Going Green Doesn’t Have to Break the Bank

by Amy Winter

awaiting publication

My biggest beef with the green movement is how everything that’s going to save the planet is going to cost me money. “Your car is emitting carbon monoxide! Buy a Prius!” Oh, for only $22,000? Okay, I’ll get right on that.

Right.

I want to save the planet just as much as the next person, and I’m all in favor of those with higher-than-median US incomes plunking down some change for all these fantastic energy-saving products flooding the market. That’ll bring the prices down so that eventually us working stiffs can afford them.

In the meantime, there are plenty of things people without a lot of loose cash have always done to conserve, and lucky for us, saving money also usually means a lifestyle that’s lower impact. So before you fall prey to the calls to add your perfectly functional incandescent bulbs to the nearest landfill and replace them with more expensive, mercury-containing compact fluorescents, take a look at the following ten ways you can decrease your energy consumption without spending a penny! These ideas may just save you a few instead.

1. The absolutely easiest thing to do, which hardly anyone ever talks about--turn off stuff you’re not using. Don’t leave lights on in empty rooms. Turn the TV off if no one’s watching it. It doesn’t matter how Energy Star compliant an appliance is if it’s running without being used--that energy is still wasted.
2. Turn down the temperature on your hot water tank. For some reason, people love to set these too high. If you can’t wash the dishes without burning your hands, your water heater is set too high, and it’s wasting energy. Turning the thermostat down will lower your utility bill as well--yowzah!
3. Wash more of your clothing in cold water. This reduces the work your hot water heater has to do. Instead of using the dryer, you can hang up your clothing to dry, even in a small apartment, using a folding clothes rack which can usually be found in a secondhand store--or using a simple piece of clothesline strung across the kitchen. Cold wash and hang dry usually increases the life of your clothing as well.
4. Expand the range of indoor temperatures you can live with. Every hour that you don’t turn the heat or AC on, you’re saving energy and money. Most experts recommend never turning the AC below 78; temperatures below that can lead to condensation within your walls which will encourage the growth of mold and you end up with grody indoor air quality and respiratory problems, particularly in kids. And as my mother used to say when I complained of being cold as a kid during the energy crisis of the 1970s, “Put on a sweater!”
5. My current personal favorite: Green beverages. I’ve been making sun tea on my back porch (though any sunny window will do). I use an old glass juice bottle which would otherwise have gone into the trash, free heat energy from the sun, and a teabag which costs $0.15. You can make it caffeinated or decaf according to your taste, mix in a little honey or sugar while it’s still hot, chill it, and end up with a half-gallon of tasty refreshing beverage that’s practically free. Sure beats spending a few bucks down at the coffee bar, and you don’t have to throw out the disposable cup they’d doubtless serve it in.
6. Speaking of those disposable cups, stop using them! And you don’t have to buy one of those trendy $8 hiker water bottles either--an old spaghetti sauce or salsa jar saved from the trash works great for cold beverages and comes complete with its own leak-proof lid (if only those dedicated water bottle lids worked so well)! For hot beverages, the thrift stores are full of people’s cast-off thermal mugs, thermoses and the like. (So, okay, I guess that does require buying something, but you’ll save at least $5 over buying the coffee place’s trademarked mug.)
7. Likewise for restaurant doggie bags --don’t accept their unrecyclable styrofoam packaging. Bring your own washable, reusable plastic container and load up your leftovers yourself. Takeout is inherently un-green; consider eating your meal at the restaurant to take advantage of their washable, reusable china and flatware versus throwaway containers and plastic forks.
8. Conserve water. If you have a water bill, you can lower it in many ways. Don’t run the dishwasher or clothes washer half-empty; full loads are the most efficient. Don’t run the water while you wash dishes or brush your teeth. Turn the shower off while you soap up or shave. And don’t forget, especially in the water-poor desert Southwest, “if it’s yellow, let it mellow.”
9. At least consider alternative transportation. Most folks of limited means take public transportation as a matter of course. Kudos to them, even if they’d rather drive. Many of the rest of us have bikes languishing in the garage or backyard--how much of our erranding, commuting, or visiting could be done by bike or on foot? Can you telecommute? Can you ride with a coworker and share gas? Can you do your errands on your way to or from work instead of making a special trip? Can you be organized and cut out some of those emergency runs to the store because you forgot one item? As I read recently, simply eliminating one in ten car trips reduces emissions by 10%.
10. Women: Consider replacing your disposable sanitary products with a reusable alternative. And this does not have to be something that you purchase, though there are some great options out there these days. This not only keeps stuff out of the landfill, it may even be better for you, as there are health concerns related to sanitary products that are bleached and treated with chemicals

So there you go! There’s no need to deploy all your disposable income in the service of being green--in fact, true green is really cheap! I’m sure you can think of tons more things your ancestors did that were cheap or free, and saved resources and energy at the same time. Go to it, and share your ideas with others so we can save the planet together. Happy greening!