23 y/o looking for non-toxic blue collar jobs (Europe)

[Doer]

Hello everyone,

As the title says I am a 23 year old from Europe, working a desk job for the last year and a half and just finished my degree at uni as well.

The last few months, as I have been experiencing white collar life more and as I am getting more health conscious I am realizing how terribly it is affecting my life and how much my life quality has been deteriorating over the past few months,even at such a young age.

Thus I have decided to make a career change and become a blue collar worker. From what I have been researching though, I realize that there exist plenty of health-damaging elements in this field as well (such as asbestos exposure, EMF exposure to people working with CNC machining etc.) and I would like to pick a job/trade that has the least or none if possible.

One thing that also excites me a lot is the physicality and movement which is required and I believe I would have no issue as I am very fit.

Until now, the most attractive option appears to be becoming an electrician but even for this field I've been hearing that working around a lot of volt meters and such, exposes you to some EMF.

I would be really really grateful for all your suggestions/ideas as this is an important crossroad in my life at the moment.

Thank you all

 

[BrianF]

Fisherman.

 

[mgrabs]

Landscaping!

& site contractors. (Heavy construction laborer or operator)

 

[SnickeD]

Hello everyone,

As the title says I am a 23 year old from Europe, working a desk job for the last year and a half and just finished my degree at uni as well.

The last few months, as I have been experiencing white collar life more and as I am getting more health conscious I am realizing how terribly it is affecting my life and how much my life quality has been deteriorating over the past few months,even at such a young age.

Thus I have decided to make a career change and become a blue collar worker. From what I have been researching though, I realize that there exist plenty of health-damaging elements in this field as well (such as asbestos exposure, EMF exposure to people working with CNC machining etc.) and I would like to pick a job/trade that has the least or none if possible.

One thing that also excites me a lot is the physicality and movement which is required and I believe I would have no issue as I am very fit.

Until now, the most attractive option appears to be becoming an electrician but even for this field I've been hearing that working around a lot of volt meters and such, exposes you to some EMF.

I would be really really grateful for all your suggestions/ideas as this is an important crossroad in my life at the moment.

Thank you all

The work needs to feel meaningful to you. Myself I am 28 years old. I worked with carpentry which I really like. Also as a napolitan pizza baker at the moment. quite fun and for the last year experiencing building my own business out of goat dairy farming. Which is my passion. So here is an idea for you. Work on a quality dairy farm production. And build your own gelato production unit. That's what I'm doing. Except I also have the farm :) but if I would do it all over I might just buy the milk from a farm and perhaps work on the farm if I didnt have the money for it. .. except nobody here has goat milk farm.. It's such a good market . There is almost no real ice cream on the market, and goat milk really is the best milk. Every other "gelato" has fillers and gums, milk powder etc.

 

[Doer]

Fisherman.

Well i'm about to somewhere that doesnt have access to the sea so that's out of the question but thanks for the suggestion anyways.

 

[Doer]

Landscaping!

& site contractors. (Heavy construction laborer or operator)

Well i'd absolutely love landscaping if it was done the old traditional way but nowadays it's one of the most toxic professions due to its heavy pesticide usage.

Well site contractor is a decent choice which I have left in case I dont find anything else, because of the very mediocre pay and the exposure to different chemicals (mainly dust).

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[mgrabs]

Well i'd absolutely love landscaping if it was done the old traditional way but nowadays it's one of the most toxic professions due to its heavy pesticide usage.

Well site contractor is a decent choice which I have left in case I dont find anything else, because of the very mediocre pay and the exposure to different chemicals (mainly dust).

Thanks for the suggestions!

dont have an excuse for everything! Theres flaws in this world everywhere. U cant live in a bubble and think its all peachy.

You wont know until you dive into it.

Theres a bunch of hardscapers that dont touch a single chemical.

Our whole world is toxic but at least with physical manual job’s your body will stay in motion. Help keep the body stay in shape and detox properly! Movement is great for lymphatics

 

[Judd Crane]

Maybe find a white-collar job that allows you to work, at least part of the time, from home. That, plus a short, low-emf commute to a low-emf office might not be so bad. I've found that the EMF stress of commuting is the most stressful part of my job.

 

[Sitaruîm]

Maybe find a white-collar job that allows you to work, at least part of the time, from home. That, plus a short, low-emf commute to a low-emf office might not be so bad. I've found that the EMF stress of commuting is the most stressful part of my job.

How does the commute expose you to EMF?

 

[Doer]

Maybe find a white-collar job that allows you to work, at least part of the time, from home. That, plus a short, low-emf commute to a low-emf office might not be so bad. I've found that the EMF stress of commuting is the most stressful part of my job.

Im currently working full time from home. Its like in prison

 

[Doer]

dont have an excuse for everything! Theres flaws in this world everywhere. U cant live in a bubble and think its all peachy.

You wont know until you dive into it.

Theres a bunch of hardscapers that dont touch a single chemical.

Our whole world is toxic but at least with physical manual job’s your body will stay in motion. Help keep the body stay in shape and detox properly! Movement is great for lymphatics

I opened this thread for suggestions people might have not for someone who doesnt even have any idea of what i've been through and how much of a hard worker I am to tell me not to find excuses.

How are hardscrapers not exposed to chemicals? If you dont have any better ideas just dont comment its not so hard.

And since the whole world is toxic I might as well not care right? Great bit of learned helplesness right there ladies and gents.

 

[Doer]

The work needs to feel meaningful to you. Myself I am 28 years old. I worked with carpentry which I really like. Also as a napolitan pizza baker at the moment. quite fun and for the last year experiencing building my own business out of goat dairy farming. Which is my passion. So here is an idea for you. Work on a quality dairy farm production. And build your own gelato production unit. That's what I'm doing. Except I also have the farm :) but if I would do it all over I might just buy the milk from a farm and perhaps work on the farm if I didnt have the money for it. .. except nobody here has goat milk farm.. It's such a good market . There is almost no real ice cream on the market, and goat milk really is the best milk. Every other "gelato" has fillers and gums, milk powder etc.

Thats actually my dream job lol but I have to buy some land first. I will look for places that need help with farming.

Great suggestion,thank you!

 

[mgrabs]

I opened this thread for suggestions people might have not for someone who doesnt even have any idea of what i've been through and how much of a hard worker I am to tell me not to find excuses.

How are hardscrapers not exposed to chemicals? If you dont have any better ideas just dont comment its not so hard.

And since the whole world is toxic I might as well not care right? Great bit of learned helplesness right there ladies and gents.

Toughen up. You’re digging too deep into context. Theres imperfect areas all through life. Adapt & overcome. Focus on healthy lifestyle choices, eating. Sleeping. Lowering stress. Having meaningful relationships with people.

I bet the brand mattress you sleep on is more toxic than the work environment for a landscaper that doesn’t touch chemicals.

 

[Judd Crane]

How does the commute expose you to EMF?

Cellular base stations mainly.

Im currently working full time from home. Its like in prison

Working from home is more freedom in my opinion. Maybe there's something amiss in your home environment.

 

[Doer]

Toughen up. You’re digging too deep into context. Theres imperfect areas all through life. Adapt & overcome. Focus on healthy lifestyle choices, eating. Sleeping. Lowering stress. Having meaningful relationships with people.

I bet the brand mattress you sleep on is more toxic than the work environment for a landscaper that doesn’t touch chemicals.

You're so out of context and throwing words with no correlation whatsoever to what I originally made this thread for.

Landscaper working without chemicals...man you must live on another planet, stop clowning us.

Please stop polluting my thread, I'm really trying to find solutions to my problem.

 

[golder]

You're so out of context and throwing words with no correlation whatsoever to what I originally made this thread for.

Landscaper working without chemicals...man you must live on another planet, stop clowning us.

Please stop polluting my thread, I'm really trying to find solutions to my problem.

You seem a tad hostile given there are people trying to offer you suggestions/reality check man.

 

[mgrabs]

You're so out of context and throwing words with no correlation whatsoever to what I originally made this thread for.

Landscaper working without chemicals...man you must live on another planet, stop clowning us.

Please stop polluting my thread, I'm really trying to find solutions to my problem.

I mean im not lying I own a construction company and the land where my yard is I rent out to landscapers….. they don’t use chemical applications….they only mow & mulch clippings into the grass. No weed killing or chemical application. So get with it. Try the job first before putting it down. Some landscapers use it some dont. You can also ask the boss to stay away from applying the chemicals if they have anything… pretty simple…. Put the work in

 

[Pete Rey]

I'm a tinkerer and love a good DIY project. I do a lot of my own automotive work, which involves handling a bunch of different chemicals. I occasionally cut wood, metal, and plastic creating hazardous particulate matter. Sometimes I paint. Sometimes I solder.

IMO any of this can be done responsibly with the proper precautions. Thick nitrile gloves and a 3M (or better) respirator with the appropriate cartridge for the application. Exhaust fan for the solder station. If I had to occasionally apply lawn chemicals as part of my job, I would simply cover all my skin and use the respirator.

While it's true that manipulating EMF is basically an electrician's job, if the field interests you I wouldn't be so quick to write it off. It might be the case that you are exposed to higher amounts for short periods of time, but it might also be the case that you are exposed to less total than spending 8 hours in an office.

All in all, I think almost any trade is going to be physically healthier than a desk job, with a little preventative common sense.

 

[Doer]

I'm a tinkerer and love a good DIY project. I do a lot of my own automotive work, which involves handling a bunch of different chemicals. I occasionally cut wood, metal, and plastic creating hazardous particulate matter. Sometimes I paint. Sometimes I solder.

IMO any of this can be done responsibly with the proper precautions. Thick nitrile gloves and a 3M (or better) respirator with the appropriate cartridge for the application. Exhaust fan for the solder station. If I had to occasionally apply lawn chemicals as part of my job, I would simply cover all my skin and use the respirator.

While it's true that manipulating EMF is basically an electrician's job, if the field interests you I wouldn't be so quick to write it off. It might be the case that you are exposed to higher amounts for short periods of time, but it might also be the case that you are exposed to less total than spending 8 hours in an office.

All in all, I think almost any trade is going to be physically healthier than a desk job, with a little preventative common sense.

Great response, thanks a lot for your time writing this.

I have to look more into the electrician job I think because its very versatile and I could live in manu countries nowadays and could also become self employed with minimal investment compared to other choices.

 

[Doer]

You seem a tad hostile given there are people trying to offer you suggestions/reality check man.

Hostile? I thanked the person after they first commented recommending options to me.

Then they go on to tell me to try the job because in his case they only mawn grass and mulch clippings, as if that's the only thing landscapers are required to do on a daily basis. Oh and I can also ask the boss to stay away from applying the chemicals hahaha, then the boss will also keep me away from my wage not only the chemicals.

Lastly, no one is giving me a reality check, my whole extended family grew up as farmers and became blue collar workers when they left their villages so I really know the reality in the blue collar field. I'm only using this thread so as to gain information on the health effects of some of them, because they may not be very clear in the first couple of years especially.

That's why it is annoying when people try to come here and play it tough to me, because they have no idea how i've grown up and it really pisses me of how they cannot keep their mouth shut.

If you dont have anything to offer, as i said please stop polluting the thread.