What are some really simple things I can do to save money and live greener?
Posted in Green Living Q&A on 02. May, 2010
I am pretty lazy. I admit it. I still want to help reduce my output of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, reduce my strain on the environment, and lower the electricity and water bills. I just don’t want to have to spend an hour a day washing out cans and bottles or digging my compost pile. Any suggestions?
Hold your breath.
Switch to fluorescent lightbulbs.
Have a separate bin in your home for paper/plastic/aluminum/other recyclables.
Use cloth napkins instead of paper
Unplug appliances you’re not using
Set computer to sleep when you’re not using it.
If you farm – already know the bio-dynamics? I believe is the name of it – its an ancient technique on using plants instead of chemicals
If you’re urban – recycle please
You have to ask yourself why you’re doing all of this? The earth has been here for millions of years, and CO2 and other emissions are not gonna destroy the earth as the “green” movement will suggest. If you want to cut down on electricity and water bills, that’s easy. Turn off your lights when you leave the house or a room your not in, if your gonna do chores turn off your televsion if your not in the same room. Take a bath as opposed to a shower. If you must shower, then use a timer and limit it to now longer than 5 minutes. Trying washing dishes and letting air dry opposed to using a dish washer, and limit your laundry to no more than 2 loads a week. As far as being lazy, everyone is in some way! Personally, I never saw “saving the earth” as motivation unless it was to attract a person I was smitten by, but then again, hey we all need something to live for these days.
Being that your lazy and you don’t want to spend money because going green is expensive i suggest you spend most of your time sleeping .
Do NOT take a bath if you are trying to save water. “Tub baths can take 30 or more gallons of water, depending on how high the water level.” By contrast, modern shower heads are made to use 2.5 gallons of water per minute. So as long as you keep your shower under 12 minutes, you’ll be doing better than the most conservative bath (most baths use more than 30 gallons).
The most simple thing you can do is just to “use less”. Turn off the electric things you don’t need to have on. Don’t drive to places you don’t need to drive to. Don’t buy stuff that you don’t need. It will save you money, and reduce your environmental impact in many many ways, not just CO2 reduction.
http://www.williams.edu/HistSci/curriculum/101/garbage.html
don’t recycle, but turn your thermostat up two degrees in the summer, and down two degrees in the winter. keep your water heater at 120 degree F, no more. These are three annual changes that you have to make, which is pretty easy. Start your AC later than you usually would, and turn it off while you’re away during the day. Turn off your computer at night, and through the work day. Turn off your lights when you leave the house. If you ever need to leave the house for more than one day turn your water heater to “vacation mode”. If you don’t have a water heater with a “vacation mode” It’s an investment that pays for itself.
collect rain water in containers and use it for watering gardens, house plants for your birdbath…you can even use it to clean house!
i’m probably lazier than you… try this link:
http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=action
good luck
If you want to compost, get a compost bin that spins. Not much work at all.
Turn the water off when brushing your teeth.
Switch your lightbulbs to CFLs.
Get a low flow showerhead.
Walk or ride your bike whenever possible.
When you have errands to do in your vehicle, try to make one trip for all traveling the least amount of miles possible.
Go the speed limit.
Keep the proper amount of air pressure in your tires.
Wash your clothes in cold water.
Maximize your laundry loads.
Turn your hot water heater down a couple degrees.
Turn lights off when you leave a room.
Unplug appliances that aren’t in use.
Put your tv & computer on a power strip and turn it off at night.
Adjust your thermostat a degree or two up in the summer & down in the winter.
Kim at: http://www.peaceful-organic-planet.com
Spend money!!! Do stuff like switching to water and energy saving washers/dryers (or even hang your clothes). Buy new toilets and faucets. I have found standard low flush toilets tend to give people a hard time but spending a little more will help. My current ones I want to throw out the window. I am looking forward to getting dual flush toilets which have a half flush (for pee) and a full flush (for poo) option or getting a toilet with Flushmate flush system which is basically a powerful flushing system for gravity toilets. Another thing I have noticed is that old faucets tend to spray water instead of having it come out all smooth. Lets use my grandma’s sink for example. With her old one I would spend quite a while washing soap off my hands while getting the counters and myself soaked. She has a new one now which directs the water more downward (in other words, her other one just needed to be replaced) which makes more water for hand washing and not bouncing off my hands onto the counter/shirt.
running fans also helps with the a/c bill. I rarely run the heater and when I do it isn’t on very high. I just pull out the warmest comforters I own which is pretty good if you don’t have a fireplace.
bring your own bags to do your shopping, grocery or other. drive as little as possible and walk or bike instead, or public transportation if its convienient. use CFL lightbulbs, turn off your computer when you arnt using it for more than an hour, unplug appliances, reduce the amount of trash you make (ex-tear a napkin in half if you realy dont need the whole thing, etc) buy less, use less.
Simple?
Turn off your air conditioner completely (get fans, open windows).
In the winter, keep thermostat at 65 in the day and 60 at night.
Don’t bathe every day … take sponge baths and bathe 2-3 times per week.
Don’t use a clothes dryer … put up a clothes line to dry clothes.
Only wash your clothes when you have a full load, and wash with cold water.
Turn your hot water heater down to 120 degrees.
Walk or bicycle everywhere possible. Where not possible, take public transportation. Where not possible, car pool. Where not possible, plan your trips to handle several things at once.
1. Turn your hot water heater down a little. It helps a lot.
2. Wait to do laundry until the outside temperature cools off.
3. Turn off lights behind you.
4. Turn up thermostat one or two degrees, but remain comfortable.
1) You could walk to work (to the shops etc.) instead of going by car
2) You could always switch your lights off when you aren’t in the room
3) Make sure you always turn off the taps and you could have showers instead of baths because they use up less water