How to Save Money By Going Green
- 11.21.09
- Personal Finance, savings
We are experiencing global climate change nowadays which causes a lot of abnormal calamities like strong typhoons and the like. Therefore, we should save our environment for us not to suffer the detrimental effects of mother nature. One of the things that we should do is to “go green”. It wont’t only save our environment but also it can also save us more money.
Yes, going green can be a bit frustrating and inconvenient. Hybrid and organic products, for example, often come at premium prices. They also aren’t readily available in most markets, which takes even more effort and time from your day.
However, there are many ways you can help save the environment that are both easy and affordable. To get you started, here are some of selection of minor household changes that will reap major positive changes:
1. Ditch your disposables. The “use it and lose it” appeal of disposable products makes for a tidier home but also ends up producing much more waste and consuming the earth’s limited resources.
Set things straight by replacing all possible disposable products with their reusable counterparts. Trade in paper towels for cloth rags and plastic cups for glasses and cups. The resources used to run and clean these longer-lasting alternatives are minimal compared to continuously manufacturing disposable products.
2. Go green grub. With a typical person consuming three square meals a day, our food choices have a huge impact on the earth’s resources. But what if going organic or vegetarian doesn’t quite fit into your budget and lifestyle? Don’t worry, there are easier ways to develop more environmentally friendly eating habits.
Eat Local. The close produce-to-person proximity not only reduces the packaging and transportation costs, it also supports your local economy. Another option is to stick to fresh and seasonal fare, as this doesn’t need to be stored and still retains much of its nutritional value. Try to incorporate a few vegetarian meals throughout the week. The animals usually consumed put a strain on resources and are often affected by antibiotics or hormones.
3. Remember those Rs. That’s reduce, reuse and recycle. Known as the “waste hierarchy”, these are supposed to be accomplished in order.
The first step? Reduce consumption from the get-go. Buy only what you need, and use everything you buy. Choose items that have simple packaging. Opt for larger bulk buys instead of individually wrapped pieces.
Once a product has served its purpose, find ways to reuse it. Use glass jars to store leftovers; turn an old shirt into rags, use the backside of paper as scratch. This effectively extends the lifespan of a product before it goes to waste.
Finally, recycling is the process of turning waste into the same or new products. Recyclable materials include glass, metal, paper, plastic, and textiles. These can be easily separated and brought to a collection center.
Do you have other ways to save money by going green? Share them below as comments.
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James Moralde
Hmmm… I’ve been seeing green in a lot of blogs today. Business companies are also joining up in the ‘going green’ trend. I think we do need to go green. In fact, I believe we have no choice but to go green if we are to survive in the next few years. We have to face this truth no matter how inconvenient.
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Snow
I do agree with you Tyrone. I also believe that each person should reuse, reduce and recycle.
In my own little way, I always remind the baggers in the grocery store to maximize the use of the plastic bags and if it is not necessary - I avoid to plastic small stuff that I purchase.
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Liane YoungBlogger
I’m an environmentalist at heart. love this post! keep it up!
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edmund lao
how about using green energy? It can not only help save our planet..it can also save our wallet
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Tyrone Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Green energy meaning solar energy? I think it’s not yet popular here in the Philippines. However, I’ve seen some countries in TV before with solar panels used as glasses in some of their buildings to run electricity in the whole building. That saves them a lot of money spent on electric bills.
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edmund lao Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Hi Tyrone…
Green energy : one of the best examples is LED. Not only saves power drastically but is also environmental friendly… minimal heat dissipation.. although quit expensive, the long term benefit outweighs the cost….saves up to 80% electrical cost
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Financial Samurai
You guys should come to San Francisco! We are the “greenest” city on earth!
Cars, buildings, nobody smokes, clean air. It’s awesome!
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Tyrone Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Nice to know that FS. The “greenest” country I’ve been so far is Singapore.
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Financial Samurai
You could be right on Singapore. It’s just a little too sterile for me, but the food, oh the food is so good!
Too hot a country for me lah!
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Extreme John
We are currently going Green with one of my companies and hopefully will work to go green with my limousine service soon.
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orville
really. this is true. we should think of alternatives in order to save money. thanks..
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S.Pradeep Kumar
Nice article bro.. keep posting like this..
I love to see Mother Earth green and tidy..
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Darvin @ Recycling Christmas Card
Often eating local is more important than eating organic, from an environmental perspective, because of the pollution created in transporting the products. Also, reducing or eliminating your beef consumption significantly helps! TONS of waste is produced in the care and transportation of beef!
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Charles
I wish there were recycle bins at gas stations. I’m always throwing away trash from my car when filling up…most of them being recyclables. Did you know that 80% of the things that we throw away are recyclables and yet only 30% are being recycled? I think we all can do a lot better.
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Zen Foo
Solar energy is a good alternative of energy source in countries especially south east asia, but then we won;t have energy after sun down. A much better solution is using geothermal energy. Basically it is alternative technology solution that can be plugged into any source of energy generator that produces heat to generate energy. Good thing is, heat is already existing in this warm globe, instead of blaming global warming, we can use heat as source of energy.
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