Right now, times are tight for most families. Gasoline and food costs are cutting into our budgets in a drastic manner. If you are one of the many who owns plunging stock, you are probably worried about the future.
So you may wonder, how can I be greener when I can’t afford the basics. This is the best time to learn to live simpler. Go back to the basics. This is the first in a series of simple steps to be greener and save green.
Image from Dreamstime.
Give up your soda pop or daily (insert mass coffee chain here) mocha. This obviously saves the green, but how is it green? Less consumption is the biggest part of being Earth friendly. One less soda pop down your throat equals one less produced, placed in a tin can or plastic (GAH, plastic!) bottle, shipped for thousands of miles, driven for more miles to be placed on a supermarket shelf to then be purchased and guzzled in 30 seconds by you who is now $1.59 (+deposit + tax) poorer. Now you have a tin can or plastic bottle to RECYCLE (please recycle). As for your daily mocha, well, you get the idea.
Stop buying paper towels. Think you can’t do it? I bet you can. Leave a few kitchen towels around the house. Get out those cloth napkins you received for a wedding gift (Don’t have any? Cut up an old sheet or other fabric using pinking sheers). Toss them in a (full) wash load at the end of the day. You won’t notice any difference in the water usage, however your pocket book will notice the $2.00 per roll savings. The Earth will notice that less trees are being chopped down so that you can wipe up that water your toddler spilled, it will also notice less trash being tossed into the landfill once you’ve used that ONE TIME — USE product and disposed of it.
Do not buy bottled water EVER. Carry a water bottle with you, keep empty cups or other containers in your vehicle so you aren’t caught without one. Water from the tap is just as good (or better) than bottled water and its… FREE! Personally, I like free much better than a dollar or more per bottle. (Even if you buy a nifty reusable water bottle, like a Klean Kanteen, it will pay for itself in a few days.)
Being green is all about the green for some. We all want to save money, especially when we seem to have less than normal. If I can make what I have last longer, stretch further, I am doing the environment a favor and the impact on my checkbook is positive as well.
Related Posts:
Great post! I gave up paper towels last year and use those mini wash cloths that I got a million of at a baby shower. I used to buy sponges too, but those minis work just as well.
My brother’s family has a colour system for their wash cloths. White for faces and hands. Coloured for spills etc.