Frugality and environmentalism have a lot in common.
After all, they both focus on avoiding waste. They’re both about getting the most out of something. Many times, when you’re frugal, you’re also being environmentally-friendly. And the other way around.
I thought I’d round up a bunch of money saving habits that also happen to help save the environment.
Use Better Expiration Dates
We waste a lot of money each year tossing out perfectly edible food. Why? Because expiration dates suck. Avoid food waste by using better expiration dates (EatByDate.com can help with that).
Use Energy-Efficient Bulbs
ENERGY STAR bulbs do more than cut your monthly electric bill. They also (obviously) conserve energy. Bulbs that fit EPA guidelines use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.
Buy Smart Power Strips
Smart power strips helped lower my own electric bill, and they’re a great, zero-maintenance way to reduce electricity use.
Recycle Toner Cartridges
Print a lot? Recycling your old ink cartridge can get you a discount. For example, Staples offers $2 in rewards for cartridges. You’re not going to retire on that money, but hey, it’s a good deal for something that’s otherwise garbage.
Use Tap Water
Have y’all seen this genius Chris Rock bit on bottled water? Totally worth watching, if only to find out the origin of the word “tap” in “tap water.”
(Warning: There are expletives in this video, if you can believe that.)
Not-so-fun fact: 86% of plastic water bottles in the US become straight-up, unrecycled garbage. That garbage ends up in landfills. If you need to learn why that’s bad, go here.
Buy in Bulk
Bulk buying is a frugal person’s bread and butter. Packaging makes up 8% of the cost of food items. Bulk items usually mean less packaging, so they’re cheaper. More importantly, less packaging means less garbage for our landfills.
Install Programmable Thermostats
Again, conserving energy saves you cash, but it’s also the environmentally-friendly thing to do. With a programmable thermostat, you can adjust your air conditioning or heating when you’re asleep or away from home.
Use Juicer Pulp
I love fresh juice as much as the next gal, but have you seen how much pulp is left over after juicing a carrot? Put that pulp to work by using it in a recipe, making broth out of it, or using it as compost.
Buy a Tiny House
Yeah, yeah, I know. Tiny houses aren’t for everyone. Still, I love the minimalism behind the tiny house movement. Plus, they’re cheaper! But I think their biggest draw is their small carbon footprint.
Reuse Wrapping Paper (or Get Creative)
Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, we generate about 7 million additional pounds of waste. We can reduce holiday waste (and save some money) by reusing our gift wrap. Or, get creative with your wrapping. Consider wrapping gifts with newspaper, cloth, old books, maps, atlas pages, etc.
Buy Used
Buying used is almost always the more frugal option, and it’s a great way to reduce waste and get the most out of something. I don’t buy everything used, but some of my favorite things to buy secondhand are: books, clothes and cars.
Share a Ride
These days, ride-sharing services abound. Companies like RelayRides help regular folks find cheap rides and/or earn extra cash renting out their own cars.
If you want evidence of their environmental benefits, check out this infographic, below.
After the jump, tell me your own environmentally-friendly frugal habits.
Infographic courtesy of RelayRides.
Photo: Shehal Joseph.
Managing your money is like going to the dentist or standing in line at the DMV. Nobody wants to do it, but at some point, it’s inevitable: you need to clean your teeth, renew your license, and manage your money like a grown-up.
Something I really rock at is driving as little as possible, as efficiently as possible.
I bike most days and hypermile on days I can’t.
And I like the bit about buying used. Most people don’t realize how much the environment appreciates it!
Confession: I hadn’t heard the phrase “hypermile” used for that concept before. So thanks for teaching me something new!
Love these tips! And the Earth. Great post, Kristin 🙂
Thanks, Claire! Yes, tree-hugging is underrated.
Love the tip on the wrapping paper. At our house Santa never wrapped anything- he left eco friendly stacks with the child’s name on it and it was less stressful for Santa, too. We are a big fan of “permanent” gift wrap, too, that gets used over and over like sacks or decorative boxes.
It’s not sexy and it’s rather boring but savings and ecology both usually win when using things up 100%: every last drop from the shampoo bottles,scraping out the peanut butter jar, taking the 12 year old towel and turning it into rags and using them for another 12 years until the threads won’t hold together, doing maintenance on cars and appliances to make them last longer and be more efficient.
I’m with ya. I like using things until they wear out. I don’t always do this, but I try.
Thanks for the post and sharing the article on “plastic water bottles”, it’s a wake-up call for me! And I hope for others too!
Glad you got something out of it!