Go Green for Free

Going green is often done by those who are thrifty in method, it can be a great money saver over time, but one of the biggest problems is start up costs.  Not everyone has $35,000 laying around to buy a Prius and not necessarily everyone can afford to buy from a CSA.  I would definitely argue that both of these things are worth the money, but that is beside the point.  I wanted to present some ways to go green that won't cost a penny, and hopefully will have a positive impact.

1) Reuse - Reusing stuff is one of the simplest ways to go green for free.  Need rags?  Don't buy them from Target, cut up old threadbare shirts or sheets, these make perfect rags.  Storage containers?  Reuse old grocery bags, beer crates, produce boxes!

2) Recycle - Take your old bottles and cans to be turned to cash in bottle deposit states, something that I think should be expanded.  In those states you will make 5-10 pennies per can.  Even if you don't live in one of those states, recycling require minimal effort, especially in single stream recycling communities.

3) Borrow - Before you go out and buy something new, especially a book or media, ask your social network if they have it available for you to borrow.  Maybe you can repay them buy letting them borrow one of the many things you already own, or trade another service such as cooking or watching their children.  Libraries are a great resource, not only for dusty old books, but DVDs and Blu-Rays are available in most towns.

4) Re-gift - Giving green gifts is an extremely effective way of saving money.  You can bake, cook, build or create online tons of gifts that will be appreciated.  You can also let your extended family know that you would prefer they not purchase you any items for upcoming events.  Let them know your philosophy about buying frivolous things and the impact it has on the environment.  They might think you a little eccentric, but will respect you.  If you have something that you received as a gift, don't feel bad to re-gift it to someone else, just make sure you don't give it back to the person who gave it to you!

5) Exercise outside - Don't get me wrong, I love to exercise in the gym, but that $30 a month that Gold's gym takes from you each month really adds up.  Not only that, but they keep the lights, TVs, and legion of machines on 24 hours a day at many gyms, no need to support that!  Get outside, take a hike, run, walk, play.  It's free!

I hope I can come up with more cost-free tips to go green, but feel free to check out my list of 20 Effective Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference.

Environmentally Friendly Christmas

Holiday Seasons are upon us and as an Anglo-Saxon American, I celebrate Christmas with my family.  The holidays are a time of excess and consumption here in the United States.  It's extremely unfortunate, because the bedrock of Christmas is the Christian holiday, but all of that has changed.  People eat tons of unhealthy food, max out their credit cards to buy gifts, and drive all over the place to get to sales, malls, and various parties.

All of this is a shame and it hurts our precious environment.  Here in New England, where I live, we are having an extremely mild winter so far, which one of my favorite bloggers, An Affordable Wardrobe, touched on this week.  This thrift shopper extraordinaire laments the lack of snow and bone chilling cold of the days of yore, and although it can't be definitively proved that global warming and our pollution is at fault, it can't help.

We do not necessarily need to go as far as Leo of Zen Habit's who is advocating his Buy Nothing Until 2013 Challenge.  There are however some things you can do to limit the impact you have on the environment this holiday season.

• Consider second hand gifts, such as from a thrift store or eBay
• Green gifts
• Make things yourself, people love a personal touch
• Bring your own bags when you go shopping
• Support a local business and buy a real Christmas tree and adorn it with homemade ornaments
• Buy local food in bulk for meals
• Have a fire with your family, and turn off the lights
• If Grandma gives everyone ugly Christmas sweaters (or not), turn down the heat!
• Drive less often, and when you need to go to malls or parties, drive slower!
• Be careful with waste, always recycle

Obviously, we all can't do all of these, but we should do our best to enjoy the holidays responsibly!

Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkuh!

20 Ways to Go Green That Make a Difference - COMPLETE!

On September 12, 2011, I penned a list of 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference.  It took me more than half a year, but I am glad to say that I have finished.   I tried to write up tips that would not be huge investments of time or money, and would actually have a positive impact.  I think that I was successful.  Here is the full list, I have bolded the posts that I think are my best.

1) Drive less 
2) Drive at or below speed limit, saves gas and is safer

3) Eat local food, less resources used for transport and supports local farmers

4) Grow your own vegetables, even if its just herbs in your window

5) Bring your own bags to the grocery store, fully reuse paper/plastic bags if you forget

6) Drink from a reusable water bottle

7) Green garbage?
8) Turn off lights when you are not using them

9) Run full loads in the dishwasher/laundry
10) Conserve water in everyday situations
11) Make things yourself
12) Use rechargeable batteries

13) Buy clothes/furniture sensibly

14) Utilize libraries, and other green options for media

15) Give green gifts

16) Green Investing

17) Volunteer

18) Use natural light and "air conditioning"

19) Limit food packaging, buy food in bulk

20) Use rags or old clothing over paper towels

My next series will be on affordable ways to go green, I have still not developed the list, but I expect there will be more than 10.  Not everyone can afford to buy a Prius, but we can all find ways to go green!

Green Investing

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

 

Today's topic is something many of you have probably not considered in the course of your green education.  That topic is green investing.  You may have a 401k for an employer, an IRA from your parents, or an account at a brokerage.  Your investments make a difference.  Just like every dollar you spend, every dollar you invest is a vote of support for that company.

There are many ways to invest greenly.  You could invest directly into an alternative energy company, but that opens you up to the risks of not being diversified.  To counter that you could consider a green mutual fund like Gabelli's SRI Green Fund.  This fund invests in socially conscious firms and you benefit from having professionals in the investment world managing the day to day of your money for a marginal fee.

iThere are a number of organic and natural foods companies you may want to consider directly investing in.  These include Whole Foods Market, the organic grocer, or Lifeway foods, makers of Kefir and other healthy foods.  It is also as important what you do NOT invest in as what you do actually make an investment in.  Things to avoid are industrial farmers, makers of GMO altered foods or seeds.  I am not going to list their info here, as I do not want it to be misconstrued as support, but do your research and make sure not to invest in companies or in funds with holdings in these types of corporations.

A final option you may want to consider is a micro-loan.  This is a direct loan to an individual, often in a poor country, for them to make a business.  Kiva is the largest marketplace for this type of a loan.  Although many do pay back their loans, I would not consider this a viable investment strategy and should be considered more as entertainment or charity.  I have heard success stories and it is an option you may want to consider.

  

As always, it is important to think about what you are doing and to act intentionally.  Although all investors are in search of the "green," not all of them care about being green on the way to profits.  You can make a difference by both NOT supporting the offenders and by supporting the green energy firms who are creating new products and services to make our planet better!

Disclaimer: Although I do work in the investments field, I am not a registered investment advisor.  These are solely my opinions and should not be taken as investment recommendations.

Volunteer

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal. 

One of the most green things that you can do is to volunteer.  Many of the things you can volunteer to do, such as clean up the local parks or just the city where you live will make a meaningful impact.  Or you can choose to help others.  During the time that you are volunteering, you will not be using electricity to watch video games or driving to the mall to buy goods made halfway around the world.  Even if the activity you are doing is green neutral, you will still be making a huge difference in someone's life.

There are so many different ways to volunteer.  Every year on Thanksgiving my family volunteers at a local homeless shelter.  We get together to serve the homeless a traditional Thanksgiving meal.  Instead of sitting at home, with the heat on, television on the football games and all of the accompanying environmental damage, we are out in our community, interacting with the downtrodden.  It feels absolutely great to give up a couple of hours of your time for a good cause.

There are many other activities that you could volunteer in if you would rather be outside, volunteer with the local parks department.  I am sure they would be willing to have a helping hand clean up one of the local parks.  This helps to keep our green places fully natural and avoids disturbing the local ecosystem as much as possible.  In addition, you get a chance to be outside, enjoying making a beautiful place more beautiful.

Even if you are simply volunteering your money, by donating, make sure to donate to a good cause.  There are many causes that help the sick, hungry, and downtrodden.  Also money can be donated to keeping the outdoors clean.  Volunteering your riches can help to facilitate others to take up the cause, even if you do not have the time to do it yourself.

The most important point is that this does good in a world filled with cruel people.  This series is all about making a difference, and there is no better way to make a difference than to volunteer to help others or the planet.  Even if the volunteering you are doing has no environmental effect, it is likely that you are at least not doing anything negative, environmentally speaking!

Follow Up: Drink Bottled Water

" In 1976 Americans drank an average of 1.6 gallons of bottled water every year. Roughly 30 years later consumption increased to 30 gallons per person, according to the Earth Policy Institute —- despite the fact that bottled water can cost anywhere from 240 to 10,000 times more than tap water, which is brought right to your home for pennies a gallon. " (link)

Solution: Buy a reuseable water bottle!

Give Green Gifts

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

With the holiday season on the horizon, we are entering the busiest retail time of the year.  While many see this as a time to purchase as many new goods as possible, regardless of their cost, for their family and friends.  Those of us who read Think, Act, Prosper also see it as a time of increased environmental damage.  Traveling all over creation to visit shopping plazas to purchase items imported from the other side of the planet, increases pollution and damage signifcantly.  I choose to see it as an opportunity to go green by giving environmentally friendly gifts.

The easiest way to do this is to make something yourself.  This low environmental impact strategy will result in a personal gift that literally represents you, while allowing personal tailoring to specifically fit the intended recipient. Give a food lover an excellent home-cooked treat, home brew some excellent homemade beer.  If you know how to knit, knit blankets or something else useful.  Don't stop at just the gift, give homemade cards or ornaments as well. 

Send an electronic Christmas card instead of a paper one!  This will save paper and reduce clutter and waste.

For gamers consider gifting an online video game or game subscription such as World of Warcraft or Xbox Live.  If you are a sportsbettor, give him some money to bet on an online sportsbook or a ticket to a local professional sporting event.  Another idea is a gift card to a local, sustainable restaurant that the person would love.   Take your dad out for a day of golf or give the less handy an oil change gift card, or offer to do it for them!  If its in your gift budget, give a bicyle or a less expensive piece of sports equipment that will keep them outdoors and fit.

Wrapping paper is one of the most egregious and foolish wastes of the holiday season.  It may look pretty, for a few seconds, but the environmental costs FAR outweigh any momentarily aesthetical benefit.  Instead use older boxes, bags or something more creative. 

Most importantly, do not settle for the "cheap" $40 made-in-China sweater that is ill-fitting, and probably wont be appreciated.  This contributes to environmental destruction and wastes your money!

Conserve Water in Everyday Situations

 This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Conservation of resources is one of the tenets of going green.  Society has made possible many luxuries that are quite affordable, but can have far-reaching costs for the environment and our future.  Running water is taken for granted by many, as it is nearly universal and affordable.  However, wasting this water is not green and should be avoided, no matter what.  Some of the earlier tips including running full loads will save both electricity and water.

 One simple way that I try to employ and think will be incredibly easy to implement in your lives is taking shorter and less frequent showers.  I am not advocating any stop bathing completely and become a dirty hippy, but certainly there are ways to shorten your showers so you can save valuable water.  Showers use gallons and gallons of water, and at minimum 25% of the water used is probably wasted.  There are water conserving shower-heads available as well, for those who want to take the next step.

Another pet peeve of mine is when people leave the water running while brushing their teeth.  This is completely unnecessary and pure laziness.  Simply turn of the water while you are brushing, and turn it on and off to rinse off.  This also applies to washing dishes by hand, turn off the stream while you are scrubbing!

I truly believe that water will and should become much more expensive in the next years.  Whether this is from a "green tax" imposed by governments, which would go to providing for other green pursuits, or if it is due to dwindling resources.  Like the bottle deposit, there should be a high cost for wasting water, which will cause people to reconsider their water usage.  Punishment, especially financial, works a lot better than rewards.  The people who decide to continue wasting should suffer a much larger penalty and some of those dollars diverted to other ways of going green.

Reusable Water Bottles

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

 This tip may seem pretty obvious and simple to many of you readers, yet everyday I see discarded Poland Springs, Dasani, and Smart Water bottles all over the place. First of all, buying these bottles is a raw deal, the markup is insane! Even when bought in bulk (which is bad for the environment) the cost is still high considering it's just filtered water. Don't even get me started on the LA restaurant Bazaar's "water bar".

The solution is to buy a reusable water bottle, I have a Sigg and Nalgene, and my wife has a Camelbak, I'm sure there are other quality vendors like Klean Kanteen, etc, but that doesnt really matter. The point is to get one, it should be available locally for under 20 bucks. Wash it out and start carrying it daily. 

Fill it everywhere you go, the tap at home, if your water is good, or through a filter such as a Brita. Public water fountains and many workplaces offer filtered water, the bubbler at the gym, whatever. Every time you refill it you are saving .25-2$, and you are not potentially creating waste and by limiting reliance on plastic bottles lowering pollution!

If you do have to resort to buying water, buy a large gallon or other container, return it for a bottle deposit where applicable, or put it with your other plastic recyclables.  Then when you are done with it, re-purpose it, like used shopping bags, as its own reusable water bottle (consider BPAs which many water bottles have)

Shopping Bags

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Almost all retailers provide plastic or paper bags for every transaction and customer.  These are often provided at no additional costs, and thus customers do not value them.  This adds up to lots of waste and pollution, since people discard these bags after bringing home their purchases.  There are many easy solutions to this issue that would significantly curb this unnecessary waste.  

My favorite is reusable bags.  This could mean a burlap sack, cloth bag, or a plastic bag that is durable.  Packing these on the way to your store is a simple step, then simply bag the groceries/items yourself or give them to the bagging person.  These bags can be acquired in many ways; given out free as marketing or promotion, purchased from a dollar at a retailer or given by family and friends.  Even consider using a backpack especially when you are not driving. Many retailers even offer small incentives for bringing your own bags.  Trader Joe's enters your in a drawing for a gift card and Whole Foods offers 5 cents a bag.  

For those times that you forget to bring your reusable bags and need to use store provided ones, there are a few things you can do to limit harm.  First, fill the bags up, so you don't use more than you need.  Second, reuse or re-purpose these bags at home, there are tons of different applications, something will always come up that gives these bags a second lease on life.  Finally, after they have run their useful life, recycle them properly, rather than putting them into the garbage.

Grow Your Own Food

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

Food is one of the primary reasons that civilization was formed.  Specialization in agriculture allowed a smaller number of people to dedicate their lives to food production.  The rest of the population were free to think up other ways to contribute to society, and coincidentally degrade the environment.  Now, I am not suggesting that everyone quit their jobs start a self-sustaining farm, but the food industry and our role as consumers presents a great way to go green.  I have advocated buying local before, but lets take it a step further, what could be more local than your back yard.

Check out JD's garden project @ Get Rich Slowly.  He uses his land to grown his own vegetables, and takes detailed notes.  If you are new to gardening, which I assume most of you will be, I would avoid taking on such a large project initially.  Figure out what is normally grown locally, then research on the internet or library, so you are comfortable with how to plant, maintain, harvest and store your chosen crops.  Don't be too adventurous at first, buy already started plants, and use their seeds in the coming seasons.  Just try to get started, the first step is everything is always the hardest. 

Although there will be some upfront costs and labor, it will be worth it when you harvest your first crops, knowing that you are not contributing to the environmental damage of factory farms and commercial agriculture.  I wager that the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor will be much tastier and more nourishing, than their store-bought cousins.

I know that a lot of you live in urban areas and probably think its impossible to grow food in these areas.  This should not stop you though.  Look into getting a parcel at a local community garden, such as Boston's Back Bay Fens. Another option is to grow herbs or a potted vegetable plant on the apartment balcony. 

If you want to take it even further, and have the space, consider raising livestock.  Chicken are probably the easiest, and only require a chicken coop, and the necessary food.  Your chicken will have offspring quickly, and your flock will develop providing you with eggs and roasters, if you are so inclined.  

If you are extremely busy or absolutely do not have a green thumb, at least take steps to source food locally or from organic sources.  This will not have the same effect, but will lower environmental damage.  Vote with your dollars to support the local economy and companies or individuals involved in green agriculture.

Drive Slowly

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

As I mentioned in yesterday's tip, driving is one of the largest contributors to pollution.  In addition to driving less often, the manner in which we drive can have a huge impact on the environment.

Every time you hit the brakes you are wasting energy expended to get you up to that speed.  Driving slowly, at or below the speed limit will make you waste less from braking.  Also more fuel is used to attain and maintain higher speeds, which means driving slower will conserve gas.  Speeding up to 70 MPH from 55 MPH does not save you much time on your commute, so don't do it.

Another benefit is safety on the roads.  As a reader of this blog, you are someone who cares about going green you do not want to ever do harm to others.  Driving fast is not as safe, and by driving more slowly, lowers the risk of accident.  If a car accident occurs, expensive new parts or even a replacement is not a good use of resources, especially if it could have been avoided by driving slower.

Another green driving tip is to always maintain your car with scheduled oil change and emissions checks.  This limit damage done to the environment by dirty emissions.  This will also lower the rate of break downs and save you from costly repairs and replacements.  Not idling in your car, when it is unnecessary, will also conserve gas.  Turning the AC off and opening your windows will help the environment as well.

Drive Less, Walk, Bike, or Use Public Transit instead

Driving in the car is one of the biggest problems with pollution in our society.  Although, it may be unavoidable, especially in the suburban sprawl that most the US population is located in, there are many ways to mitigate the damage of this unnecessary evil.  The first way to go green in regards to the car is to drive less.  If you don't need to go somewhere, don't just take a drive on a whim.  Consider carpooling, so multiple people do not drive to the same location, wasting fuel and polluting the environment.  Make sure to take a well-planned trip, when you do drive in the car, get multiple things done in a single trip, rather than leaving the house each time you need a single item.

There are many transportation alternatives, although they are most applicable in urban environments.  Public transport is very convenient in many cities and is a great way to go green.  Moving multiple people in a single vehicle, rather than each of them driving in their own vehicle.  Many buses use clean natural gas, and subway trains utilize electricity.  If the trip is short, then just walk, you will get exercise, and also benefit the environment.  Consider riding your bike for short-mid length trips, that don't require you to carry many things, it uses no energy and is quite fun!

Other options to consider are hybrid vehicles, like the Toyota Prius, which get 50 MPG.  When shopping for cars, consider their environmental impact, especially based on your needs.  For example, as a single commuter, you don't need a Jeep SUV, go for something smaller.

This is part of my series: 20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference. This series discusses practical ways we can go green in our lives, that will have a measurable effect on the environment.  This is an alternative to the many lists that offer 100+ suggestions, many of which are not easily applied to our lives or the impact is minimal.

20 Ways to Go Green that Make a Difference

You always see tips to go green that are very small and will not make a difference.  I have drawn up a list of 20 effective tips that will do the most overall good.  Please feel free to leave any posts in the comments that you think I missed, lets only include things that will really make an impact and is practical to implement.  I am going to also expand on each of these in a separate post, and will edit this page with the links each time.

1) Drive less 
2) Drive at or below speed limit, saves gas and is safer

3) Eat local food, less resources used for transport and supports local farmers

4) Grow your own vegetables, even if its just herbs in your window

5) Bring your own bags to the grocery store, fully reuse paper/plastic bags if you forget

6) Drink from a reusable water bottle

7) Green garbage?
8) Turn off lights when you are not using them

9) Run full loads in the dishwasher/laundry
10) Conserve water in everyday situations
11) Make things yourself
12) Use rechargeable batteries

13) Buy clothes/furniture sensibly

14) Utilize libraries, and other green options for media

15) Give green gifts

16) Green Investing

17) Volunteer

18) Use natural light and "air conditioning"

19) Limit food packaging, buy food in bulk

20) Use rags or old clothing over paper towels