I just saw this post, New York Woman Shifts to Green, Saves More Than $10,000, and immediately thought “ooh, let’s save some money”. Then I looked at what she did and, umm…yeah, I won’t do most of that. Oh well, maybe one of you could benefit from her going green tips.
Here’s the changes she went through (my responses are in italics):
1. Become vegetarian. I enjoy steak way too much.
2. Become vegan and only eat and use organic foods and items. I enjoy Kroger’s way too much.
3. “Become conscious and present to the world and nature around me, as well as to family, friends, and neighbors”. I think I’m very conscious about my surroundings and the people around me, but this is a good reminder.
4. Change consumption patterns. We are thinking about composting, but I don’t see our consumption patterns changing soon.
5. Saving money due to these shopping habit changes. See below.
This is how she saves:
1. Switch to natural cleaning agents – saving $800-900/yr. I do like using vinegar since it’s cheap, but I do also use bleach, which is what she’s against the most.
2. Create zero waste – saving $180/yr. That’s pretty cool, but I just don’t see us going to the extremes she has to cut down to almost no real waste.
3. Drink and carry tap water – saving $500+ annually. We buy bottled water every few months and reuse the bottles until I consider them too gross.
4. Buy $.99 reusable grocery bags, eliminating real costs of using and disposing of plastic bags – savings $100/yr. We reuse the plastic grocery bags for so many things that I rarely use the reusable grocery bags…although they do come in handy at the library and Sam’s Club.
5. Limit gift giving – saving $500. We’ve narrowed our gift giving and receiving group to immediate family and closest friends, but I’m not willing to cut back further. I love gift giving…it makes me act like a giggly 6 year old again.
6. Drive fuel-efficient car less – saving an average of $100-$150/month, or $1200 – $1800/yr. We do own a Prius, but we drive it a lot. Cutting back would mean giving up my husband’s career of teaching since they aren’t on a bus route and hobby job as a contract referree.
7. Buy no fragrances: no perfume, scented candles, or air-freshners – saving $500+ annually. I married the one man inthe world who really likes nice smells around the house…I think I might get a major eyeroll if I suggest getting rid of our Dreamsicle plug-ins…
8. Avoid plastic wrap — saving $150 annually. This makes me so sad…I love plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
9. Minimize paper — saving $300. We’ve done this mainly out of convenience…online billing is just so much easier and we don’t have any magazine subscriptions.
10. Use compact light bulbs & other efficient appliances – saving $200/yr. We replace burned out bulbs with CFL’s, so our house is about 50/50 right now.
11. Buy used, refurbished goods – saving $2,000/yr, plus gas, energy and time to shop. I just bought a used chest freezer for $25. I’ll tell you how it works out.
12. Grow own food — saving $450-$500 on food, garden chemicals. I’m thinking of growing cucumbers and tomatoes, but I never seem to get around to it.
13. Conserve water — saving $100/yr. We take short showers and only water our lawn once a week during the summer, so we seem to be doing okay on this front. I like the idea of rain barrels, but wonder how I’d make it work since we don’t have gutters.
14. Installed gravel driveway — saving $4,000. That would look really strange in my neighborhood…
Are you green or going green? What’s working well for you? What other going green tips can you suggest?
Oh, I would be a total green failure for sure. Vegan? No way, not for me. I enjoy a good bbq way too much, and a tofu burger ain’t gonna cut it for me.
I will say I have too many plastic grocery bags. As a matter of fact, I was just swearing I was going to start using my totes way more because the plastic is overtaking my pantry.
We do limit our waste as much as possible in that we recycle a ton of stuff. But, I could also be a composter, and have not done it yet.
Also, there is no way I go through $150 in plastic wrap a year. I rarely use it because it never seems to cling. As a matter of fact, the author spends way more that I do on many of things that were mentioned, like cleaning agents.
I enjoyed your commentary!
Everyday Tips, you can send your plastic grocery bags to me, lol. Between dog accidents, bathroom trash cans, and using them as lunch sacks to work, we always run out.
Yeah, I don’t know how she spent $150 a year on plastic wrap…if you want some that actually clings, try the Sam’s Club huge roll. That stuff comes in 3000 foot rolls, clings like nobody’s business, and lasts for YEARS.
Glad you enjoyed my take, lol…it was going to be a very short post titled “Crazy Crap I Won’t Do” but I thought I should be a little more reader friendly.
My mom is vegetarian, but I so cannot handle that. I cooked up a nice NY Strip Steak with a Red Wine Shallot reduction for my husband for Father’s Day. No way could I go without meat.
That being said, I do buy local, organic fruits and veggies. We also use water, vinegar, baking soda, and Dr. Bronner’s for most of our cleaning.
I buy plastic wrap from Costco in the giant roll and it lasts for years and years. The same with aluminum foil.
We don’t use fragrances because I’m allergic, and our house is 99% CFL. In fact, CFLs are cheaper than regular bulbs here because of rebates the energy company gives.
I have to confess that my mind went in a different direction when I read “avoid paper.” We don’t use paper towels. I have un-paper towels. I also use cloth pads and part-time cloth diaper. I think the only big thing other than disposable diapers we buy is TP.
I also would not install a gravel driveway as that would mean that I would need to tear up my concrete driveway…
I use reuse plastic grocery bags too! I even keep a few in the car under the seat for muddy soccer and regular shoes.
Hmmm, I would be considered a “lime green” in that lady’s book. There are only a few of the about that I do (#s 3,6,7,13).
I would like to grow my own food though, perhaps someday
I was questioning the $150 on plastic wrap too! We buy 2-pack at Costco for $10 and it lasts forever. I recently had to buy a new package after close to 9 years!
Maybe it’s my already bare bones budget, or the fact that I’m not buying much in the way of scents, but do people normally spend $500 a year on perfume?! And $800-$900 a YEAR on cleansing agents? What was she buying? A new vacuum cleaner every year?
I consider myself fairly green, but the greenest thing I do is shop second hand and not buy much. Reduced gas to get there, reduced packaging waste, reduced number of products requiring manufacture, shipping, and display in a brightly lit store, etc. It’s more out of financial necessity right now, but the double positive works for me.
re #7, $500 a year on perfume, scented candles and air fresheners seems awfully high to me too. Guess she could have had an expensive perfume habit.
Julie, I actually thought of you while I was writing this! I knew you are way greener than me, but I hadn’t known whether you were vegan or not.
What are un-paper towels?
Money Reasons, lime green is better than the tiny hint of green I apparently am…we own a Prius and use it for the majority of our driving, does that count? We’ll grow some of our own veggies next year, but until then, I’ll just continue trying to conserve water and electricity for frugality’s sake and we’ll see if that makes a dent.
Saved Quarter, we aren’t on a bare bones budget but I am still using the $40 bottle of Ginger Essence perfume I bought 8 years ago, lol. We also spend about $100 a year on all our cleaning stuff (wood laminate cleaner, vinegar, baking soda, bleach, Tide, Comet, and glass stovetop cleaner).
I’d think that limiting consumerism is pretty green in and of itself too.
jim, yeah, a perfume habit like no other, lol.
I don’t personally know anybody who spends that much to smell pretty.
This is a pretty good list. Like you, I can’t say I would be able to follow all of these tips. But there are some that I could, and actually do. Two that caught my attention are carrying tap water, and using the grocery bags.
With the tap water, I have bought a stainless steel bottle and take it with me on my commute into work. When leaving, I refill it. The one-time investment saves me from buying bottles, or other less healthy beverages (I like diet soda too much).
As for the grocery bags – I actually do what you do, and keep the plastic grocery bags. Those things come in handy for a variety of things.
Squirrelers, since I get free water from work and use reuseable cups, I only drink tap water at home, BUT I am thinking of smuggling some on board our cruise since their water tasted weird last time and bottled water was $2 minimum!
Like the others, I’m calling BS on the costs.
I’m lucky if I spend $10/year on air fresheners and $5 on plastic wrap. My water bill is only $100/year, so no way I’m saving any more. I also don’t spend $900/year on cleaning products…maybe $20. Spending $42/month seems high for water too as a case is $3.99. I don’t buy bottled water, but the only way I could see spending that much is buying water ala cart in convenience stores.
I do spend a small fortune on diapers, tissues, tp, and paper towels. That’s a tough habit to break..even with my pile of rags in the kitchen. I can majorly cut down on those costs but have been veto’d by my better half.
I also spend a ton on food..I LOVE food.
Oops, I forgot about laundry and dish detergent. Okay, cleaning products are more like $150. A bottle of Tide lasts at least a couple of months and that’s with a family of 4.
Sandy L, your listed items and prices seem spot on, EXCEPT your water bill! How do you keep that to $100 a year?! That is really impressive!
We have a $25 a month water bill that’s considered really low in our area…what’s your secret?
we’ve installed the expensive bulbs that they claim last 7 years (they don’t). I turn out lights when I’m not in the room. But I refuse to get rid of my car and walk 15 miles to work, and I’m not getting rid of A/C in the house, or electricity. I am not getting one of those smart cars that are about 5 feet long and are very dangerous just so I can get 50 mpg.
The entire go green save the environment hogwash is all about making money… God has taken care of planet earth for millions of years… it’s his job, not ours. Last I checked, God did not resign.
Financial Bondage, yeah, our “7 year” bulbs last about 1 1/2 – 2. I also won’t be walking 12 miles to work (or bicycling in Houston traffic). Smart Cars are actually no more fuel efficient than Prius’s and I rather have that extra storage room.
I don’t agree that conserving resources is hogwash. This joke kind of sums up what I think:
God will save me
There was an old man sitting on his porch watching the rain fall. Pretty soon the water was coming over the porch and into the house.
The old man was still sitting there when a rescue boat came and the people on board said, “You can’t stay here you have to come with us.”
The old man replied, “No, God will save me.” So the boat left.
A little while later the water was up to the second floor, and another rescue boat came, and again told the old man he had to come with them.
The old man again replied, “God will save me.” So the boat left him again.
An hour later the water was up to the roof and a third rescue boat approached the old man, and tried to get him to come with them.
Again the old man refused to leave stating that, “God will grant a miracle & save me.” So the boat left him again.
Soon after, the man drowned and went to heaven, and when he saw God he asked him, “Why didn’t you save me? I thought you would grant me a miracle and you have let me down.”
God replied, “You idiot, I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I sent three boats!!!”
If we don’t use the brains God gave us to keep this planet healthy, then we failed God, not the other way around.
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