Living cheap is the new green
If going green is making you go broke, you're doing it wrong. Saving resources and saving money go hand in hand. Here's how to get started.
PENNY-PINCHING: Going green should be cheaper than the alternative. (Photo: totalAldo/Flickr) Comments
The best thing you can do to save energy and live green is to ditch the whole house heating and cooling idea. When my whole house heat/ac pump died once again I did not get it repaired I replaced it with a couple of window a/c units in the summer, and a couple of space heaters in the winter. My electric bill dropped from $400.00 a month to $100.00 a month. There is no reason to heat and cool a whole house if it is not occupied and no reason to heat and cool the walls of your house. Only.... More
We find that we save money living green. We live outside of town so that means combining trips and making fewer trips helps us be green while saving green. I make my own cleaners from natural ingredients. This is actually quite economical.
Living cheap is a very good idea because one can save money and at the same time help our environment. Using window films can help lower your monthly energy bill. One study showed an average summer cooling cost savings of $99. (Source: Progress Energy Commercial - April 2007 presentation. Slide 39). Having your windows tinted could save more on electric bills, at the same time caring for the environment as we lessen the carbon emission in out atmosphere. You can find out more about window.... More
I quit the gym and am getting ready to store my car until the fall. Do you realize how much money you can save by biking & that you won't have to pay the insane gas prices?? why don't more people do this?
...it would force the government to upgrade public transport and improve the service and cut the prices of tickets. Quality of life would improve ten-fold. The air would be cleaner and people would be more sociable, less lonely. Perhaps we could regain the lost sense of community too. Cars have a lot to answer for.
Oh and I think you are doing a wonderful thing Jess. :) I stopped using my car in December and have saved a lot of money.
It's not always possible to be as 'green' as we would like. My husband suffers from haemophilia and cannot walk very far without inducing internal bleeds. Therefore, we have to use a car very frequently for short journeys. And, unfortunately I am suffering with hip problems that mean I cannot walk very far either. Cutting the grass is a major issue for me in our not-very-big garden, so growing veg is out of the question too. But we have installed solar panels on our roof and we cook most of.... More
Being disabled you have to do what you can to protect yourself. You obviously must have transportation. Also, like you, we live in a rural area with only public transportation for special needs citizens. I can't walk anywhere near my house for safety reasons. We have no good shoulders and even if we did the driving habits here are terrible. I try to pick up trash by my home but actually get nervous with cars going way too fast or not paying attention to me.
I do what I can by being.... More
I am so glad you wrote this article. We started the Highly Uncivilized blog to talk about this exact topic because the whole notion of "ecochic" is starting on the wrong foot. I don't need to replace consumerism with green consumerism and buy a whole bunch of new, sustainable green junk for the house, I need a "back to basics" approach. The upside is that you save money, eat better, live better, have instant hobbies, time with family, are healthier, have less wear and tear on your car,.... More
I am always amazed when friends talk about how warm their homes are in the winter, t-shirts, thin pants or shorts and socks. No sweaters and slippers or using throws when they are on the couch. We also have a mastress heater to keep warm at night, a lot less power than the heater running at 75 or so. Then sweaters in the summer because they keep the air so cold in summer. What?
We live in northeast Alabama and are lucky to have deep shade in summer and the protection of our bare trees and.... More
Last Friday we took the train from Antwerp (Belgium) to Mechelen with my girlfriend, that is to say about 12 miles, and bus for the last 2 miles: cost: about US$36.00.... so long for public transportation!!! Not to mention it took an hour to get there.
This is exactly the same message I wrote on my greenroof blog this am. Greenroofs can provide lots of food, habitat, beauty, clean stormwater and more! They can be cost-effective - cheap! to build! Check out my post at www.kevinsonger.blogspot.com
I try to live small and simple and green...and that's not always easy to do in Los Angeles where it seems like so many are living large...
Grow my own vegetables and some to share. Shop at thrift shop buying gently used items. Live in very small apartment.
The Muslim riots start as wanting More Freedom, Less government corruption, Less government control, Less taxes, & More self responsibility.
What is the first result?
The Government leader appoints more assistants to make rules & regulations to get rid of the protesters.
Next the government starts a propaganda campaign against the groups to defame them & their leaders.
What is the second result?
The Government takes over the Internet, the cell.... More
actually most of us Tree Huggers support and invest in alternative energy sources. I'm just about to dump a ton of cash in solar energy in fact. Good try though! i know, I know, I shouldn't feed the trolls.
Hundreds of Americans have had the privilege to drive 100% electric cars for the past 12 years, powered by batteries that are charged by the sun. I want the choice of that lifestyle. http://www.twocentspermile.org/?page_id=79
If you do to, Take Action.
I have done all possible in the article but one that always gets a lot of focus in footprint calculators and surveys about ways to reduce: leaving vehicle at home and explore public transportation. What public transportation in rural areas or biking or walking? It is truly dangerous to walk in most of our town except for neighborhoods and public transportaion exists only for some disabled and elderly and the center for the mentally challenged.
I would like to see instead an emphasis in.... More
We are trying to decrease our foot print and will do anything reasonable that we are able to do. We downsized to a much smaller home and not only have we saved on utilities but also on the labor involved in caring for a larger home. We live one mile from our church and two miles from our stores and bank. The only major distance to go is to our doctor -- 11 miles away. We cannot always ride our bikes where and when we need to go somewhere, so living closer to such places certainly decreases.... More
I am a stay at home Mom with 3 kids, my husband's 30K a year job is our only income, we decided last year to get a bigger house so that we could share it with my parents who are in poor health but also needed a financial break. We are limited as to what we can grow due to space issues but we grow as much of our own food as we can, we all shop used before buying new, thrift stores, freecycle and craigs list are fantastic resources for more than just clothing! We make all of our cleaners, laundry.... More
I completely agree with your way of thinking and living!! People have tried to make me feel guilty or less important than them because i don't believe in caring a pricey cell phone or indulging my kids with all the new technology...they have access to our family computer (one for the whole family) and that's all they really need! I wish people would just stop and look at what is really going on in their own lives!!
Thanks Melissa for sharing, we try to do the same. All the best!
It bring family closes together or break them up.
I love you comments. We living in NW Montana and have found a much slower pace of life and we grow some of our vegs, compose all organics, take walks together and live very in-expensive life. We have all we need and a few extras. It's quite a change from the big city and a 40 hour a week plus business.
Nice lists are mentioned above in order to live life on the green side. But one of my ways to save money is to use window tints for my windows at home. Making your windows energy efficient using window tint is certainly one of the best way to reduce energy consumption and protect the environment. Likewise,
ENERGY STAR rates appliances with returns on investment of 4-5 years while window tint can offer much faster return while at the same time making you more comfortable. Trusted tint.... More
By using bicycles in order to continually support living green is a good choice and a good recommendation. However, our real means of transportation nowadays are really automobiles. In order to continuously promote living green even if using cars to travel one can install window tints to lessen fuel consumptions and the likes. Window tint could really give a lot of benefits for you and your car. Having your windows tinted, makes the temperature inside your car cooler requiring less from your.... More
I find that frugality is much easier this year then last. I was laid off. It is also greener, I don't throw away near as many Starbucks cups. We were never big spenders and always used the thrift stores, which had even been cut back this year. Even laid off I feel it is the responsibilty of all to be clean and frugally green.
Better Panic
.... More
I love your tips, but, I will not use a CFL bulb. They contain Mercury. If one breaks in your home you are to evacuate the property for at least 15 minutes. Also they require special disposal. I will continue to use regular light bulbs until a new safer alternative is available. ( http://www.eartheasy.com/live_energyeff_lightin... )
you do know that the mercury in those light bulbs is equal to one bite of a tuna sandwich?..... also it is "liquid" -not in gas form so you don't have to EVACUATE- just carefully clean it up and dispose properly
The truth is that there is more mercury in tuna fish than in a cfl bulb. Here is more information from a letter my father-in-law wrote. He is a PhD Chemist.
When a compact fluorescent lamp replaces an ordinary incandescent lamp, electric power use is reduced 75%, and greenhouse gas emissions by a similar amount. The consumer saves money. Too bad that sales of these lamps have been slowed by excessive concern over toxicity of the tiny, 4milligrams of mercury they contain.
If a.... More
Well, CFLs aren't an entirely free ride, and the mercury they contain is a well-known concern. But if your power is generated from coal, those incandescent lights are actually generating more mercury than is contained in a CFL. Worse, it's going straight into the atmosphere. At least there's the possibility of proper mercury recycling and sequestration with a CFL. We discussed some disposal options here: .... More
My favorite is the last one – reconnecting with others. Decades of consumerism have stripped away our relationships with one another, destroyed our downtowns and errected barriers between our neighbors. If we are going to make a difference, we need to rebuild those relationships. We can share resources, skills and knowledge with neighbors, friends and family.
Gardening has become obsolete in many urban areas. The move toward community gardens and container/window gardening is growing though and is much cheaper than buying everything organic. Local Farmers Markets can also save you money and support your local community at the same time.
MONEY=ENERGY=CLIMATE CHANGE
simple but the truth about living cheap is not about buying lots of cheap products it is about buying the best value for money in terms of life and maintenance of the items or services rendered.
I also propose a carbon energy tax to replace all other taxes which would give tx collection dividend of some 30-40% of tax revenues which could be used for the transition of systems , a tax rebate equally to all citizens and also increase social and welfare.... More
