Be Green, Get Rich: Money-Saving Tips Good for the Planet, Too

There’s a definite upside to this whole mess with the economy. It’s simple: nearly all of the tips we’re getting from experts on how to save money also benefit the planet.  It’s a matter of consuming less.  We’re reigning in our big-spending habits and instead reusing things, cutting back and doing without. In the process, we’re reducing the amount of junk that’s piling up in landfills, using less energy and consuming fewer resources.

Grist noticed this when checking out budget-saving tips from TheStreet.com.  Among the tips were:

You care what your car looks like: A car is a means of transportation to get from one place to another, but many people don’t view it that way. Instead, they consider it a reflection of themselves and spend money every two years or so to impress others instead of driving the car for its entire useful life and investing the money saved.

You buy things you don’t use: Take a look around your house, in the closets, basement, attic and garage and see if there are a lot of things you haven’t used in the past year. If there are, chances are that all those things you purchased were wasted money that could have been used to increase your net worth.

Your house is too big: When you buy a house that is bigger than you can afford or need, you end up spending extra money on longer debt payments, increased taxes, higher upkeep and more things to fill it. Some people will try to argue that the increased value of the house makes it a good investment, but the truth is that unless you are willing to downgrade your living standards, which most people are not, it will never be a liquid asset or money that you can ever use and enjoy.

After so many decades of pointless, debt-amassing excess, we’re finally learning that small is beautiful, and less is more. Perhaps this shift toward a simpler way of living will help people detach themselves from the obsession with image that has gripped our society for too long.  I won’t hold my breath, but it’s a nice thought.

Link [The Street] via [Grist]
Photo credit: Flickr user Refracted Moments

The Latest Thing in Kitchens: Less Remodeling, More Cooking

With the economy the way it is right now, people are looking for ways they can trim their budgets in order to sock away some extra money.  Green Daily caught a recent article in The Washington Post by Elizabeth Razzi, which offered up some simple money-saving tips, and noted with amusement one that said “The latest thing in kitchens: less remodeling, more cooking.”

It may seem absurdly obvious, but it’s definitely true that over the last decade or so, people in America have gone crazy over kitchen remodeling.  It was a craze that snowballed into panic attacks over “ohmygod my appliances are white, MUST HAVE STAINLESS STEEL” and “if I have to look at those ugly cabinets one more day I’m going to the bell tower with a shotgun”.  Luckily, the current economic conditions have calmed people down so they are taking a moment to realize that commercial-grade stove hoods and granite countertops are not exactly the smartest thing you could be spending your money on right now.

Think of the green angle of this: all of that debris from annihilated 80’s kitchens isn’t continuing to pile up in landfills.  People aren’t ripping down perfectly good (albeit dated) kitchens like having a brand new modern kitchen is going to save them from a zombie invasion or something. And that’s definitely a plus.

Link [Green Daily] + [The Washington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user rtgregory

Who’s Who in Green: Sean Daily

Sean Daily is the co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Green Living Ideas, a website that provides ideas, tips and info to help people improve the sustainability of every aspect of their lives, from consumption of energy at home to waste recycling. If you’ve ever had a question about how to ‘green up’ just about anything in your life, chances are, Green Living Ideas has the answer – it’s the most comprehensive source of green living tips on the web.

Sean is also host of the popular Green Talk Radio podcast, which is a play-on-demand audiocast that brings all of Green Living Ideas’ tips to the airwaves. Listeners tuning into Greek Talk Radio will get a plethora of green tips through interviews with experts, authors and owners of green businesses around the world. Topics on Green Talk Radio run the gamut from making smart purchasing decisions to the latest green technology.

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Sean Daily is an internationally recognized expert on technology publishing and enterprise information technologies. Before he founded Green Living Ideas, Sean founded and served as CEO at RealTimePublishers.com, which is a leading web-based publisher of books, community portals, videos and other media. That experience undoubtedly gave him a lot of practical knowledge and inspiration for Green Living Ideas, which is brimming with information written by a team of ‘green gurus’.

Wondering how to battle household pests in an environmentally friendly way? Green Living Ideas has the scoop. Looking for eco-friendly gift ideas? Check. Seeking information about sustainable seafood, or tips for removing toxins from the air in your home? Check and double check. Recent articles illuminate the ways you can choose investment stocks according to the companies’ social concerns, how to find a greener plumber, an overview of eco eyewear and how to achieve healthy, organic soil to grow veggies in. We told you it’s comprehensive!

Through providing the public with such a huge volume of incredibly useful green info, Sean has put the power of living sustainably into the hands of anyone who can access the internet. That’s big – and it’s testament to how much this podcaster, entrepreneur, writer and visionary can achieve in the years to come.

Sean Daily’s Green Score: 22,332

Book Review: The Eco Chick Guide to Life

If you’ve been looking for ways to be more environmentally responsible, but still want to maintain a stylish, convenient, modern lifestyle, we know just the book you should be reading. The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green, by Eco-Chick.com’s Starre Vartan, is the definitive guide to going green without sacrificing the good things in life. In fact, the book is jam-packed with practical, fun advice on topics like fashion, travel, cleaning, beauty, saving energy and decorating your home.

Starre, a noted journalist and environmental scientist with a fantastic eye for chic eco-friendly fashion, doesn’t just give tips for living a greener life. She gives the rationale behind them, explaining, for example, that diamond, gold, silver and platinum mining create gaping holes in the earth and pollute the water and topsoil. Her solution? Buy vintage jewelry, or seek out suppliers that meet Fair Trade and ethical and environmental mining standards. Even better, Starre illustrates how you can be ‘fabulously green’ without having to drop loads of cash – you can be eco-chic on a budget.

A ‘green shopping basket’ is also provided for each chapter, giving you the inside scoop on where to score goods like ethically produced jewelry, toxin-free personal care products, drain cleaners that won’t harm the earth and even organic beer and wine. In fact, The Eco Chick Guide to Life even provides recipes for delicious fresh, seasonal cocktails like the Fizzy Harvest Mojito – which would be perfect for autumn!

My personal favorite chapter is ‘Fab, Eco-Friendly Fiestas’ which contains a quiz to help you determine your party style, tips for encouraging your guests to go with the green flow at all of your soirees and all of the various ways you can make every aspect of entertaining more earth-friendly. It’ll be a great guide to have on hand for the upcoming holiday season.

The best thing about this little book is you can use it as a compact little resource for practically any questions that pop up in your mind about to green up your clothes, home, transportation, vacations, groceries and more. Pick it up at Amazon.com or your local bookstore, and be sure to check out the Eco Chick blog for even more tips!

Link [Eco Chick] + [Amazon.com]

How to Green Up Your Dorm Room

Just because you’re at college, on your own for the first time, doesn’t mean you have to join the millions of students across the country who generate thousands of tons of garbage each year due to poor choices in furniture and accessories.  Treehugger has a great guide over at Planet Green for greening up your dorm room, with tips ranging from using power strips instead of extension cords and picking out the right lighting to scoring free stuff and doing without disposables.

From Planet Green:

Beyond the actual stuff you’ll need, going green in your dorm room is also about adopting a green point of view. For example, instead of loading up on bottled water to help stay hydrated during all-night study sessions, grab a BPA-free water bottle (like a Bilt, Sigg or Kleen Kanteen) and a tabletop water filter, or a filtering system that you can keep in the fridge. Rather than running extension cords everywhere to power your electronic gear, put them all on power strips, so you can easily keep them from sucking too much phantom power out of the electricity grid. Instead of using plug-in air fresheners, stock up on plants that improve indoor air quality to help keep your room smelling fresh without all that toxic stinky stuff.

Read through the whole article to get facts on colleges and universities going green as well as links to dozens more college tips.

Link [Planet Green] via [Treehugger]

Photo credit: Flickr user (nutmeg)

How More Efficient Parking Can Save You Gas

You’re headed downtown for a concert, and hoping you won’t have to circle the city for an hour before you find a spot that’s not too far away from the venue.  Once you get there, you discover that, of course, finding a parking spot is going to be a huge headache.  You finally find a conveniently located garage, only to learn that it’s closed today.  By the time you finally find a spot, you’ve wasted untold amounts of gas.  Sound familiar?

Many people don’t even realize how much gas they’re really wasting because they either legitimately can’t find a good place to park, or they’re too lazy to walk.  If you’re guilty of circling parking lots waiting for a close spot to open up so you don’t have to make the 50-foot trek across the lot, stop.  Just stop.  Not only do you annoy and creep people out by hovering behind them as they walk to their vehicles, you’re wasting precious resources for no good reason.  Personally, my way of dealing with people like you is to intentionally walk as slowly as possible, walk up to a car that isn’t mine to fake you out and then give you the finger.  You only have an excuse if you’re pregnant, lugging something large and heavy or somehow disabled.

It’s also easy to miss the fact that backing out of a parking spot wastes gas.  Pull through spaces whenever possible, or back in.  It may sound illogical, but backing in can actually save you gas as opposed to backing out.  Here’s why: cold engines use more fuel.  If you have to back out after your car’s been parked for a while, it’ll suck up more gas than if you just backed in while the engine is still warm.  Another easy tip: park in the shade.  It’ll decrease the amount of fuel lost to evaporation and require less a/c when you get back in the car.

Of course, there are those instances when you’re unfamiliar with the parking situation in the immediate area of your destination.   Those are the times when, no matter how good your intentions, it can take a while of driving around to find a spot.  Well, if you live in the Chicago area, you’re in luck.  A site called ChicagoParkingMap.com will save you a lot of time, headaches, cursing and waving your fist, and of course gas.

The Chicago Parking Map website is loaded with features that make finding spots adjacent to your destination as easy as possible.  Choose the general area you’re headed to – say, downtown, O’Hare airport or the Museum of Science and Industry – and it displays a map full of little ‘P’ icons that indicate parking areas.  Click on the ‘P’ closest to your destination to get details on the lot including cost, payment methods accepted, hours of operation and where the street entrances and exits are.  Some even tell you how many spots are in the lot, so you can gauge how likely it is to be full when you arrive. Does it get any simpler?

This is the kind of smart planning we’d love to see more of.  Many cities have parking maps online, but none are anywhere near as robust and easy to use as Chicago Parking Map.  If every city had such a website, we could all save a lot of hassle and fossil fuels.

Sure, the gas money you save using these parking methods won’t send you on a vacation to Europe or anything, but it will definitely add up enough to be worth it, especially when you consider the impact on the environment and our resources!

Featured Change Agent: Debrianna and David Mansini-Forlano Give Their Green Tips

Each week, EarthFirst.com will be featuring a new ‘Change Agent’ from Changents.com, a social media site that connects people who are doing good in the world with a support system of advocates, donors, publicity generators and fans.

This week’s featured change agents are Debrianna and David Mansini-Forlano, a couple who don’t just talk about making changes in their lives, they live it.  The Mansini-Forlanos’ goal is simple: they’re working on making their lives as green as possible, and they want to share it with the world through the videos they post on CurrentTV.

Video topics cover everything from Earthships to electric cars, with stories and interviews on all different forms of sustainability. The pair, who call themselves ‘twodee’ on CurrentTV, aim to present ‘some of the most interesting, inventive and creative people who are the problem solvers when it comes to climate change, supporting local communities and thinking toward a long term existence on our planet’.

The Mansini-Forlanos are showing everyone how easy it can be to go green in your own life.  They detail their own efforts including their electric car, solar water heater, composting, rain harvesting and all of the cool new gadgets they’ve discovered to aid them in their conservation efforts.  They also loan money to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world through micro-lending organization KIVA.

Check out all of the Mansini-Forlanos’ videos at their page on CurrentTV.  Their YouTube video, below, also packs as many green tips as possible into a 3-minute clip:

Help the Mansini-Forlanos in their efforts to educate the public about going green by joining Changents as a backer.  It’s easy –  once you join Changents, you can help Change Agents by spreading the word, responding to action requests, donating funds, or acting as an advocate.

10 Green Things Even George Bush Could Do

For the eco novice who wants to do better but is sort of intimidated by the whole ‘green movement’, finding a good way to get started can be tough. It seems like there are so many ways in which you need to change, and you’re not sure where to start. Well, we’re here to tell you that getting onboard the green train is actually really easy, as long as you’ve got a nice list of simple green things you can accomplish on a daily basis. In fact, these 10 ways to green your life are so simple, even a nitwit like George W. Bush could do them.

1. Unplug it. Even when you’ve got your electronics turned off, they’re still drawing power from the outlets. In fact, the Playstation 3 is such an energy hog that just leaving it plugged in uses five times more electricity in a year than the average mid-sized refrigerator. Phone chargers, televisions and stereo systems are other major culprits. An easy way to accomplish this is to plug these items into power strips, and simply turn off the power strip when the items aren’t in use. Pressing a button: so easy, even Dubya can do it.

2. Buy local food. Think about this: the typical produce item from your grocery store travels up to 1,500 miles before it ends up in your refrigerator. Why buy food that came from so far away, when you likely have local farmers growing it right down the road? All that traveling wastes resources, and the trucks emit pollution into the air. Buying local means you’re supporting small farms and cutting back on pollution in one fell swoop.

3. Change a light bulb. There are half a dozen jokes out there about Bush changing a light bulb, but we think he can handle it, so long as someone puts the right replacement bulb in his hand. Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), which consume 75% less energy than conventional incandescents. CFLs convert most of the energy they draw into light rather than heat. They’ll save you money, too – they last much longer.

4. Do full loads of laundry and dishes, and use cold water. Every time you do a small load, you waste water and energy – why not wait another day or two until you’ve accumulated more dirty laundry or dishes? Plus, you can save a ton of energy by using cold water – most of the energy consumed by washers is used to heat the water. Choose short cycles when you’ve got anything less than a full load. Throwing a few more items into the washing machine – so easy, that if George W. Bush actually did his own laundry or washed dishes, he could do it.

5. Replace your air conditioning filter. When the filter’s dirty, your A/C has to work a lot harder to cool down your home. So, if you keep it clean, it won’t have to run nearly as often – saving you a ton of money on your electric bill. As a nice bonus, a clean filter will also help remove smoke, pollen, moisture, airborne bacteria and other pollutants from the air in your home. Changing the filter is as easy as sliding the old one out and putting the new one in place. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Image via Reader’s Digest

6. Buy Energy Star® appliances. Appliances with the Energy Star® rating can save you about 30% in energy, water and sewer costs annually. They use 10-50% less water than conventional appliances, and they don’t cost too much more. Choosing energy efficient appliances is an incredibly easy way to go green, since you only have to think about it once, and after that they do all the work for you.

7. Get a tune-up. Just like Barack Obama said before the McCain camp mistakenly ridiculed him for it, tuning up your car and keeping your tires inflated can save you a ton of gas, helping both your wallet and the environment. A faulty energy sensor, worn spark plugs or dirty air filters can add up to a big reduction in miles per gallon. Plus, tune-ups can lengthen the life of your car, giving it that much longer before it makes its final journey to the scrap heap. The Republicans may have had a hard time grasping this one at first, but experts have all agreed: tune-ups and proper tire pressure are an easy way to go green.

8. Ride your bike. A moron, a monkey or a 4-year-old child could do it, which means George W. Bush can, too, as evidenced by the many photos of him cruising around his Texas ranch. Even just occasionally choosing to ride a bike instead of drive is a great step toward living a more environmentally responsible life. You’ll save gas money, get some exercise and fresh air and see your community up-close and personal.

9. Borrow, don’t buy. So, you’ve discovered that you’re temporarily in need of an item you don’t have around the house. Maybe it’s a gravy boat for that dinner you’re making for the in-laws, a feather boa for your friend’s themed bachelorette party or an obscure type of wrench for that damn IKEA bookcase. Don’t automatically run out to the store to buy it – you’re most likely only going to use it this once. What a waste of money, materials and packaging – and it’ll probably end up in the trash soon, too. See if a friend has one, or post a want ad in Craigslist or your local Freecycle.

10. Become tap conscious. Everyone knows by now to turn off the water while you’re brushing your teeth, but why not take it a few steps further? Turn on the tap only when the cup is under the spout. Don’t use hot water for small things like a quick hand rinse. Don’t leave the water running when it’s not needed and think about opening up the water just a bit- do you really need to blast your toothbrush with full-bore pressure every time? A little bit adds up to a whole lot if you can change your long-term habits.

Eco Tips Illustrated Part II: Green Up Your Life in Five Easy Steps

Sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what to do in various situations in order to be ‘green’. With the help of these simple illustrations, you can learn to live a greener life and avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can happen to the uneducated. This random selection of 5 green illustrated tips will show you how to properly interpret ‘go green’ advice. Check out Part I as well, which features such tips as ‘Get Smart with Gasoline’ and ‘Don’t Eat Animals’.

Illustrations by Stephanie Rogers

Ant Problem? Tackle it with Green Solutions

Once you start seeing ants around the house, it seems like it’s a never-ending problem – unless you want to resort to dangerous chemicals, which can be toxic to kids and pets (not to mention the environment). There are actually some fairly easy, humane, green ways to kill ants – or if you’re really a softie, to divert them away from your house.

Your mileage may vary with these four methods from wikiHow, and which one you choose might depend on your ability to stomach ant violence. Method 1 involves pipe tobacco, glue, baby powder, red pepper, chalk and lavender – check it out on the wikiHow page. The following three methods are a bit simpler:

Method 2: Fill a spray bottle with highly concentrated soap water. When you see ants, just spray them and they’ll be dead on contact. Wipe up the carcasses with whatever they were trying to eat. Within an hour, any stragglers will have dissipated.

Method 3: Collect a large number of ants from one ant hill (easy to do just leave some food in a container, return after 2 hours and you should have heaps. Drop all the ants in the container onto another ant hill and the ants will start fighting each other resulting in many casualties.

Method 4: Spray 3 parts dish soap and 1 part water on them and they will die instantly.

Method 3 seems kind of cruel but fun for those with suppressed homicidal maniac tendencies. If you’re too squeamish to kill them, one tip is to place a partially open jar of honey up in a tree in your backyard. The ants will seek out the honey instead of raiding your home in most cases.

Link [wikiHow]
Photo credit: Flickr user striatic

Eco Tips Illustrated: Green Up Your Life in Five Easy Steps

Sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what to do in various situations in order to be ‘green’. With the help of these simple illustrations, you can learn to live a greener life and avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can happen to the uneducated. This random selection of 5 green illustrated tips will show you how to properly interpret ‘go green’ advice.

Illustrations by Stephanie Rogers