I’m an adult considering a change of career. I have no relevant education or experience. I’m at least an hour away from anywhere that could be considered a major city and would not like to move. My only requirements are that I am actively helping our ecosystem thrive and I’m not dirt poor. What’s a position I could reasonably obtain?
If you have no experience, or education, I suspect it’s gonna be bit hard to jump into what you’re looking for and receive a salary for it. Your best bet would be to volunteer. Then hope to get paid once you prove yourself as an asset.
There’s lots of jobs out there that will pay for your college once you get a foot in the door. Gotta look for one if those OP. You get paid to work and do accelerated classes while you do and get the education free along with the work experience.
That’s only really possible for someone with more privilege than I.
permaculture – food forest with an eye towards market garden – regenerate your land, feed your family, and sell the excess at your local farmers’ market
EDIT: side benefit, there’s a direct connection between getting your hands dirty and mental health
I would need to own a decent plot of land to get that started. That and historically I have a pretty brown thumb.
Same here but once I actually put some care and love into a bunch of planters I bought, green thumbs grew on me.
This is what I’m trying to get into. But only because I’m REALLY into it. Growing things requires learning which means doing things wrong, which means killing things. I’ve killed more plants than I have successfully raised. But I’ve learned a ton in my free time over the years and now I have some friends with property. Been working on one for two years now and about to go start a larger project on the other side of the country.
My point is that you don’t need land to “start”, nor do you need to be a green thumb type. So don’t let those hold you back.
You can garden anywhere. I did 2 years of gardening using free pallets and old buckets on a concrete parking spot in the city. It wasn’t exactly productive but I learned key things in the process and got to eat my labor occasionally.
It’s not easy, but if you’re interested you can start growing things almost anywhere.
There’s a book about this called 80,000 Hours, and I got a free copy by requesting it on their website (YMMV).
It’s about changing careers and considering what humanity needs. Worth a look!
Are you interested in fixing things? Do you have any aptitude for it?
Repairing and maintaining machinery can pay well and be very rewarding.
Depending on the sector you work in, you can also be helping the ecosystem.
Another comment (that got deleted) mentioned wind turbine tech and I found one nearby that didn’t have any specific requirements and applied. To answer your question, yes I’ve been able to fix mechanisms and electronics with a good rate of success. I’d be open to other suggestions in that realm.
Any parks or forests nearby? You could be a ranger.
It actually takes at least 4 years of relevant education and experience to become a park ranger. Kind of wish I had wanted that 10 or more years ago.
Are there any gov programs or adult education you can look into? I’d think so
Other that that, maybe you could build gardens for people, and set up grey water irrigation and rain water capture systems for them, build green houses, compost areas, etc!
If you lived in Australia, you would get a traineeship into Bush Regeneration (Conservation and Ecosystem/Land Management certificate) which you would segue into a job as most companies use the trainees as trial workers and keep the good ones. The traineeship pays less but costs nothing.
By the time you’re finished, you have a cert and experience and can look into other work. You really need more education if you want more money but if you’re happy to kick shit in the field, then the experience is usually enough.
Retirement communities?
It is not ecosystem but it is community.
They are likely short staffed and will accept help in the kitchen. Possibly on a serving line. If you want to feel like you’re helping someone everyday it can be rewarding experience in that aspect.
Kitchen environments are typically cancerous. it is hard work with a considerable amount of stress bonding with coworkers.
If you can perform basic functions and show any initiative they will train you. Be a sponge. be willing to learn and take criticism and you’ll fit in almost anywhere back of house.
Even front desk at a retirement place. The people are lonely. Just talking to someone and assisting them can brighten their entire day.
Generally, you would be best off transitioning to a field that still plays to your strengths. What do you do now? What experience do you have? What country/state do you live in? Without this information it’s difficult to make a reasonable recommendation.
Farming?
That’s seasonal work around here. But is that helping the ecosystem? I realize how much it hurts is dependent on the farm in question, but is there a way to farm that actually counters what humans do against the environment?
Look for organic or community supported agriculture (CSA) farms. In general, you need someone with a lot of battle-tested knowledge there though
You can absolutely farm in a sustainable way, wrecking the environment for profit really only came about when mechanised farming / large machinery / giant monocultures of herbicide-resistant patented seed became a thing in the last 100 years or so
Aristotle and Plato supposedly already complained about deforestation. Degradation of the biosphere (who extinct the European Elephant?) is old.
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Wastewater? Maybe get a job at your local plant or office? They need all sorts of people: customer service, maintenance, engineers, automotive, chemists, IT, etc. The alternative is dumping raw sewage in water ways. They sometimes have apprenticeship programs.
ETA: Best job security in the world. People aren’t going to stop shitting anytime soon. People don’t want rivers of shit. So…
ETA2: I know you said you are coming in unskilled, but a lot of better places to work will pay for education if you wanted to go from say customer service to engineering or something.
