Going green and saving money often go hand in hand. When you reduce your material or energy consumption, you spend less money and use up fewer resources. Reusing and recycling also leave more money in your wallet. Here are some ways that helping to save the planet can help you built a stronger savings account.
Carpooling Does Double Duty
Highways are clogged at rush hour with millions of cars that are all headed in the same direction each day — and the vast majority of those cars are carrying a single passenger. If people were to double up, there would be only half as many cars on the road. Imagine how key environmental issues like fuel consumption and emissions would be impacted if we all started carpooling tomorrow. According to Good Housekeeping, carpooling could also save you as much as $1,000 per year.
A Smart Grid Feeds You Information
You’ve probably heard the expression “off the grid,” but do you know what “the grid” really is? It’s the network of transformers, transmission lines, and substations that deliver electricity from the power plant to your home. A “smart grid” is a network that offers two-way communication about energy usage by enabling sensing along the transmission line and using computers and other components to respond to changing demands. Consumers can use the information they gather from the smart grid to improve the efficiency of their energy usage, limit pollution, and cut their energy costs.
Cooking Makes You Healthy, Wealthy, and Green
Restaurant meals and prepackaged foods are expensive, and the packaging they use generates a massive amount of waste. When you think about the factories where both the food and the packaging are made, the trucks that deliver them around the country, and how quickly your kitchen trash can fills up with the boxes, bags and tubs they come in, you’ll have a sense of the problem. Cooking from scratch using fresh local ingredients prevents a lot of resource waste and pollution, and could save you hundreds of dollars a month. As an added bonus, it’s also much better for your health.
Cut Your Water Consumption
Our planet has a limited supply of fresh water, and it is dwindling. Sink aerators are cheap and easy to install and will reduce the water that flows through your sink faucet. Low-flow showerheads are designed to make the most of a minimal flow of water and come in a mind-boggling variety of styles. A brick in your toilet tank will reduce the amount of water wasted with every flush. If you don’t live in a climate where grass grows without sprinklers, consider filling your lawn area with decking, colored stones, or native plants instead.
Green solutions sometimes get a reputation for being expensive, but that’s not necessarily the case. Wasting resources also wastes money, and reining in your spending can also make you a better global citizen. You can reduce your carbon imprint and save a lot of money at the same time.