Janet McNeill

<Early 1990’s?>

Most of us are pretty concerned about the environmental crisis these days, so we want to lessen our ecological “footprint” on the planet. Many of us also want or need to save money. These tips can help with both! By now, most of us know that, the more we consume, the more we damage the Earth, using up the planet’s finite resources and creating endless garbage and pollution. It’s also true that, the more time we spend working and consuming, the less time we have available to spend with our families on more relaxing, enjoyable and/or spiritual pursuits.

I hope these 15 tips will help you, and also inspire you to think up some new ones of your own!

1. Consume less! To become conservers rather than consumers, we need to start focusing on our needs, not the endless wants that modern society (especially the world of advertising!) encourages us to develop. The old economic wisdom held that limitless growth and continual consumption are both possible and desirable – but this neglects the critically important detail that the earth’s resources are finite! If we choose to get by with less “stuff,” we can use the planet’s finite resources more wisely, and we’ll also have less to pitch on the trash heap. Of course, we’ll save ourselves a bundle of money into the bargain! So – we have to give up the habit of shopping as recreation, and shop only for what we need. Become a smart shopper, as well. Watch the ads and catch special deals. Make a list when you shop, and stick to it! No lingering and loitering in the aisles, a surefire way to end up spending too much money – a quick in and out, getting only what you need.

It occurs to me to add that consuming less also involves spending less money on “fast food” – a really expensive habit many of us have become addicted to in recent years. “Fast” food can chew up a lot of a family’s budget – and it usually isn’t very nourishing, either. If you remind yourself that things that seem too good to be true invariably are, it’s not much of a leap to realizing that cheap and “junk” food don’t do us much good at all. We both “get what we pay for,” and “are what we eat.” Food for thought!

2. Cut down on or eliminate the use of disposable products like diapers, styrofoam and paper cups, paper towels, plastic bags, and so on. With a little thought, we can choose alternatives to throw-away items. We can wash our own diapers (or use a diaper service), carry a reusable mug (and even dishes on occasions such as potluck dinners), wipe floors and windows with rags instead of paper towels, use cloth handkerchiefs, and so on. When we compost our own kitchen and yard wastes, we make much less garbage (those compostables make up about one-third of household waste!) and we also create great soil conditioner for our lawns, plants, gardens and flower beds. The mostly dry garbage that remains can be put out in a sturdy garbage can that will last you for years and years (why keep buying expensive plastic bags, and continue spending money – and resources – on something that’s just going to be buried in the ground?)

3. Use less energy – a critically important goal in light of the urgent need to cut down on the emission of greenhouse gases that create the climate change that is now visible and palpable to all of us. Some of us have become much fussier than we need to be, doing laundry and showering more often than really necessary. Our clothes dryers are major energy wasters. Hanging laundry to dry on a clothesline (indoors or out) or clotheshorse will not only save on energy, it will extend the life of our clothes! Turning down the thermostat, turning off lights, using longer-lasting compact fluorescent light bulbs, installing water-saving shower heads, and insulating our homes are all energy-saving methods that don’t just save us money, they also benefit the planet (and that means all of us!) in the long run.

4. Save money on cleaning supplies by using homemade cleaners or good old-fashioned baking soda. When you use baking soda and/or vinegar for many cleaning jobs, you save money – and help the environment at the same time – by keeping toxic substances out of our water supplies (many commercial cleaners contain toxic and even carcinogenic substances). Toilets can be cleaned with baking soda and a dash of laundry detergent (biodegradable, of course!). A quarter of a cup of washing soda dissolved in a litre of warm water makes a good cleaner for floors, walls, and other surfaces (add a dash of Borax to use as a toilet cleaner). When you buy cleaning supplies in bulk – reusing old containers for the cleaners when possible – you help cut down on your contribution to the garbage problem. I’ve been using coarse baking soda (not the kind used in baking) for years now. I buy it in a huge bag at a feed store, and it takes me years to use it up!

5. Share magazine subscriptions and/or do trades with a friend or family member (or borrow magazines from your local library) to save money and cut down on waste. When you’re finished with magazines, find a local school, doctor or dentist’s office, senior citizens’ residence, food bank, or second-hand store that would be happy to keep them circulating.

6. Do clothing trades with friends, relatives, neighbours…whomever! (I now get “hand-me-ups” from a friend’s daughter – and it’s really good stuff too!) Wearing second-hand clothing saves you tons of money and also keeps perfectly good things out of the trash. Patronize second-hand stores and organizations like Goodwill, the Salvation Army and Variety Village.

7. Make maximum use of your local library! Libraries are treasure troves of books, movies and cultural activities – usually free. Children love getting books out of the library on a regular basis, even if they have plenty of their own at home. Libraries show children that a whole world outside their own small-ish ones exists, and that a lifetime of adventures and learning beckons.

8. Buy second-hand appliances, bikes, skates, skis, cars and anything else you can think of! This saves a lot of money when there isn’t enough cash to buy new items, and it also ensures that perfectly good things don’t wind up just being buried in the ground.

9. Throw a yard sale once in a while! When it comes time to move, or to unload some “stuff” you no longer want, this is a good way to bring in a little spare cash and also keep good, useable items out of the garbage. If you’re not really desperate for the cash, consider donating all or some of it to a local charitable or environmental group, food bank or an organization that does much-needed work in the developing world. If, on the other hand, a yard sale seems like too much trouble, simply donate your items to a favorite local charity for their sale.

10. Avoid buying stationery and envelopes. Paper that arrives as “junk mail” can be turned over and used for grocery lists or letters, and you can make “scratch pads” with the blank sides of half-used paper. You can also use paper that only has printing on one side in your computer printer. Envelopes that come with endless fundraising requests can be used by crossing out the address on the front, then using the other, still-blank side. Even multiply-used envelopes can be slashed open to make use of the blank inside for notes, letters, or grocery lists. Paper constitutes such a major component of our garbage that anti-waste efforts like these can make a big contribution – and also save us money on paper purchases! Reduced paper consumption helps us cut down on deforestation and its many related environmental impacts like the loss of wildlife habitat, soil erosion, water pollution (from pulp and paper mills), and so on. If we were all to drastically reduce our paper consumption, we’d also help cut down on climate change (fewer trucks trekking all over the place, transporting logs, lumber and paper).

11. Eat less meat and go easier, not just on your pocketbook, but also on your own and the planet’s health! When North Americans learn to consume less meat, it will then become possible to feed the growing number of hungry people in the world (of whom there are hundreds of millions) more efficiently, by feeding the grains directly to hungry human beings. Less of the waste and pollution associated with the raising of animals for food (which is considerable, especially in the case of huge “factory farms”) will be created, and the amount of methane (a greenhouse gas) produced by cattle will also be reduced.

12. Avoid expensive convenience foods and buy as much as possible in bulk. Many items available in grocery stores are over-packaged, and while the average person may not realize it, that packaging costs us a small fortune – sometimes representing as much as fifty per cent of the total price! Buying in bulk (either at the grocery store or at a specialty bulk store) helps us avoid both the wasteful packaging and the hefty price tag. When we take along our own bags or containers to re-fill, we waste even less. Joining a food-buying club can also save money, since buying items in bulk brings prices down. Food-buying clubs support organic growing methods and tend to put an emphasis on foods that are healthier for both our bodies and the Earth (I know when I spend “extra” on organic grocery items, I view it as an investment in better health!). Eating more simply can also help trim food bills. Ask around for advice and recipes! Most women/families have tried-and-true ways to save money on meals they are happy to pass along. One of mine is homemade soup recipes, which to my way of thinking don’t just save money – the soups taste great and are much more nourishing than canned soups or “fast food.”

13. Send kids to school (and adults to work) with a “trashless lunch” by using plastic containers over and over again. Say no to expensive and wasteful single-serving drink boxes, plastic pudding cups, containers of plastic wrap, and so on (and make use of one of the containers to take home apple cores for the family composter).

14. Find ways to spend family time that aren’t hard on the budget – activities like flying kites, going on hikes or bike rides, camping and canoeing, and making use of the cultural events offered by many public libraries. Family fun need not be expensive nor involve a lot of travel, and when we put a little thought into it, we find there are enjoyable activities close to home. Families can do house trades once in while too – a city family might enjoy the country for a change, while a country family can get a kick out of spending some time in an urban setting.

15. Find ways to get around that minimize the use of that dreadful polluter – the car. Many people think of public transportation as expensive, but when we add up the amount of money it costs to run our vehicles (purchase price, insurance, maintenance costs, parking fees, gas and oil, repairs) we realize it’s the car – not public transit/transportation – that’s expensive! Walk, bike, carpool, and/or use public transit as much as possible. City folks can look into the growing car-sharing phenomenon; for more information, visit http://www.carsharing.net/

It’s good to remind ourselves often that waste of any kind doesn’t just cost us money – it also costs the Earth! This gives us added incentive to drop some of those bad habits we’ve developed over the years. Focusing on activities and purchasing habits that nurture our local economies is certain to be healthier for all of us in the long run, too (ask yourself this – which is likely to look after you better when the chips are down, the local economy, or the global one?).

If you wind up with some leftover pennies as a result of changed spending habits, and are willing to spare some of them, do consider supporting one or more of the many charitable/environmental/Third World organizations whose work ultimately benefits all of us…and the beautiful home we all share – rich and poor alike – Mother Earth!