Environment-friendly Side Jobs: Earn Money from Different Sources in a Greener Way

Maybe our current job doesn’t allow us to be eco-friendly even though we want to. Or maybe you are currently working in a sustainable company, and you want to earn more. Well, the good news is, side hustles can now help the environment!

According to LinkedIn’s Green Economy Report 2022, the number of jobs in Renewables and Environment increased by 237%. This means that more companies and consumers look for green solutions, and such services have bigger demand.

So, here are some side jobs that you can do to get extra cash while also helping to save our planet. You may be surprised, because some jobs don’t sound “green” but are actually helpful in reducing environmental impact!

Tailor

Those of you who are deft with needle and thread, then you should consider running a side business that helps people fix or upcycle their clothing. Although it doesn’t seem like it, repairing clothes or other apparel helps reduce the load on landfills.

Plus, it’s a service that everyone can use. When people can keep and use clothing for a longer period, they won’t only save money but also create a net-positive impact on the environment.

You can start this job by altering clothes for your friends and colleagues. When you’re confident enough with your skills, start going out of your inner circle using social media or local advertising to market yourself.

If you’re a little too busy to do the marketing yourself, consider taking a part-time job at a local tailor or dry cleaner that offers tailoring.

Selling upcycled secondhand furniture or repairing

Now, this one slightly needs more tools, materials, and handiwork skills than tailoring, but it’s similar in nature.

Instead of encouraging people to buy a new shelf or table, make them consider buying secondhand furniture or repairing the broken ones using your service. There should be a lot of websites and places to get household goods that could use an update and start from there.

Sometimes, you may have luck finding free furniture on roadsides on trash days or from friends and neighbors looking to part with a big piece of furniture.

Landscaping using native plants

Often, we rely on non-native plants (and sometimes the invasive ones) to make our yards and gardens more pleasing to the eyes.

However, if you want to support pollinators and make native species thrive while also making money, use your passion and expertise to help people design and/or install native gardens for their yards or other open spaces.

Imagine being able to make the ecosystem thrive. Therefore, start with your family, friends, and neighbors or community to get the right native plants for their aesthetic preferences that will also help the local environment to be biodiverse again.

Curbside recycler or composter

At times, other people’s trash is someone else’s cash. Well, this can be you.

People are reluctant to recycle because in many areas, they’re just too much of a faff. This is where you come in and help ease their pain with your curbside recycling business.

You can partner up with companies like TerraCycle and BoxCycle. They will provide the boxes and sometimes pick up the trash for you. What you need to do is collect recyclables (bottles/cans, old books, wine corks, cardboard boxes, ink cartridges, old electronics, clothing, batteries) and manage the business.

Your used cans can earn you about $5 per pound. It’s not that much, of course, but it’s pretty good money for doing very little and cleaning up the planet

Composting, on the other hand, is also a good opportunity. Many municipalities don’t offer composting programs, leaving residents with heaps of food scraps that go into the garbage.

So, you can create a curbside recycling unit that will collect anything that is plant or animal based. If you have your own little compost at home, you can process it by yourself. If you don’t, give the waste to a privately run facility like CompostNow for convenience.

Cleaning up dog waste

Even the most responsible dog owners can sometimes clean their dog’s waste with a heavy heart. Well, you can spare the humans from doing it themselves and earn money meanwhile.

“But what’s so eco-friendly about removing dog’s poop?”

Well, yes, if you simply put the waste into the usual small plastic bags.

If there’s a private dog waste collection company around you, what you can do is collect the waste in biodegradable bags and send it to the company. Don’t forget to clean the area (if the waste is on sidewalks or other surfaces) using eco-friendly cleaners as well.

You can compost them, but first you must make sure that the waste is free of the nasties; in other words, routine pathogen testing. And it’s actually not that easy to compost dog waste and you need to know how to do it safely.

And when you successfully compost them, it needs to be separated from other compost, must be used on ornamental gardens exclusively, and kept away from streams and groundwater.

Suffice it to say, composting is much harder, but it’s possible.

If you’re asking if scooping waste is worth it, well, someone has done it and made $300 per day.

Making sustainable products

If you have extra time, then you can always create sustainable products during your spare time. As mentioned, the market for sustainable items has increased, and more people are willing to pay more for green goods—if you don’t greenwash, that is.

What products should you make? Well, that’s the question, especially since there are lots of sustainable products nowadays.

Start brainstorming about items that could be in demand and produced sustainably. For example, soap made from materials that are locally sourced and sustainable or eco-friendly pet goods.

It’s also possible to create something that your local community doesn’t have yet, although it’s more challenging to market it (sometimes producing it as well). For instance, making bike racks from recycled plastic, furniture from recycled tires, or water bottles from recycled stainless steel.

Content creator for small sustainability business

If you don’t have time to craft products, you can always turn to digital marketing; especially if you’re very familiar with creating content and you love engaging in social media.

In today’s time, everything can be content—which gives you a good chance to market small green businesses using your creativity and/or personality. At times, business owners have great products, but they’re not too savvy in their marketing.

Offer your services in the form of website, social media posts, design, or other content that will help draw people to their business and garner interest in their product or service.

Some companies may also seek help with public relations such as reaching out to respond and requests, or contacts at hyper-local media channels. They may also not look for a content creator, but rather an assistant.

You can offer your service virtually, helping them respond to emails, manage recurring tasks, and perform other tasks to keep the business operating smoothly.

Sources

https://www.entrepreneur.com/green-entrepreneur/8-sustainable-side-hustles-that-will-make-you-money/442471