Be green and save green

In honor of today being Earth Day I will be giving ideas on how to be environmentally friendly and save money at the same time.


Reduce: By reducing the amount you throw away each month you help lower the demand for landfills and incineration (burning, which throws all those chemicals from the waste into our air).

• Buy items that come in containers that are reusable.
• Buy items that are multi use. Don't buy paper plates or plastic cups.
• BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag, Plastic bags are made from a nonrenewable resource. Bring cloth bags or plastic bags you've already used. If you must get a bag remember to recycle it or get paper.

How you save money: First and most importantly, when you throw less away you spend less on your garbage bill. You can reduce the size of your garbage can to the point where you can't even fill one. If you find you have room in your garbage can talk to a neighbor, see if you can split a can. Buying things in containers you can reuse, for instance a glass pickle jar once the pickles are gone use it to store pasta, cereal or anything else really. Buying items you can only use once is a waste. Paper plates may seem cheap but if you use them constantly instead of buying proper plates you can quickly see the cost add up. Plastic bags fill up your garbage can quickly. In some places; San Francisco, and Ireland as well as many others you are charged for plastic bags. Bringing your own you save on this cost.

Reuse: When you reuse you keep things from entering the waste removal system. And reduce the amount of waste produced.

• Use the front of old cards for post cards or gift tags
• Use newspaper for packaging instead of foam peanuts
• Throw apple cores, stale bread, and other food scraps out for the animals
• Use water from cooking veggies and showers to water plants
• Cut up mouse pads and use under furniture to keep the floors safe
• Cut up old carpet and use as coasters
• Wash out Ziploc bags and use them again
• Make pillows out of old shirts
• Use tins to store things
• Make a mini first aid kit from an Altoids tin
• Make candles out of the left over wax of others
• Yard Sales!
• Thrift Stores!

How this saves you money: Reusing an item you've already bought saves you from buying the item again or from having to buy whatever it is you make it into. It also saves your garbage bill. Reusing water reduces your water bill. Yard sales help you save on your garbage bill and going to them saves you endlessly. You can get amazing deals on all sorts of things, the same goes for thrift stores. Remember that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Recycle

Right, recycling isn't really like the others. It doesn't really save you money, but it can earn you money. Go to http://earth911.com/ to find out where you can recycle locally.

Here's a list of things that can be recycled:

• Any glass
• All paper and cardboard
• Aluminum, including aluminum foil
• Steel Cans
• Plastic
• Yard Waste
• Motor Oil
• Batteries
• Aerosol Cans
• Paint
• Hearing Aids
• Appliances
• Any electronics
• Glasses
• Printer Cartridges

Before you load up the car find out which of these items can be recycled in your local recycling spot.

Have a lovely green day! Go plant a tree, or at least give one a hug.