Even though you are not likely going around your life with a fat wallet, that does not mean that you cannot be greener in your life. As a matter of fact, certain green lifestyle habits can help you thicken your wallet or purse. The following paragraphs have a number of ideas that you can use to be friendlier to the environment, regardless of your budget.
Recycle everything you possibly can from your home. Ideally, you could get to a point where you never put anything in a trash can or dumpster. If you are in an urban or suburban location, your local government likely has a recycling program you can use for most if not all of the packaging of things that you buy. Anything that is paper can also probably be recycled. Furniture and clothing, even if damaged, can possibly get donated, traded or sold through a consignment store. Food waste should be composted, because when you start your own gardening, you save money on food and get something from your food waste.
The next time that you need to buy light bulbs, look for ones that are energy efficient. The bulbs out now can actually last you years instead of weeks or months. Not only do they save you from buying more bulbs more often, they are so low wattage that you are going to notice a difference on your power bill.
Reconsider how you do laundry. If you sell both your washer and dryer, you should be able to afford an energy efficient washing machine and still have some money left over. Do all the laundry you can in cold water to save more on your power bill and then just forego the dryer in lieu of air drying.
If you are like most, you probably pay a little attention to national news and none at all to local, regional or state news. Change that, because there are probably local energy incentives you can take advantage of. For instance, in some areas, the tax breaks and grants given at multiple layers of government for going solar add up so much that it does not make financial sense not to do it. Find out the opportunities out there below the conventional radar and take advantage of them.
When you can go green, you are going to have more confidence and self-esteem about yourself, regardless of how much money you have. When you apply these ideas to your life over the long term, you are going to make a friendly impact on the environment and also have the benefit of probably saving yourself some money too. In the long run, you might even generate enough savings to go fully renewable in your residential power generation. Then, you can start making money from your efforts by selling your surplus energy to your local power utility.
Keep in mind all of these ideas as you move through the coming days. Go green whenever you can, and you might just see some green coming to you.
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