Going green can be easy and save money. Here are five easy tips to be green.
We have known for a while now that the Earth is warming. Granted, there was still some debate as to whether global warming was caused by human actions or not up until a few years ago. But now, it is generally accepted that mankind has at least contributed somewhat to global warming. That is why it was so shocking to see that in a recent survey in National Geographic, the U.S. ranked last in terms of green lifestyle choices.
With all of the advertised green household products we see in advertisements, and the campaigns for environmental sustainability and the drastic weather changes we have seen over the past few years, you would think that the U.S. would be on its way to becoming one of the leaders in global sustainability. Granted, the 2008 financial shock and lingering recession definitely dampened the ability of some U.S. families to be able to spend a little bit more for greener options. However, as we have noted in some of our other posts, being green sometimes does not have to cost anything. In fact, being green can save you money.
Here are five ways that you can save money and easily go green.
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Five Tips for a Green New Years Eve Party
It’s that time of year again. The Holiday season is winding down, which means that it is time to ring in the New Year. However, traditional New Year’s Eve parties can be pretty damaging to the environment. From glitter and noisemakers to disposable plates, cups and silverware, to plastic tablecloths, most New Year’s parties generate a lot of trash.
In fact, in 2009, the New York City New Year’s Eve party generated about 40 tons of trash. When you stop to think about how many cities and towns hold New Year’s Eve parties, and then include all of the corporate parties and the smaller friends and family parties, you can start to see how huge of an impact New Years parties can have on the environment.
However, it does not have to be that way. There are many easy ways to reduce the environmental impact of your New Years Eve party so that you can have a green New Years. Read more on Green New Years Eve Party – 5 Tips…
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What if global warming is a hoax?
Although there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise, many people still believe that global warming is a hoax. You cannot blame them. Those whose interests are impacted negatively by global warming being real definitely do their best to try to distract and confuse people and generally keep the global warming debate alive.
They are doing a pretty good job of it too. Just turn on the TV and tune to various news channels and you are likely to see stories on how global warming is real and how global warming is a hoax. All of the different channels are also likely to have pundits with credible backgrounds explaining why their point of view is the truth.
So, if you are a regular person just trying to get the facts straight and make up your mind, who are you supposed to believe?
We propose that, even if you don’t care one bit about the environment and believe that global warming is a hoax, it is still in your best interest to act as if it is real. Here’s why.
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Go green for Halloween
Halloween is becoming a huge holiday. Once the stuff of folklore, witches and Wicca, Halloween has grown in popularity and size every single year and is now a big holiday. If you add up all of the candy sales, costume shopping, and decorations, the industry around the holiday is worth almost $6 billion a year, which equates to about $68 per person in the United States.
Unfortunately, Halloween is also downright scary to the environment. Most of what is bought for Halloween is either cheap plastics, like costumes and decorations, that use massive amounts of oil to be produced and shipped around the world, or individually wrapped candy, which fills our landfills with billions of wrappers each year. Not only that, but the holiday surrounds itself with pumping kids full of candy full of artificial ingredients and sugar.
But, Halloween is fun and there are ways to make your celebration more green. Here are our top five ways to green Halloween.
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Hurricane kit with a green slant
Hurricanes impact millions of people world wide every single year. They bring strong winds, rain and flooding with them that can take lives and destroy property. However, even if a hurricane does not destroy your home, car or other property, it can still make your life miserable by cutting off your electricity or making your water unsafe to use for bathing or drinking. Many families keep themselves safe and comfortable during and after the storm by preparing a hurricane kit.
Hurricane kits consist of items like:
- Water
- Flashlights
- A Radio
- Candles
However, many of the items in a hurricane kit can end up being bad for the environment. So, how can you prepare for a hurricane and still do your best to protect the environment? Put together a green hurricane kit! Read more on Hurricane Kit with a Green Slant…
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Install a dual flush converter
The toilets in our house are old. They are the original toilets from when the house was built in the mid-1980′s. From doing research on toilets and water saving, I know that they are horrendous water wasters. I have looked into replacing the toilets and have come close to doing so several times. New toilets only use 1.6 gallons per flush and only cost about $100 – $150 depending on the brand and model you buy. However, when you replace old toilets, those old toilets usually end up in the landfill. So, even though I knew that our old toilets were wasting water, I still felt like replacing them was not worth it unless I could get the old toilets recycled somehow.
I was pondering this exact issue when I went into our local Home Depot a while ago. As I was walking the aisles, I came across the Hydroright Dual Flush Converter, a device that converts your existing toilet into a dual flush toilet. I wanted to jump for joy, but I was skeptical… would it actually work, especially on our ancient toilets? It was only $19, so I decided to buy one and install it on our worst toilet to see if it would really work.
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Cutting cable TV can save you a bunch of money and reduce your carbon emissions
We are always talking about new ways to go green and save money. Every 3 or 4 months, we sit down to review our finances to see if there are any expenses we can reduce or ways to do something better, and more green. When we sat down recently to review our expenses, there was one item that stuck out like a sore thumb: cable TV.
Like most families that have cable or satellite TV, we were spending close to $100 per month for cable television service. We had cable service, one cable box, one DVR box and DVR service. Although we do like to unwind some nights by watching some of our favorite shows or movies, $100 per month seemed a pretty steep price to pay for that luxury. So, we started to discuss cutting cable.
However, cutting cable is not an easy decision. It can be nice to be able to plunk down on the couch and watch an hour of TV to relax. Also, our daughter likes to get up early and watch cartoons until we come downstairs for breakfast, which gives us an extra, and much needed, 30 minutes in the morning. However, as we began to think about what it would be like without cable and as I started to research the different options available out there, it turned out that we could greatly reduce our energy use and save money by cutting cable and still be able to watch most of the shows we like.
Read more on Cutting Cable – Save Money and Reduce Energy Use and Carbon Emissions…
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Vampire power sucks energy and money out of you
Whether you know it or not, there is a vampire loose in your house. However, it is not a traditional vampire that sucks the blood of living creatures. No, this vampire sucks energy out of your electronics and other appliances. He is a tireless worker that sucks energy all day and all night and does not take breaks. All of his energy sucking not only costs you extra money every single day, but also adds more carbon dioxide to the environment and contributes to global warming.
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Top five cheap and easy ways to improve gas mileage
Gas is expensive and just seems to be getting more and more expensive each and every year. Not only does gas take up a good portion of our incomes, but the burning of gas by automobiles is also the second largest contributor to global warming, releasing over 1.5 BILLION tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year according to the NRDC. So, how can we relieve some of the financial and environmental burden that driving our car creates?
Obviously, hybrid and electric vehicles are an option to drastically improve gas mileage, but they are expensive and the manufacturing process of those vehicles requires the use oil and gas, which means greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere when they are made. That is not to say you should not buy a hybrid or electric vehicle. If you are driving a very old car, especially one that does not get good gas mileage, trading it in for a hybrid or electric car can be a good choice. However, the best solution is usually to keep your current car and try to improve gas mileage so that you get the absolute best MPG out of your car as possible.
Here are our top five cheap and easy tips to improve gas mileage for your car. Read more on Improve Gas Mileage – Top 5 Cheap and Easy Tips…
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Drying clothes indoors on our wooden drying rack.
Ever since I can remember, I have used a clothes dryer. It is a modern convenience that we just don’t think about. If you want to dry your clothes, you put them in the dryer. It’s as simple as that. But, like most appliances, dryers use electricity (or natural gas), which produce carbon emissions. Dryers are particularly bad in their energy use and carbon emissions because they have to generate a lot of heat for a long time in order to dry our clothes. But, despite the energy use and carbon emissions, our clothes dryer justs make my life as a Mom easier. So, when Nate asked me to stop using our dryer to see what it would mean to our daily lives and how much money it would save, I was pretty anxious. Read more on Drying Clothes Indoors – An Experiment…
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