Sunday, March 23, 2008

5 Ways We Do Frugal AND Earth-friendly

Think it costs a lot to be Earth-friendly? Here are 5 ways my family helps the earth and saves money.

1) Shampoo: My husband uses a lot of shampoo...he could easily use a bottle in a week. Not only does that cost a lot, but think of all the shampoo bottles we'd use! So we put a pump on the shampoo bottle. Two pumps of shampoo is more than enough! Shampoo lasts a lot longer, which saves money and produces less waste (shampoo bottles to be recycled). It's been working great!

2) Unplug your large electronics when not in use. What a difference this made in our electric bill! We attached surge protectors to our computer and to our tv/dvd/cable box and when not in use, flip the switch off. More energy saving tips from BGE.

3) Close off seldomly used rooms. We have a guest room that is only used once a month or less. We close the heating vents and then close the door. Another surprising money saver.

4) Make your own food. It's surprising how much preprocessed, prepackaged food Americans buy. It's convenience. I make homemade hot pockets. Sure it takes a little time, but it's healthier (I use whole wheat flour, egg beaters and morningstar farm sausage). I make a batch, freeze and heat one in the morning before I leave for work. Way cheaper than hot pockets, and pretty tasty if I say so myself.

5) Low flow shower head. These are WAY better than they used to be, and they make a significant decrease in our water bill. I ordered the Chrome Handheld 1.5 GPM Massage Showerhead from Let's Go Green.

How do you do cheap and green?

1 comment:

Nancy said...

We're adopting a baby and I didn't want to have a shower. Tons of family and friends have given us hand me downs. Not only did this save us a ton of money, but it also saves on the packaging new stuff comes in.

Out of the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle), most people just do the recycle. But what about reuse? Reuse other people's stuff and reduce the packaging new stuff comes in!