Earth Day is almost upon us with its yearly reminders to switch to energy efficient lightbulbs and ditch that Evian for a Klean Kanteen. But there’s money to be made within the earth, too — and we don’t mean in the drilling way. 

Earth — Caterpillar (CAT)

  • No joke: Clearly, with $60 billion in annual revenues Caterpillar is selling a ton of earth-moving equipment to customers all over the globe.
  • Invest in what you see: Yellow Caterpillar trucks with the stock symbol (“CAT”) printed on the side.
  • Sleep at night: Caterpillar had almost $30 billion in backlog for its products to start 2012, providing some degree of assurance businesses want the company’s equipment.

Wind — General Electric (GE)

  • Think General Electric just sells appliances and cashes in on its media empire?  Nope!  The company has an energy infrastructure business that represents about 30% of its annual sales.  Within this segment is a wind turbine production business.

                  Airgas (ARG)

  • What kind of air-related product doesn’t Airgas provide is the real question.  The company distributes industrial, medical, and specialty gases in the U.S., offering nitrogen, oxygen, helium, hydrogen, and nitrous oxide to name a few.  Products are sold through 1,100 points of distribution globally, and it brought in $4 billion in sales in 2011.  Not too shabby for selling air.

Fire — Stanley Black & Decker (SWK)

  • You may have seen this company’s yellow handled tools in the aisles of Wal-Mart.  Fun fact is that the company bought Black & Decker a couple of years ago.  But, the company also raked in $2.6 billion in sales from its security business in 2011.  Part of the security business revolves around alarm systems for commercial and residential dwellings; fire starts, boom those alarms start a ringin’.

Water — Coca Cola (KO)

The commoner thinks caffeinated, syrup-filled fizz that adds to the waistline when consumed upon hearing the two words “Coca-Cola.”  But Coca-Cola also sells water brands VitaminWater, Dasani, and Smartwater.  Although we have wondered why the company has to sell Dasani if Smartwater is so “smart” to drink, the fact is that investing in Coca-Cola gives you a way to profit from people loving bottled water and an occasional sugary splurge every now and then.  To sound smart at a party as the bartender fills your glass with a Diet Coke and Bacardi, drop this line: VitaminWater is made by Glaceau, a company acquired for $4.1 billion by Coca-Cola in 2007.