Are you seeking ethical investment possibilities? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided some great ideas for my portfolio through its blog last month. Their ideas were not intended for investment purposes, naturally. But, most of my friends know how my mind operates – give me an idea and I'll turn it into an investment prospect.

This EPA blog entry was genius. Nancy Grundahl, a Narberth, Pennsylvania resident and an Environmental Specialist for the EPA, asked, “How much do you know about the environment of where you live?” While the items on her list were intended to make people think about immediate environment issues, the questions in her list also provide clues to how a few different sectors might be changing – especially in utilities and waste management, but also in any industry located in your neighborhood.

In answering some of Nancy's questions, I was ashamed to learn that I had no clue as to where or how my power was generated. Additionally, some answers to her questions, such as where my wastewater goes, or what happens to my recyclables that are collected actually hurt my brain. It's at times like this when I miss my daughter, as she has a gift for ferreting out information. So, think about enlisting your kids' help, and use this EPA map to discover as much information as possible about your area before you begin making phone calls for your research.

When you go to the EPA map, just plug your Zip code into the search engine on that page. When you click on the “go” button after you enter your Zip code, a page will come up that offers information on your local air quality, water shed information, land use as far as waste management is concerned and more. Additionally, if you look in the upper right corner, you can see the industries listed in your Zip code, if any.

While this list of industries might provide you with investment ideas, you can dig a bit deeper to learn more about those industries. You even can learn about new and/or expiring facility permits in the area in the right hand column below the industry list. While, currently, there are no new or expiring permits in my area, you may find one in your area. If you do, then you can learn whether an industry or other facility in the area might be in development if they need to apply for a NPDES permit.

The NPDES, or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program, is designed to control water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into U.S. waters. This program, which began in 1972, has improved the nation's water quality - and a new permit in your area also may be a signal that a new business is developing in the area. The map stops there, though – if you want to discover whether this new industry is publicly traded, you'll need to conduct further research.

Spend some time learning more about your area as you click on every button and link within that map site to absorb the information contained behind the pretty pictures. This information can help you learn about some of the issues in your area and also about how some of those problems might be addressed. Additionally, the information on this site can provide clues as to where and how your neighborhood provides such utilities as electricity, oil resources, natural gas and even your drinking water.

You can determine from some industry information whether or not that industry has a history of environmental violations and if those violations are too heavy for your taste as an ethical investor. If you monitor this site on a regular basis (notice that the site also invites collaboration, which is ideal for an ethical investment club), then you may learn how to read patterns of air pollution and you may even learn how to determine where this pollution originated.

Additionally, while you might use this information for your backyard investments, you also can use it to learn more about publicly-traded companies in other areas. Just look up the zip code for the investment possibility at the company Web site and plug it into the EPA map site. When you do, you can learn more about what difficulties that company may face as far as their own pollution problems or problems the company may face with neighboring entities.

Nancy's list and the EPA map represent great tools for the ethical investor who seeks to learn information that may or may not be included in a company's annual report or even in your local news. As a current investor in a particular company, you could learn about problems that you may want to address as an investor. Depending upon how much stock you own in a given company, you may have votes that will count toward how that company can change to become more environmentally friendly.

On the other side of the coin, if you see environmental trouble on the horizon for your investment, then you can act accordingly to avoid trouble for your portfolio. These sites could come in handy for any investor in the future, especially if any climate change legislation may affect how your neighborhood receives its power, uses its water and rids itself of its waste.

But, don't stop there. This presidential administration is tech-savvy, and I would hope that many more new tools will come online over the upcoming months. Tools like the EPA map site could help investors learn even more about changes in the investment climate as well as in natural and industrialized environments.

Until Later,
Linda Goin