My favorite report of the year, State of Green Business 2010, was just released by GreenBiz.com and Greener World Media this month.

Each year I comb through this report to understand how the green economy is doing over all and to spot the green business trends that are likely to lead to new green careers or growth in existing green careers. On occasion I also spot areas of opportunity for enterprising individuals who want to be on the cutting edge of a new field.

This 60+ page report provides a rich, detailed look at how green green businesses are these days.

• A summary of the green business trends over the last year based on the 2400 articles published on their family of five news blogs

• A status report of how green businesses are stacking up on 20 objective measures of green business practices.

In this year’s report there was obviously talk of the economic times (How can you talk about business without noting we’ve been through or are in a rough patch?), but there was a silver lining. The recession itself was causing businesses to rethink their businesses practices to become more cost effective and competitive. In doing so, more and more business leaders have been choosing to take greener actions and make more sustainable decisions to survive.

In fact, the report notes that in more and more companies, sustainability is becoming a guiding principle throughout all areas of a company’s infrastructure, including non-technical business functions such as accounting, operations, marketing, and management. This trend bodes well for non-technical employees who want to move into the green economy.  A section entitled, Is the Green Economy Too Big to Fail?, reports several positive indicators for the green economy, including an increase in current job openings for jobs in the environmental and sustainable realm.

In their summary of the top ten green business trends, they conclude by saying, “Recession notwithstanding, next-gen green products, and the infrastructure needed to support them, continue to emerge relatively unabated, expanding opportunities for companies seeking to be part of the growing green economy.”