9 Ways to Go Green & Save Money

Jennifer Chait — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:25:46 +0000

Hey everyone. Sorry to be MIA but my entire laptop motherboard died, leaving me sans computer over the last few days. By the way, there will be no post about said computer issue, because it was in no way thrifty (sadly). But, now back to business as usual…

Thrifty folks and green folks are usually divided into two neat categories, when in reality, thrifty and green go hand in hand. There’s a huge misconception that green is costly, because plenty of organic companies, sustainable wood companies, and other green-minded venues charge more than conventional products of the same type. However, if you ignore the specialty shops, and live on the basic green premise that less is more, you’ll not only be able to go green, but save money while you’re doing it.

Here are some family-minded tips about how to go green and save money…

1) Live in a smaller house. Small homes cost less to heat and cool, are less expensive to build and decorate, and have less space available to fill with junk you don’t need. For tips, read:

2) Reuse and recycle. Reusing items, or using them up is not only green, but save money. Plenty of people buy new items on a whim, when something they already have will do just fine. In other cases you can fix an item you have, which is usually cheaper than buying new (with the exception of home appliances – the new energy saving models of say, dryers, can save you more money and energy in the long run than fixing your old one.)

3) Brave your tap water. Not all tap water is safe, and in this case a water filter, or water service is greener and less costly than buying bottled. That said, plenty of tap water in many communities is perfectly safe to drink and cook with. Why pay for water if you don’t have to. Filters and water services, although greener than bottled, still waste resources, transport gas, and money. To see if your tap water is safe to drink sans filter visit this link.
4) Remake items or buy used: Thrift stores, garage sales, and consignment shops are inexpensive and green. It costs very little to transport a used shirt to the thrift store; much less than the cost of manufacturing new clothes. You can easily re-purpose plenty of home items; from clothing, to furniture, to arts and craft supplies.

5) Save energy. We all try to save energy to cut costs, but in doing so we also allow the planet to breathe a little easier.

6) Watch your diet. There are plenty of reasons to eat healthy, but even if we ignore health issues altogether, smart eating tactics also are earth-friendly and save you money. If you buy organic, you might be thinking how expensive it can be, but what you need to do is scale back other non-necessity items. Also cutting out meat is green and less costly. You don’t have to go vegan or anything, but cutting out one meat meal a week can help.

7) Cut out disposables: Disposable paper towels, grocery bags, napkins, soap containers, and so fourth waste entirely too much money and resources. If you can cut out all of the above, (or more!) you’ll not only save loads of cash, but the earth as well.

Clean green. Not a lot to say here. It’s pretty basic. Don’t use toxic gross cleaners. Homemade cleaners are eco-friendly and costs so much less.

9) Parent your baby green style. Being a green baby parent is a super thrifty action. Most of the green baby decisions you can make, naturally save you loads of cash.

What sort of green & thrifty steps do you take at home?

It’s the Blogtoberfest icon! Which means a super keen (and secret) prize is hidden behind this special blog post. If you want to win the great prize that I’m hiding, simply leave a comment on this post. A totally easy way to win a prize. Within a week, the winner of the hidden prize will be announced here at Simply Thrifty, so check back often.

Other ways to win a prize! You have lots of chances to win great Blogtoberfest prizes? Today, October 16th, there are secret special prizes hiding at the following Lifestyles Channel blogs: Offbeat Homes, All Holiday Cafe, Babylune, Blog Fabulous, Mother Earth’s Garden, Layers Upon Layers, Robust Cooking, Simply Home Remedies, The Food Bowl, Dating Dames and Thrifty Mommy. Visit all of these blogs, look for the blogtoberfest icon on a post, and leave a comment for your chance at another great prize.

Good luck and happy blogtoberfest!

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9 Ways to Go Green & Save Money