Kinda just lost on a realistic career path in sustainability for the short, medium and long term

All I know is I want to work with my hands, outdoors and not being destructive to the environment and it just feels like I have to sacrifice some if not all of those desires if I don't want to be broke.

I am currently in a community college, just kinda trying to figure myself out at this point as I am aiming for a Agroecology degree. Which was the closest thing to Permaculture I could find as a degree, but there doesn't seem to be many career opportunities (unless I already had land which I don't). Maybe I need to look more or be more creative, but it just feels like a lot of these sustainability careers assume you have upfront capital or assets for you to start a business.

Which brings me here, I would really appreciate guidance on not just the end point, but how can I transition from here to there. Maybe give suggestions on degrees I can get that could help me actually generate money so I can achieve my broader dreams like having a farm or live in a intentional community.

I am a little all over the place, but hopefully this is enough to get a sense of where I am at. My one hope is I see there is a big push for sustainability, so maybe there will be more opportunities in the future.

Welcome to Permies!!
I'd suggest not looking at "What degree can I get?" but "What can I get paid to do, and what path will get me there?" There are not a lot of degreed people making money in this niche, there ARE a lot of people who learn something that they can make money off of.

You might look at Zach Weiss's Water classes, that kind of work can pay well anywhere. Or people who find a niche in a location they like that works for that area.

But I think looking for "a degree" might not be the bast path. That said I know people here who have soil science and entomology degrees, you might look at those if you think a degree is the best path for you.

Follow the path that makes you HAPPY and find a way to make money off your happiness :D

Pearl Sutton wrote:Welcome to Permies!!
I'd suggest not looking at "What degree can I get?" but "What can I get paid to do, and what path will get me there?" There are not a lot of degreed people making money in this niche, there ARE a lot of people who learn something that they can make money off of.

You might look at Zach Weiss's Water classes, that kind of work can pay well anywhere. Or people who find a niche in a location they like that works for that area.

But I think looking for "a degree" might not be the bast path. That said I know people here who have soil science and entomology degrees, you might look at those if you think a degree is the best path for you.

Follow the path that makes you HAPPY and find a way to make money off your happiness

Thank you for the reply! Interesting thing to note that there isn't many degree focused people in this path. I checked out Zach Weiss's Water Classes and to be honest that is exactly the kind of work I would like to do, I guess to me I see that as a long term goal. At least with my current imagination I don't know how I can get from a city living low paid worker, to getting not just the knowledge, but the experience on real property, equipment and workers under me to do this type of job for what I assume is a client.

Though I did like how you said "What can I get paid to do, and what path will get me there?". I guess I am stumped on how to get the experience (without the land) for people to even want to pay me? I do live in California, so maybe I can find someone to apprentice under or something.

Welcome to permies! Permaculture is something a lot of us do to create some distance from the economy, not to get further into it. So we may not have great ideas how to use it to print money as it's the opposite direction most of us are going. We reduce expenses instead of increasing incomes.

It's a great way to cut your expenses so you can be "broke" and still quite comfortable.  As a result, we don't pay a lot for services. We don't need to. So there aren't a lot of jobs in providing permaculture services because they are designed to not be needed.

Of course that also means: if you live a permaculture life, you can have a permaculture job even if it doesn't pay well.

If you want a good paying permaculture job, you're going to be in ecology somewhere. State ecology departments, state parks, botanical gardens, organic farm services. That kind of thing would be where I would start.  Could probably also consider the construction side. Most permaculture homes are still required by law or design to have a septic system and well. So there's natural home design services, natural building construction management, and well drilling/septic digging.

Forestry management would be a natural connection.

Personally my approach was to find an unrelated career I could do remotely, and then marry that to a permaculture lifestyle.  Don't make the mistake of thinking your career has to be part of a complete life package up front. It's fine to start with a lifestyle you want in one hand, a job you can enjoy in the other, and then find ways to merge them over the decades.

As far as gaining skills...have you looked into the Bootcamp program on this site? Will probably train you up really fast, but then you need the degree to convince people you know what you're doing...or a big portfolio of finished projects to show.

Nova Stone wrote:I checked out Zach Weiss's Water Classes and to be honest that is exactly the kind of work I would like to do, I guess to me I see that as a long term goal. At least with my current imagination I don't know how I can get from a city living low paid worker, to getting not just the knowledge, but the experience on real property, equipment and workers under me to do this type of job for what I assume is a client.  

If you take one of Zach's classes, there may be people who have been through it before who watch for people to hire.  I'm not sure how you can find out if that happens, but it might be worth looking into.

I would suggest you explore short term options like training for a trade - electricians and plumbers earn a *lot* of money. If you're able to find a way to live reasonably cheaply (no lattes and simple home cooking can save a bundle) and stash every bit of money you can so that you can afford to buy land, you might end up getting where you want to be faster.

There are a few people who started their permaculture gardens by finding elderly people with back yards that were happy to have a little help as a trade for access to garden space.

Nova,

Welcome to Permies! You're in the right place.

Have you read Paul's SKIP book? That's the first question I would ask you.

You're at a community college. I don't know anything about agroecology, but I do know that you shouldn't spend money on a degree that isn't going to land you a job. Because then you don't have a job and you owe a lot of money...for something that was supposed to land you a job. I'm not saying quit community college. I'm saying acquire some skills that are going to put some coin in your pocket no matter how much sheepskin winds up adorning your wall (how many degrees you get, if you haven't heard that expression).

Learning skills that allow you to be useful, and make coin, is always a good thing. I know people who know how to do a whole bunch of stuff and just put it out on FB marketplace and they stay busy enough and have coins jangling in their pockets.

There's nothing holding you back from pursuing a degree, but there's nobody saying you can't pursue SKIP at the same time.

Here are two things I know, though. Doing beats studying. And it seems that a lot of people who get degrees in agroecology wind up staying in college teaching...agroecology, never having DONE much agroecology. Hands on. In the dirt. Some of them get picked up by non-profits. The rest go into farming. With college debt. With less value than they would have gained by working the land, with their hands, during the time they were in college studying agroecology.

Jim

Nova Stone wrote:All I know is I want to work with my hands, outdoors and not being destructive to the environment and it just feels like I have to sacrifice some if not all of those desires if I don't want to be broke.

I am currently in a community college, just kinda trying to figure myself out at this point as I am aiming for a Agroecology degree. Which was the closest thing to Permaculture I could find as a degree, but there doesn't seem to be many career opportunities (unless I already had land which I don't). Maybe I need to look more or be more creative, but it just feels like a lot of these sustainability careers assume you have upfront capital or assets for you to start a business.

Which brings me here, I would really appreciate guidance on not just the end point, but how can I transition from here to there. Maybe give suggestions on degrees I can get that could help me actually generate money so I can achieve my broader dreams like having a farm or live in a intentional community.

I am a little all over the place, but hopefully this is enough to get a sense of where I am at. My one hope is I see there is a big push for sustainability, so maybe there will be more opportunities in the future.

Depending on your situation it might be possible to cut costs by living with your family, going slow, etc. It seems to me the sorts of things that worked for young people in the recent past may be more difficult than they were, and that—maybe due to these sorts of attitudes young people are being scammed out of our lives and futures riding on these older attitudes that are no longer quite applicable.

I can’t tell you how to go forward, only be creative, be cautious, have patience, be kind to yourself (and others), and don’t deny or forget the things you know deep in your heart to be true.

True words of wisdom.

Jim

M Ljin wrote:Depending on your situation it might be possible to cut costs by living with your family, going slow, etc. It seems to me the sorts of things that worked for young people in the recent past may be more difficult than they were, and that—maybe due to these sorts of attitudes young people are being scammed out of our lives and futures riding on these older attitudes that are no longer quite applicable.

I can’t tell you how to go forward, only be creative, be cautious, have patience, be kind to yourself (and others), and don’t deny or forget the things you know deep in your heart to be true.