How to Save Money by Going Green A-Z (Part One)

I recently entered the "Circle of Moms" Top 25 Money Saving Moms blog competition.

(You can see my profile and vote for me here).  Although this blog is all about going green, I do believe that being eco-friendly goes hand-in-hand with frugal living and saving the environment saves you cash.  

In honor of the Top 25 List, I'm posting a blog-trilogy; a 3-part series on how to Save Money by Going Green A-Z. 

A - change to energy efficient Appliances.  This may involve an extra investment of money to begin with, but when you start saving electricity, you'll make your money back.  To get an idea of how much you would save by replacing, for example, an old refrigerator, visit Michael Bluejay and his refrigerator savings calculator.  Additionally some countries and/or some companies offer rebates or special deals when exchanging old appliances for newer energy efficient ones. So far I've found links for the USA and Israel.  Let me know if you have more links. 

B - Bicycle and save money on gas.  Start small, have a bookclub or meeting close by? - leave the car and go by bike. 

C - Composting your household and garden's organic waste is great for the environment.  Check out composting 101 for all the how-to info.  If you have a plants or a vegetable garden, doing your own composting will save you from spending money on store-bought compost.  If you don't have your own garden, sell your compost to your gardening  neighbours! Cleverbean  has a great selection of composters to choose from.

D - Drip irrigation will keep your garden growing while keeping your water bill and water wastage low.  I use the simplest drip irrigation system in my garden.  I placed a long long pipe with small holes at 5cm intervals in the garden, circling it around the different plants and double around the trees.  At one end it is attached with a simple attachment to the faucet, and the other end is doubled over and tied together. The timer was too expensive, so I manually operate it - I have it on for about 15-20 minutes every day or two. 

E - reduce your Electricity usage and save. Not sure how?  Check out my Top 10 Tips for Saving Electricity.

F- Fix anything and everything you can.  We're often very quick to throw things away, especially when buying something new doesn't cost a lot.  Remember, even if it doesn't cost a lot, it still costs something and it costs even more from the environment.  A glue-gun and a sewing kit can keep many useful items out of the trash.

G - think green when creating your aesthetic Garden.  Buy only a few plants and propagate them to make new ones, you can also grow extras and swap with friends.  This way your garden can be full of beautiful plants, without relying on commercial garden stores who package in plastic trays and charge too much.
On the right is a photo of a plant in my garden, that was started from a cutting placed in water, by a friend of mine.


 H - Heat your water with solar power. (I have an advantage here, because in Israel, by law, almost all the apartments are built with solar powered boilers on the roofs), but there are companies all over the world who make solar water-heaters.  So far, I've found you links for USA, UK, South Africa, Australia. 

I - Invest in green companies.  *disclaimer: I am not a real investment adviser so don't take my advice without additional research*.  The future is green, many companies are already implementing more eco-friendly changes.  These forward-looking companies are probably the ones that will make your money grow, plus you can feel good about supporting them.

Can you guess what J stands for? 

Find out in Part Two.

and

Don't forget to vote for me here !

Happy Savings.