Live Cheap Live Green Live Well
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The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience
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Green Movement (XI Dangerous Technology Mix)
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Growing Up Green: Baby and Child Care: Volume 2 in the Bestselling Green This! Series
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Satori Movement Linked Logos Wheels (54mm, Green)
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August the First
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How a thrifty life-style can open the door to sustainablity.
Sometimes, our own personal hopes for going green are crushed under the misapprehension that a sustainable life-style is too expensive. In this troubled economic climate, going green can save you money! Sure, solar power, windmills, and often-touted ecologically friendly changes offered to the homeowner can prohibitively expensive.
Having your home reinsulated, buying new windows and shopping at Whole Foods all may be appealing but too much for the average homeowners’ stretched budget to bear. The thrifty life-styles of past generations that once seemed quaint are now a necessary choice for many Americans. A thrifty life-style is suddenly, not only an economic necessity, but it’s all the rage!
Save Money Now by Going Green
- Watch that thermostat! Keeping your home 68 degrees or less in winter not only lowers energy bills but cuts down on colds as well. In summer, turn up the thermostat. A few well placed fans keep the air moving so you feel cooler. Remember to turn them off when you leave the house.
- Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75 % less energy and last ten times longer than standard light bulbs.
- Laundry can be hung outside or in the basement during colder months. Air-dried bed linens smell great! Towels may seem stiff but are more absorbent when air-dried. You will see a difference in your fuel bill.
- Clothing, dishes and home goods can be expensive. Environmentally friendly folks have known for years that shopping at thrift stores cuts down on waste and saves money.
- Meals taken together with family and friends save time, fuel and your sanity. Dining together provides companionship and the support systems so needed in these troubled times.
- Cut down on waste by recycling. Shredded paper can be added to the compost pile.
- Grow your own food in compost enriched soil. Composting reduces usage of harmful chemicals in commercially produced fertilizers that wreck havoc on our waterways.
- Many municipalities offer free mulch at local landfills. Purchased mulch is expensive. Certain large chain stores sell mulch made from old-growth cypress trees, the loss of which is decimating southern forests.
Once you get in the habit of sustained living the thrifty way, you’ll realize saving money can save our planet.
An informative, sometimes humerous look at sustainablility
A simple, easy article on how to compost.
- Article MainCompost: Nice and Easy
Sometimes articles on composting are just too darn confusing, long-winded and scientific. Here's an article on composting that gives simple and easy tips. - http://http:articlemain.com/gardening/organic-gardening/compost-nice-and-easy/
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Comments
thanks, olive. you'd be saving money and saving water. i guess sometimes you've got to spend money to save money
Sometimes it's a trade-off. Since moving into the RV I am no longer able to hang laundry outside (parks frown on it). But I put up hooks in the bathtub and wash out small items as they are used, hanging them in the shower to try. In the winter it helps introduce needed humidity. Although I no longer have a compost pile, have also reduced my disposable waste. I eat more fresh, locally grown foods now --- and my bird eats many of the parts I might not always eat. A bit of a natural garbage disposal. I make soup several times a week and all my scraps go in the soup pot for flavor --- later the broth is strained and used for soup or gravy. My son used to call it "garbage" soup when I made it at the house. I just call it refrigerator clean-out soup since I am now back to defrosting a refrigerator.
If I were boondocking I'd need to watch my water consumption. So I do so every day as a way of developing "muscle memory." I keep a dishpan in my sink and turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth. In the end, it's more a matter of routine and memory than anything else.
KE - wow, amazing how you can live green in an RV - they have a reputation, you know. But you seem to have it all well in hand and you are making it sound like great fun.
KE - wow, amazing how you can live green in an RV - they have a reputation, you know. But you seem to have it all well in hand and you are making it sound like great fun.
Great tips.. and yes, the price tag to Go Green the way we would like to is very expensive and can be discouraging. It is best to focus on all of the smaller, affordable ways we can make positive, lasting changes and rejoice in that.
Green Things - yep, as much as we would like to live green, economics can get in the way. But, as you said, if we stick to small changes, they can add up. Thanks for the comment!
Olive P says:
7 months ago
Great tips. Replacing appliances can be sooo expensive, but the energy efficient ones are marvels. Take a washing machine that uses between 15-25 gallons of water vs older ones that use 40-60 per load. Amazing! I'm on a well. When this one goes up I'm getting one of those new models. Not with all bells and whistles. That's stuff isn't necessary.
Oh and I've got a damp basement so I run a dehumidifier that cycles on and off and saves. Big Plus--dries the clothes hanging on the lines in the basement, too.