Welcome to the UHSPR merit badge program! If you’ve ever wished that you could get badges for all the homesteady things you do, just like Guides and Scouts (but cooler), this is for you 🙂 Skip to find out more about the program, or read on for badge lists.
Categories Within the UHSPR Merit Badge program
Ready:
Under Construction:
Baking (Food Prep)
Food Preservation
Coming Soon:
Animal Care
Foraging
Textiles
Later, probably, maybe:
Community Living
Tool Care
Natural Building
Woodland Care
Woodworking
Earthworks
Rocket
Metalworking
Waterworks
Electricity (including solar)
Commerce (be able to do business)
Nesting (home upkeep)
What this program is for
If you’ve ever taken a “how to” class, whether through UHSPR or not, you know that it’s very common for people to never do anything with the information, even if they were excited about it at the time of the class. I’m hoping that this program will to get people actually doing the things they’ve learned!
This program is about documenting what you have done — in a way that leans on modern technology (phones with cameras and the internet). It doesn’t tell you HOW to do each thing. Or what you need to learn to do a job well. If you want to accomplish a badge, then you will need to learn those things that lead to that badge. In that sense, the framework offers motivation and reward. But the education on how to get there is up to you
Are there actual badges?
Yes! Initially there will be digital badges that you can put on your website, Facebook profile, Insta etc… but later I plan to make physical badges for local folks (from scrap materials, of course!). Digital badges will be free, there will be a small charge for physical badges. If you want to make a sash to sew them onto, that’s up to you.
Certifying Others
This program is built with the idea of becoming self-perpetuating. And it’s free. So a part of the system is that to get the higher badges, you will need to verify other people’s work towards getting the lower badges. That way, the standards can be kept up by people who have been publicly verified as having done these tasks before.
To get a Level 2 badge, you must certify at least 2 Level 1 BBs (“Badge Bits” for others.
That means that to get a Level 2 badge in Gardening, you must first get your Level 1 badge. And then do your Level 2 BBs and then certify at least 2 Level 1 BBs for others.
Credits
This program was inspired by the PEX project at permies.com – thanks to Paul Wheaton and the crew there for all their work! Permies.com is an amazing resource and worth a visit and exploration.
Many thanks to those who reviewed and gave feedback on the first published versions of various badges, including Janet S, Cecelia P, Ioni W, Jean M, and Cynthia B.
