Eco-Friendly Jobs & Training
Jobs that allow you to simultaneously make a living and help the planet go against the generalization that money and environmental health are incompatible. While many people make money through activities that are damaging to local or global ecosystems, it is also possible to pursue a career that helps to preserve them. The result can be a job that rewards you with more than just money.
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Eco-Friendly Job Training
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Training for employment in environmentally sound industries can be found on the job, in trade school or in universities. If you have a post-secondary education in wildlife biology, ecosystem management, alternative energy systems or related fields, you will find it easier to get employment. However, it is also possible to gain employment at the entry level in some of these fields and to work your way up while learning on the job.
Eco-Friendly Careers
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Some careers are specifically aimed at environmental work, while others engage in environmental responsibility as an aspect of their main purpose. Some examples of the first group would be a canvasser or organizer for a group such as Greenpeace, the Sierra Club or the Natural Resources Defense Council. Some examples of the second group would be an efficiency officer or research and development worker within a manufacturing industry whose job is to reduce waste and pollution. In some ways, environmentally aware people are more important within industries that continue to pollute and cause damage, because this is where they are needed the most.
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Prospects
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Employment prospects are very good in the field of alternative energy. As the price of fossil fuels continues to creep upward, wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy begin to look increasingly market-friendly, causing higher levels of investment and more jobs. Other fields with opportunities for environmentally minded job seekers include architecture and urban planning (designing bicycle paths, pedestrian-friendly cities and efficient buildings), teaching (helping young people to understand the challenges that are facing the world), and climatology and geology (doing research on the causes and impact of climate change and changing weather patterns).
Reasons
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The primary reason that people seek employment in the environmental sector is to help to make the world a more sustainable place. While you can certainly make a living in the field, you're very unlikely to get rich, so people whose main motivator is money tend not to gravitate toward environmental work.
Benefits
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Being part of a social shift toward a cleaner society that has a smaller impact on the natural world is a worthwhile calling that can lead to a great sense of satisfaction. If you are able to support yourself while doing it, this frees up a lot of your time by removing the necessity for a job that is unrelated to this very important work.
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References
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