What are your eco-friendly skills?
A while back Planet Green had an article called 99 Skills for an Eco-Friendly DIY Life. It’s a long list of different skills that would make living an environmentally-conscious life a lot easier.
I rated pretty well overall, without being a particular expert in any one category. I got 61 out of 99 overall: that’s 13/26 in food (mostly on the easy ones, although I throw a pretty fantastic eco-friendly party), 9/15 at maintenance and repair, 11/18 in gardening, 4/6 in energy and 15/15 for conservation, which seems to be a bit of a grab bag of stuff that didn’t fit in the other categories.
But why should we limit ourselves to our own skills, as if we’re planning on becoming hermits in our green future? If I include skills that my family and friends know, my score goes up by 22 points, which gives me a rather good 73 out of 99.
I know how to knit my own dishclothes and sew clothes, but I don’t know how to tune a bicycle or build a cold frame for winter vegetables. But I’d be happy to knit dishcloths for my bike-riding friends in exchange for a lesson on bike maintenance, or sew shirts for my father-in-law in exchange for him making us a greenhouse like the one he built in his backyard.
There’s no need for us to be entirely self-sufficient as long as we stay in touch with our communities, our families and friends.
How do you rate on eco-skills by yourself? How about if you add in your circle of friends and family? And are there any skills you’ve got that aren’t on the list?
Personally, I think knowing how to keep cool without air-conditioning should be on there, or knowing how to shear a sheep – not that I can do that, but my father-in-law and his brother do. Or knowing how to give a really good massage, although maybe I’m suggesting that just because I receiving them.
6 Comments
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Without wishing to skite (she says blushing) I scored 94, which surprised even me! But I really really really agree with your point above. There are some things we just cannot survive on our own – and global climate change is one of them. I can have all the water conservation skills in the world, and it still won’t help if there’s no rain to conserve. Jeffrey Hodges’ Natural Gardening book had a chapter (at least in my early edition) from a guest writer who lived in a small, very nearly self sufficient, community. The insight that has stayed with me from it is that if you have a community that is big enough to sustain it, the technological skills for self sufficiency are easy. It’s the social skills are hard.
Oh, please do feel free to brag! That way we know whose community to join if we all go back to living in communes
I really do think that we need individual action, community action *and* national action if we’re to get through the next few decades. There’s no magic bullet here, just lots of people all chipping in according to what they’re good at. I love the political stuff, and like to think I’m good at it, but right now I’d be stuffed if my bike broke down!
Hi Julie,
Great blog and great articles. As an Eco Store we come into contact with thousands of eco minded and not so eco minded people, and what we find is that when tested most people will do pretty well. It is when it comes down to action when things dont really progress. If people start making changes little by little, it goes a long way to adopting a new ways of eco living.
Keep up the good work,
I got 48 out of 99 skills. Not something to brag about but I’m improving! If you include my husband in this skills list, my score goes up at 10 points since he’s great with the garden and maintenance.
I think another good skill is to be able to spread the green message amongst friends and family without sounding like you’re preaching or making them feel guilty. I’ve noticed the ‘green movement’ that my family has been going through over the years is actually contagious. People do ask a lot of questions and are pleasantly curious about the changes we’ve made.
Thanks! How did you score off that list? Any skills in particular you’re thinking of learning?
Being able to spread the word is a good skill, and it’s not one every greenie does well! Some people are naturally shy, and others are too hard on people who are just starting out with a few green changes. I think it’s up to some of us to lead the way, and others to do the research, and others to just generally join in and be supportive.