As a frugal blogger I give my readers tips on saving money. Today I am going to give you tips on saving energy and being “green”. I am always searching for ways to be “greener”. I may not be the “greenest” person around but I try to make changes as I can. Even if they are little changes, they add up. As a mom I want to teach my children to take care of the environment and I want to leave them with a beautiful planet. There are lots of ways to be a little greener.
Here are a few:
1. Turn off appliances and lights when not in use. Better yet, unplug them. You can use a power strip to turn off several devices at the same time when you are not using them.
2. Replace your light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs. These light bulbs cost much less to run and last longer- that’s a double win!
3. Buy energy efficient appliances. I’m not saying dump all of your old appliances but when you need to purchase new ones, look for energy efficient ones.
4. Bring your own bags to the grocery store instead of using plastic bags.
5. Use old T-shirts as rags instead of using paper towels.
6. Turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth. Get your kids to also. Children tend to let the water run for a long time when they are brushing their teeth.
7. Take a shorter shower. Use a timer to take a shorter shower. See how much time you can shave off of your shower time.
8. Reuse the fronts of greeting cards as pictures, postcards, or for art projects.
9. Buy a reusable water bottle for each member of your family instead of buying bottled water.
10. Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot or warm. Dry your laundry the a line instead of in the dryer which uses up a lot of electricity.
11. Don’t throw away scrap paper, use it to jot down notes or let your kids color on the back of it.
12. Select products with eco-friendly features such as made from recycled materials.
13. Recycle all your newspaper, cardboard, glass, plastic, and any other materials that your local area collects to be recycled. If there isn’t a recycling program in your area, find out if you can get one started or if there is anyone one near by.
14. Keep your tires at their proper air pressure to improve gas mileage so you waste less gas.
15. Donate items you no longer need/use. Have your children donate toys they no longer play with so other children can enjoy them, too.
16. Borrow books from the library or read them on an e-reader instead of buying new books.
17. Cut down on waste. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it. Reuse, re-purpose, and recycle as much as you can!
18. Open your window shades instead of turning on a light.
19. Plant a tree…..or ten. 😉
20. Cancel your magazine subscriptions and read them online. Also do your banking online and ask companies to send you ebills instead of paper bills.
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