"We need to make sure that we start jump-starting the jobs in this country again," Clinton said during Monday's Democratic presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "That's why I want to put money into clean-energy jobs, green-collar jobs."

Later, when speaking of his plans of an economic stimulus during his presidency, Edwards said what he had "proposed for green-collar jobs will create jobs within 30 or so days, so we will have an immediate impact on the economy and stimulate the economy."

This wasn't the first time either Clinton or Edwards has touted such jobs. In various speeches on the campaign trail, Clinton has used green-collar to describe the employment that'll be created in the wake of job losses in manufacturing and other sectors. She can foresee a future where the manual labor of installing solar power panels or maintaining wind turbines becomes a mainstream occupation.

"These are jobs that can't be outsourced by and large," Clinton said last year on the Senate floor.

Not to be outdone, Edwards himself has been trying his best to to make green-collar part of the American labor-force lexicon. Last July, Clinton's fellow Democratic candidate for president announced his own plan to train 150,000 green-collar workers each year.

Weary of her own job as a career adviser at New York outplacement firm Drake Beam Morin (DKBMF), and anticipating the looming trend of green career-changers, Kerpan in 2000, positioned herself as an environmental career consultant-the first, she claims, of her kind.

Since then, her company, Green Careers, has helped thousands of people assess what cause their skills and interests are best suited to-which could be anything from renewable energy to water conservation-and has helped them get hired. Most of her clients come from middle management or higher, and are seeking what she calls a path-of-least-resistance move, "doing something you already know how to do and putting it in the context of the green agenda," she explains.

Turn out the lights. Lighting eats up 44% of electricity used in office buildings. We'd collectively save enormous amounts by turning out all those little desk lamps and overheads. If you sit near a window, rely on natural light.

Don't flush. No, for the love of Pete, flush--just don't use more water than you need to. Like, don't leave the water running in the sink as you chat with your colleagues about America's Got Talent. Urge your boss to install low-flow toilets.

Stop wasting office supplies. Seriously. What's the point of having a job if you can't plaster your wall with Post-Its, you ask? Think of it this way: it's not about denying your access to free stationery; it's about not being responsible for the felling of 1,000 trees. Turn your greed into guilt.

Turn off the computer. I know, I used to do it too: leave the computer running during mid-day Pilates class so the boss thinks you're still toiling away through lunch. Computers are energy monsters. Just by setting your computer to power down automatically after 15 minutes of non-use, you cut the machine's energy use by 70%. Seventy percent! That's worth a hairy eyeball from the boss, no?

Bike to work. Or take the bus. Or train. Just get out of the car.