, “Re: George Bush - brilliant tactician”, alt.gathering.rainbow, Usenet,

  (...the deficit-loan will likely be repaid by future American generations of pink-and-blue-and-green-collar workers).

Related terms

• green-collar crime, green collar crime

Translations

pertaining to employment in the environment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 綠領／绿领 (lǜlǐng)

• Finnish: viherkaulus-

pertaining to rural employment

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 綠領／绿领 (lǜlǐng)

• Finnish: maatalous- (fi)