Eco-friendly Ways To Make Money From Your Spare Land

Julie Starr • September 29, 2021



Own some land that you’d like to make money from? There are many profitable options to consider – however some of them aren’t particularly green. For example, turning an empty pasture into a pay-to-park car park could be a way of making money, but it’s not very eco-friendly.

Fortunately, there are still ways to make money from land while maintaining a positive impact on the environment. Below are a few eco-friendly ways to make money from your spare land. 

A sports field

A sports field could be rented out to sports clubs to make money. At the same time, it could have environmental benefits – grass helps to produce oxygen. In fact, a 50ft square lawn produces enough oxygen to meet the daily oxygen requirements of a family of four humans.

Maintaining a sports field does come with its fees. You’ll need to hire a specialist lawn service such as this one run by Charles Zsebik in order to make sure that your sports field is in good condition to play on. You’ll also need to consider what other facilities you’re willing to offer to clubs.

A sustainable timber farm

Trees are great for combating carbon emissions – the average tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen per year. A sustainable timber farm involves planting trees, cutting them down for timber and then planting new trees in place of the old ones. 

You can make a lot of money selling timber while not contributing to deforestation. Just be wary of the fact that it can take a while for trees to mature – if you’re planting new tree saplings, you may have to wait 20 or 30 years before you can harvest them for timber. 

An orchard

An orchard could allow you to make money by selling fruit grown on trees. The trees will help to provide oxygen and support local wildlife – and you won’t have to chop them down.

Apples, pears, walnuts, almonds, chestnuts, peaches, pomegranates and cherries are just some of the fruit and nuts typically grown in orchards. 

A wind/solar farm

Your spare land could be used to generate sustainable electricity such as wind power or solar power. You can make money by selling this power to local energy suppliers while helping to reduce fossil fuel energy.

A wind farm or solar farm can require a large investment upfront – in fact, you may have to seek funding from venture capitalists. However, wind farms and solar farms require minimal maintenance and can be very profitable in the long run. 

A community garden

You could turn your land into a community garden . This allows local people to rent out space for gardening. Community gardens are very popular in densely populated urban areas where many people may not have backyards. They can also produce oxygen and support local wildlife.

You’ll have to make sure that the community garden is secured and well maintained. However, generally speaking, you shouldn’t have to pour too much money into it.

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