In honor or St. Patty’s day, I thought some tips on savin’ the green might be appropriate. In fact, it’s a double entendre – as in money and the environment. Here’s my starter list of some great “green” tips. Be sure to add your ideas.
1) Well, duh, of course, buy corned beef. It’s on sale everywhere and crockpot friendly – no heating up the whole kitchen. You’ll save time, money and electricty.
2) I’m not bragging, but it’s sunny in Arizona, like in the 80’s. Which means lots of green – weeds! After a tour of the Home Depot and serious sticker shock, I pulled my own. The stuff that won’t harm other plants works poorly. The stuff that will kill the varmits isn’t particulary good for the groundwater it’ll eventually make its way to, and last but not least, it’s good exercise if you don’t mind the blisters. That’s green on two counts – cost and the environment. As for blisters… Neosporin is cheaper than the ‘won’t kill ‘em anyway’ stuff.
3) Warm, in AZ, also means high electric costs so a February 18 article in the Arizona Republic, “Waste of Watts,” caught my attention. Most of us think in terms of turning things off to save electricity. I had no idea the little buggers we can’t live without are sucking up watts anyhow, like to the tune of $3 BILLION a year. For most folks, that’s about $50 a year. If you want to see what it’s costing you, head over to Frugal Fiction and opt in. I’ll send you the spreadsheet.
4) Think spring cleaning for cash. Best Buy has a trade-in center where you can see what your worthless dinosaurs are worth – cell phones, old PCs (just be sure to fully clean the HD first), game systems, cameras, etc. Fill your pockets instead of the landfill.
5) Right now aluminum is going for about $0.55 a pound. If you haven’t been recycling soda and beer cans before, now might be a good time to start. Don’t use that many cans? How about being the collection point for a group effort. The income generated could help support your kids’ baseball team, dance class, school, church group, whatever.
6) Instead of joining a gym, save the $$ and exercise green. This article, “Going Green: Tips for Eco-Friendly Exercise,” has some great tips for trimming more than just the size of your waist. http://fitlist.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/11/755729.aspx
7) Oil - $110 a barrel… Need I say more? Carpool, ride a bike, walk, route your trips for efficiency (in miles and time), stay home. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, our national average is about 23 miles per gallon. Gas is quickly approaching $3.50 per gallon. Skipping 100 miles a month keeps $35 in your pocket and reduces pollution. If you walked or rode your bike, you dropped some calories, too.
Finally, you all know my love of anything coupon. I have to offer kudos to the Proctor and Gamble folks. Redeem their coupons during March & April and they’ll give a liter of clean water to someone in a developing country. That’s green in your pocket that’ll really make you feel good.
