Toilets: A Better Approach to Water Conservation
Going Green
is not only helping the environment, it can also help your wallet. By
buying local foods, riding your bike, buying reused and recycled
products, and using electricity wisely, you can save money -- and save
the planet in the process.
Although filling our tires with air may help save on gas, it doesn't
help with the higher prices of food, clothing, and other necessities. It
used to be quite expensive to do things green-- for instance spending
your whole paycheck at Whole Foods to buy eco-friendly household
products and organic food. However, now there are alternatives to
spending a fortune on eco-friendly products, and not only does it save
you money, it's also chic (and cheap) to
go green.
There are green alternatives to everything: household cleaning products,
hybrid cars, pet food, appliances, cosmetics, you name it. There are
even greener alternatives to some of these green products: bicycles,
home-grown food, re-used furniture, and local products. Not only are
some of these green alternatives eco-friendly, they are also
exceptionally cheap.
Home-grown food for instance is becoming increasing popular. Food prices
increased 4% in 2007, the biggest annual increase since 1990, and prices
are projected to rise 4.5% to 5.5% this year, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. By spending about $10 this spring on tomato
plants I am going to have enough tomatoes to last for the entire month
of August, and hopefully some of September. Plus, I have the added
benefit of getting outdoors to water them every day and watch them grow.
Buying local produce also helps reduce energy and shipping costs.
Another eco-friendly trick to save money is to buy products from local
businesses. Instead of heading to the shopping mall where most products
are manufactured in another country and then shipped to a port and then
shipped to the mall, save a little money by heading to the city or town
(on a bus or bike!) and shopping for hand-made, quality products. Green
gifts are becoming increasingly popular to buy for people, especially
during the holidays. If you hate going to the mall, try shopping for
green gifts and eco-friendly home decor at Fresh Heirlooms.
And if you are a pack rat and have a ton of junk around your house, hop
on the creative reuse bandwagon. Creative Reuse is the new vogue. If
you're not familiar with creative reuse, the idea is simple: take reused
or recycled items, and make something new out of them. If you're not
craft, don't worry there are plenty of places you can buy creatively
reused stuff. Just Google eco-friendly creative reuse and you'll find a
ton of sites which sell hand-crafted cute household items, furniture,
jewelry and anything else you can think of out of recycled and reused
products. Being green also saves on electricity. Just by turning my
water heater down a notch, I'm saving $30 a month on my electric bill.
Energy Star products and eco-friendly light bulbs also help cut down
costs by as much as 75%, plus they last 10 times as long. And I despise
changing light bulbs, so that's a three for one benefit time, money, and
energy.
Kermit was wrong. It IS easy being green. And cheaper, too.
About the author
Jami Broom is founder of ClicksToMySite.com and has interests in nonprofits, environmentally friendly causes, and small businesses