Submitting Frugal Author: Alicia Rainville

Everywhere we go we see and hear about the importance of “going green”. There are green bags for sale at almost every retail store, a wide variety of energy efficient electronics, earth-friendly cleaning products, hybrid cars, wind power testing and implementation, newspapers printing on recycled paper with natural ink, and a significant increase of items are being made out of recycled materials – from food packaging to house-building materials. This is all a wonderful thing to see. But have you tried saving money going green?

Here are some very simple tips on how to be a "Greener" AND save $$$:

•  Use a water bottle instead of buying water in plastic. A plastic bottle of water can cost you about $1.50 a day or $390 a year! You can purchase purification filtered bottles if you are concerned about taste or quality.

• Skip the morning “coffee run” - this cuts back on waste and saves you $500 or more annually!

• Shut your computer monitors off when you shut your PC down. At home it costs about $88 per year to leave your monitor running 24 hours per day. Shutting it off will cut that by at least 40%

• Buy those green bags - use them at the mall, for groceries, going to the beach, bringing in lunch, or anytime you need to put things in a bag for transporting. 

• Donate your old electronics – this will save both waste and disposal fees

• Re-use empty plastic containers of Cool-whip, sandwich meat, etc. These are great for storing leftovers and cuts back on using plastic wraps, bags, and foil. You can also wash and re-use freezer bags.

• Bows, ribbons, gift bags, cards and quality wrapping paper can all be re-used. I often cut out the pictures on cards, punch a hole in it, and use it as a gift tag. Another option is to give a gift in a re-usable bag – it’s a gift in a gift!

• Get a travel mug – more and more places are offering discounts for using your own mug and this reduces your carbon footprint. Ask your local coffee shop if they offer a discount, as some places take up to 15 cents off.

• Use electric outdoor tools (ie – leaf blowers) and a push mower. This cuts down on cost of gas and exhaust emissions. You’d be surprised at how far push mowers have come!

• Subscribe to the “e-dition” of newspapers instead of getting home delivery

• Compost food scraps for your home gardening instead of buying fertilizer – the fertilizers often have chemicals in them which can be harmful to pets. This also cuts back on the toxic breakdown that occurs in trash bags.

• Get creative with meat leftovers – makes stews, sandwiches, wraps, reheat it in a pan with new spices, put in sauce, or grind it into dog food (your pup will LOVE that!)

Passionate about saving money and living Green? Submit your article and ideas to LetsBeFrugal@Gmail.com