Five Green Ways to Save Money

How to Cut Costs and Environmental Impact

© Shirley Siluk Gregory

Sep 13, 2007

One of the common complaints you hear when talking with people about the benefits of a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is that green living is just too expensive. Organic foods cost more than regular ones, they say (though that's not always true). Eco-friendly goods like organic-cotton baby clothes are luxury items (again, not always ... especially if you buy used). Solar panels are pricey (yes, but costs are dropping every year).

While some green products are certainly more expensive, green living doesn't have to be. In fact, you can save money and be more environmentally responsible by following some of these suggestions:

1. Buy less meat. Steaks and chicken breasts are expensive, free-range organic varieties even more so. Meat production also carries a steep environmental cost; in fact, the Center for Science in the Public Interest says eliminating just one 3 1/2-ounce serving of beef, one egg and one ounce of cheese from your diet each day would rid the need for 40 pounds of fertilizer and reduce the amount of animal manure produced by 11,400 pounds a year. If you're not ready to give up burgers and barbecued chicken entirely, try cutting back your consumption as much as you can: you'll enjoy the health benefits that come with a more vegetable-, fruit- and grain-based diet; reduce your participation in the high-energy, polluting livestock industry; and save money too.
2. Stop drinking bottled water. Bottled water costs way more than ordinary tap water, is often no purer (and sometimes even less pure) than tap water and makes for an even heavier load to carry every time you go grocery shopping. Save your money on bottled water and invest in a sturdy, reusable water bottle and -- if you're not thrilled with your local water supply -- a home water filter. Those two purchases will pay off in a matter of days or weeks, compared to the amount you might now be spending on bottled water.
3. Switch to natural home-cleaning products. No, not the expensive varieties you find on the shelves of natural-food stores, but simple and low-cost alternatives like vinegar, baking soda, borax, lemon juice and isopropyl alcohol. Those five substances can tackle almost any ordinary household cleaning task and they're cheap, easy to buy in bulk and much safer for you and everyone else in your home, especially if you have children or pets. All you need to make the switch from chemical cleaners is a startup supply of each of the natural alternatives, and a labeled and/or color-coded spray bottle for each one.
4. Choose used over new. Thanks especially to the Internet, it's easy to find gently used or refurbished products of any kind: clothing, camping gear, books, toys, DVDs, computers, furniture and more. Between the growing number of designer-focused resale shops, upscale consignment stores and online sites like eBay, Freecycle and craigslist, it's hard to imagine anything you can't buy used ... at much lower prices than new (and sometimes, as in the case of Freecycle, for free).
5. Ditch paper towels. Instead of investing in throwaway paper made from virgin forests, stock your kitchen drawer with a stack of clean dishrags for daily cleanup duty on countertops, floors, etc. A small, one-time investment in a nice set of cloth napkins can also cut down on your paper napkin consumption. If you're the handy type, you might even consider making your own napkins and dishcloths from old towels, tablecloths or even t-shirts.

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