There is a lot of discussion among the environmentally concerned about “going green” and reducing your “carbon footprint”. These are all very serious concerns as our environment has slowly been declining ever since agricultural cultivation started thousands of years ago. The Industrial Revolution has also contributed greatly to the hastened decline of the health of our planet. Now is the time to start acting out like a good citizen of earth. I'm sure you've heard some of the tips for going green, but did you know they can save you money as well? That's just a win-win situation all-around. Here are some of the more cost effective tips for going green.
Grocery Bags
Plastic and paper bags are commonly able to be recycled these days. But have you ever considered the amount of waste created by our recycling programs? Don't get me wrong, these programs are a huge improvement over the alternative of plugging up land-fills. But it still costs a lot of money and resources to carry out such programs. The materials need to be collected and transported: Oil Waste, Emissions and let's not forget the energy consumed to process the materials. Recycling is great if you have no other alternative, but it's best if you don't have anything to recycle in the first place. Ideally, if you have only a few items, refuse the bag. You can also purchase reusable grocery bags, many of which are available at your super market. Many super markets will give you a small discount, per bag, when you utilize reusable bags. On my family's typical shopping trip, we use about 5 of these bags and we get a total discount of about ten cents (USD) per visit. That adds up quickly.
Bottled Water
Back in the early 1980's, I don't think anyone would've predicted that we would actually buy bottled water off the grocery store shelves. Nevertheless, the trend towards bottled water has grown increasingly popular. Did you know that this water is most likely another town's filtered tap water? Avena is one brand that sells such a product. They're based in Canada. Aquafina, another popular brand, is based in Kansas. How much energy is being consumed getting that product to you? And again, we get into the dilemma of recycling consumables as noted above. Purchase a water filter for your faucet or water jug at home. A good filter will create water that tastes just as good as one of these brands. Use a reusable glass or purchase a reusable sports water bottle and fill it up with your own filtered water. Not only will you reduce the amount of recyclables, and consumables in the supply chain, but you'll save yourself a lot more cash than you'd think. Filters, even expensive ones, are significantly cheaper than the amount of clean water they will produce.
Lighting
There are many ways to help the environment when it comes to lighting in your home. Some of it requires a slight change in your routine, others requires the use of some products. As there are so many areas where you can improve your energy consumption as it pertains to lighting, I have broken this section down some more. All of these tips will save you money in the long run while reducing your carbon footprint.
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs - There have been a lot of advancement in lighting technology over the past few years. While LED lighting is on the horizon, it's still not cost effective for those on a tight budget. Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (or CFLs), however, are a great way to instantly cut power consumption in your home. A 13 watt CFL can put out just as much light as a 60 watt incandescent. That alone is proof that this type of bulb is beneficial to the earth and to your wallet. But did you know that they produce about 75% less heat as well? This has a dramatic impact on your cooling in the summer. Don't be swayed by the misconception that the light quality isn't as good as incandescent bulbs. Special coatings and better gas mixtures have done a lot to provide the same quality of light for a fraction of the power usage. Also don't be alarmed by the cost of CFLs - they are much more expensive than a standard bulb, but they last up to 10 times longer.
Dimmers - Dimmers are great at cutting back the amount of wattage used in a room when you don't need a high light level. If you're reading or cooking, you may need full power. But if you're watching TV, eating dinner or otherwise just "hanging out", there's no need to keep sports arena type light levels. You can add a dimmer to any light switch for a reasonable cost, something that will be made up for within a year of use. Just be aware, dimmers are designed to reduce the total wattage for the circuit - so dimmers won't dim CFLs. If given the choice between CFLs and Dimmers, CFLs are still the best option.
