Green Living Today

Most of us have this mistaken idea that in order to live a  greener life, we must spend more of our green dollars.  Actually, you need not strain your budget just to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle.  In fact, you could fatten up your wallets with these tips on going green without spending your green dollars.  Relax, these are easy, effective and convenient ways to live greener.

Reduce Food Waste

Your grocery bill may make up more than 50 percent of your total household expense.  Any and all efforts to reduce the wasting of food will add up to big benefits not only to your pockets, but also to the environment.  You can achieve this by:

* Reduce your food consumption in terms of shopping for groceries.  In other words, don’t buy what you won’t use.  Many people in other countries shop for their meals every day.  While this may be time consuming, you can bet that they buy only what they need.  They often do not have the luxury of refrigerated food storage.  So if you don’t want to shop daily,
* Use your leftovers.  Most of us our too quick to just “throw it out.”  Get creative.  Try some for dishes and see if you can’t use rather than discard your leftovers.
* PLAN meals in advance.  This will avoid having too many leftovers.  But more than that, if you have a  PLAN for the week’s meals and stick to the plan, you will discover that you can, indeed, buy less.  Also, avoid running into the grocery store to pick up a few things.  This is not sticking with the plan.  This is opening the door to impulse shopping.

Use Heaters Wisely

We are overly dependent on hot water for many of our needs from washing our bodies to washing our dishes and clothes.  Try going green by choosing cold water for some of these activities in the house.  Start by taking cold/cool/warm showers when the weather permits instead of hot tub baths.  Then progress into using unheated tap water for washing your hands, dishes and clothes.  Studies show that tap water is just as effective in killing germs as hot water.  The trick is to wash your hands properly for 20 seconds, soak the clothes for 30 minutes to remove stubborn dirt and wash off the dregs on the eating utensils before placing in a full dishwasher.

Unplug the Appliances

You can save as much as 10-15 percent of your electricity bill simply by unplugging the your appliances and electronics when they are not in use.  This is because so-called phantom electricity does flow from the grid into your appliances.  You can also save money by purchasing appliances that have the Energy Star logo or by purchasing refurbished appliances.  Of course, make sure that the refurbished appliances are also energy-efficient.  In the long run, you will save money by replacing your old, inefficient appliances.  And you can recycle your old appliances.  Ask the dealer where you buy the new ones – they will often do it for you.

Other ways to save a little money is to exchange CDs, DVDs and computer games with your family and friends, or even with strangers via dedicated online sites.  Some communities have stores these used items.  You can take your to them and they will give you credit to purchase something else.  A nice way to reuse these items.

Use Recycled Materials for Your Home

Whenever possible, use recycled materials for your home.  You can purchase scrap lumber from hardware stores, vintage wood and glass panels from garage sales and old houses, utensils and ornaments made of recycled materials from green stores and sites.  Some communities have stores that carry recycled building materials, including some beautiful architectural ornamentation.  You will often spend less on these items, they work just as well, and in the process you may end up with something quite beautiful and unique.  By adopting the motto of environmentalists everywhere - reduce, reuse and recycle,  you will discover that being eco-friendly has its rewards for you and for your children’s children.

Starting today, look around your home and see what else needs to be done to be as environmentally-friendly as possible. And at the same time, earn as well as save money while you are at it!

Related articles:

• Green Materials 101: Your Guide to Green Building, Remodeling, and Home Improvement (treehugger.com)
• ScrapHouse: San Francisco: Home, Sweet Recycled Home (Video) (takepart.com)
• D-Build: Finding parts from old homes (makezine.com)

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