Friday, September 26, 2008

Easy ways to live greener and save you $$$

Here are a few ways that I save money on a regular basis. Ive been doing this for years so its second nature for me.
1. Hang dry all towels, wash clothes, or just about anything easy to hang dry. Polyesters are fast drying. This saves me 192 loads a year.
2. Make my own laundry soap. This is SUPER economical. Ends up only costing me 1 penny per load when I make my own. And I only have to make it once every 3 months or so. Regular soap would cost you anywhere between 14-20 cents per load.
3. Use Eco-friendly products. Seventh Generation is my favorite. I wait till it goes on sale and use my coupons. So I'm paying half price usually.
4. Buy in bulk. No packaging which is saving tree's and saving you money.
5. Stop buying bottled water. We didn't buy a whole lot but it still have saved us money. Most newer fridge's have a filter system so just use that water and a reusable container(look for #2 on bottom its the safest plastic)
6. Coupons coupons coupons. Most Eco friendly products are starting to give out coupons. Yippee! If you love a particular item, just email the company direct and 9 times out of 10 they will send you coupons. Most the time you can just sign up on their site and they send you some.
7. Buy used. We buy 95% of our everyday home/clothing items from goodwill/thrift stores/yard sales. I would rather save something from going in the landfill than buy a new one. Undies, bra's and socks are new but that's it. Its not only recycling, but its WAY less expensive. I find all the popular brands my kids want and all the ones I like too. You would be surprised what people get rid of.
8. Walk walk walk-I walk or jog 3 times a week to the store, park, or where ever. I have a jogging stroller that has a big compartment in the back so I just put food back there. This saves me money, gas, and the earth doesn't get my gas fumes. Plus gets me exercise.
9. Plant a garden. Easy to do. You end up paying pennies for produce when you grow it yourself
10. Can or freeze-I canned green beans this year. No I didn't grow the beans but I bought them when they were in season so they were cheap. I did end up forking over money for the pot and jars but over time this will pay for itself.
11. Buy recycled items. Recycled packaging. Recycled paper products. Stop cutting down tree's and just reuse the paper we have. Either buy stuff with no packaging or buy items that have recycled packaging. Support the companies that are willing to pay more to better this earth.
12. Reuse-we reuse paper bags for recycling stuff in our home. We reuse lunch meat containers for left overs. We reuse single serving apple sauce containers for ice cream, yogurt, etc. Old shirts we give my oldest daughter so she can make quilts for her barbies. Think how you can reuse something before you throw it away.
13. Reduce-Don't turn on lights until it gets dark. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. Use half the recommended amount of laundry soap, are you really that dirty? Stop drinking soda or at least half the amount. Yes you will get over it, I did. Make your own coffee. I know crazy huh? Only go out 2 times a month instead of every week. Stop getting all those extra channels on your TV. Little things like that add up to hundreds by the end of the year. Just reduce little by little.
14. Recycle-recycle as much as you can. Then you can get a small trash can and that will save you money. You will stop putting things in the landfill too.
15. Last but not least, think. Think how our actions will impact our children's lives. How will they live after were gone? How will their environment be? If we do something now, we just might be able to fix the problems we have caused.

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