Sustainable Ways to Use Vacation Time at Home

When you have time off work, you might not always go away. But that time you have off work can be put to good use to try and further your sustainable practices.

There are plenty of ways to have a lot of fun, relax, and do some good when you have time off and you can focus on things in and around your home. Having a little extra time can help you to make things better—not just for the immediate term but for the long term too.

Here are a few suggestions for sustainable ways to use vacation time at home

Assess and Review Your Home and Garden

Having a vacation from work, first of all, can be a good time to take stock—to take a good long look at where you live and to assess what about the situation works well for you, and what leaves something to be desired.

Reviewing and properly looking at your home and garden can actually help you to relax, and appreciate what you already have. But it can also help you to see where things could potentially be changed for the better.

Even when you cannot necessarily make all the changes you wish to make right away, gaining some clarity on your situation can actually give you some peace of mind, and help you return to work when you do with a greater sense of drive and purpose—to get to where you want to be.

Get to Know Your Neighbors and Neighborhood

As well as taking a good long look at your own property, vacation time can also be a good time to get to know your neighbors and your neighborhood better than you did before.

Often, we get into the habit of passing things by without really looking. A little leisure time at home can give us the breathing space to look more closely and perhaps to forge new connections with either humans or other creatures—as in wildlife—with whom we live in close proximity.

During vacation time at home, you might be able to develop new collaborations—perhaps even put on a neighborhood event or collaborate with others from your area on a community project of some kind.

You might consider:

• Kicking off planning for a community garden
• Starting a litter pick-up
• Creating a rewilding project
• Organizing a garden harvest exchange
• Having a block party
• Hosting an outdoor summer harvest dinner party with neighbors

There may be plenty of opportunities to volunteer in your area and to get more involved—and social opportunities to get to know your neighbors better as well.

Harvest Produce, Put Up, & Preserve Food

Many of the interesting projects or activities to take on in your home and garden revolve around food—since food, of course, and the need to consume it is something we all have in common. Growing and eating fresh food are things many of us like to do in our leisure time.

Often, when I take a break from work and am not traveling, I will be harvesting some of the produce I grow. I often take a break from work at key harvesting times, such as when we have primary top fruit harvests in my forest garden.

Harvesting or foraging can be very relaxing, and deciding how to use, preserve and store all that fresh food can also be rewarding.

Even if you do not have your own food-producing garden, you might consider either foraging or purchasing fresh, organic produce from a farmer's market or direct from farmers in another way and preserving that fresh produce as a vacation project. Your winter-time pantry will thank you.

Learn New Sustainability Skills

Another great way to spend vacation time at home is to use the extra hours you have to learn new sustainable skills. You could consider reading, watching videos, taking a workshop, or teaming up with a wise friend or local mentor.

You can have a lot of fun learning new things about gardening or food production, cooking, and preservation. You might also consider improving your skills in plant identification, herbal lore, wildlife recognition, etc.

You might also learn crafting techniques and age-old skills in woodworking or textiles, for example. Or even take on skills in mechanics or technology that allow you to increase your ability to make do and mend, repurpose, repair, and upcycle.

Implement Small, Affordable Changes for Big Results

Whether in your home, garden, or wider community, small, affordable changes can make a big difference—to sustainability, your quality of life, and your mood.

You might be amazed by how wonderful it feels to put something in place on your property that will improve your life and allow you to become more sustainable moving forward.

While the idea of getting away certainly has its appeal, these are just a few ideas that may inspire you to stay home and use the time to set yourself up for a more sustainable future. You might be surprised by how refreshing it can be.