Going green, plus saving money

 

Image by ryaninc

The idea of going green is such a broad concept.  Can anyone be truly green?  Do you need to have your entire life green before you are making a difference?  Doesn’t switching to more eco-friendly, green items cost more money?  So how can you go green, plus save money at the same time?

The answer is simple.  Do it little by little.  Each step you take towards going green makes a difference to your environment.  Whether it is just planting seeds to grow some herbs for cooking, switching to eco-friendly laundry soap or using non-toxic cleaning agents around the house; each little step reduces your personal carbon footprint and starts to add up.

Care2 had a great post about “Changing the World One Room at a Time”.  It includes simple, subtle and relatively inexpensive ways to make some green, eco-friendly changes in your home.

In terms of the cost of going green, I did a quick comparison on a few household items:

1) Bath tissue – 6 rolls of Bright Green (which is biodegradable, 100% recycled fiber and whitened without elemental chlorine) cost $3.99.  Whereas 6 rolls of Charmin Ultra – $9.99, 4 rolls of Quilted Northern – $3.99 and 4 rolls of Safeway Select – $3.99.

2) Laundry soap – 150 oz of Bright Green (which is biodegradable, phosphate free, septic safe and its bottle is at least 25% recycled plastic) cost $12.99.  Whereas 150 oz of All stainlifter – $13.99, 150 oz of All Free & Clear – $13.99, 150 oz of Cheer – $19.99 and 150 oz of Gain – $17.99.

3) Light bulbs – 2 75-watt Bright Green light bulbs (which only use 18 watts of energy each) cost $9.99.  Whereas 1 75-watt GE Energy Smart light bulb uses 20 watts and costs $5.99 each and 4 GE 71-watt regular bulbs only cost $2.99 but they each use 71-watts rather than the 1/3 of that used on the other light bulbs.

It just goes to show, when it comes to going green, plus saving money – you really can do it if you just take the time to look and see what is available to you.  Start with one step and move on from there.