Sure we've all heard of white-collar employees and blue-collar employees, but what about green-collar employees?

These are the employees out there who work for companies that are willing to get their hands dirty for the sake of helping the planet as well as making money.

They include the millions of potential workers that install solar panels, weatherize homes, brew biofuels, build hybrid cars and erect giant wind turbines.

These green-collar employees work for a new outburst of alternative energy, or "green" companies that are bringing in major amounts of, well, green stuff.

Doing our part to improve the planet isn't a new idea, but with hybrid cars and big-name companies bragging about what they're doing to contribute to the movement, alternative energy has certainly has picked up in speed and effort. In fact, the movement is going global.

Green Stocks for a Greener Portfolio

Everybody from Europe to China is "cleaning up" their act in hopes of promoting a good self image while doing the right thing by their air, water and land. With "green" companies bringing in very nice amounts of profit lately this means that not only is the U.S. benefiting from the trend but so are countries abroad.

And, who's to say it's just a trend? I'm no dummy. When I see a good trend I look at the big picture and see just how a "trend" can turn into a "hot sector" where my investors can profit.

It came as no surprise to me that "going green" had such a positive effect on several alternative energy stocks in the market.

Long before Al Gore was out there winning Nobel Peace prizes while telling us ways in which we could improve the environment, my stock-rating database, PortfolioGrader Pro, was popping up with excellent environment-friendly stocks. I'm currently recommending stocks like…