Does going green leave you in the red?
There’s a bit of an illusion that environmentally friendly equals expensive – that going for cost and convenience is kind to the pocket but not to the planet. The great news is, you can lead the good-life and be cash savvy. Here we provide a few green-living ideas for frugal families.
- You can eat healthy, organic produce on a shoestring. (But a plate would be more hygienic!). If you live near, or drive past, any farm shops, call in at the end of the day when they’re about to pack up. You’ll leave laden down with fruit, veg, eggs and dairy costing far less than you’d pay in a supermarket.
- Take your lunch in reusable butty bags instead of tin-foil.
- Find your nearest walking trail and enjoy some steps and solitude. Getting into the great outdoors doesn’t cost a penny and it’s incredible how even the biggest of problems can unravel when you’re just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.
- Turn off the tap when you’re brushing your teeth.
- Pack a picnic and head for the park. Cheese sandwich in front of the TV? Boring. Cheese sandwich in the great outdoors? Brilliant.
- Recycle. You know you should. But do you take it seriously? Every beer bottle you chuck in the wrong bin could be helping to save the planet.
- Chill out a bit and lower your thermostat in the winter. You’ll reduce both your bills and carbon dioxide emissions.
- Instead of a cupboard full of toxic cleaning products, check out the many uses for baking soda. You can use it to tackle all sorts of stuff from carpets and floors to plugholes and paintwork – and it’s as cheap as chips.
- Unplug all your appliances even if you’re only going to work. Leaving them plugged in, even if they’re turned off, eats energy. Who knew?
- Reduce the ever-increasing clothes mountain and buy vintage. Shop carefully and you’ll pick up some hidden gems. When you’re bored, give them back.
- Receive all your bills electronically. No need for stamps or envelopes, and you won’t have heaps of paper to file away (i.e. chuck in a drawer).
- Only eat meat once a week. That can be a bit of a toughie if you like your Big Mac moment but, if we all tried to do it, the impact on the environment would be enormous. And you’d save money too, which you can spend on a McFlurry.
- Never dump your old laptop or smashed phone in the bin. They can leak toxic chemicals into the soil which could harm wildlife. Dispose of them responsibly. Or leave them festering in a cupboard like most people.
Enjoy Planet Green!
