Many Americans want to switch their household over to become more sustainable and eco-friendly but are daunted by the costly repercussions. As we can all afford brand name organic foods or to switch all our cars over to hybrids, here are some sustainable living ideas that wont break your bank.
1. Use Less Energy:
It’s a simple concept, the less energy you consume through your house, the less your electric bills are going to be each month. There are many different sustainable ways that you can reduce your overall electric consumption. Here are a few to get you started.
- Use as much natural lighting as you can.
- Reduce your homes “phantom load” by unplugging those devices that still consume electricity when turned off.
- Make sure that your home is well insulated so that you don’t have to use your heater or air conditioning systems as often.
- Switch your light bulbs to LED lights. They not only use less electricity, but they last about 10 times longer as well.
- Wash your clothing in cold water and hang them to dry.
2. Eat Organically the Cheap Way
Instead of going to the grocery store and spending a large sum of money on brand name organic food and produce, switch over to buying generic organic produce. There are many grocery stores that generic organic produce for the same quality and a quarter of the price. To eliminate overall produce costs completely, think about creating your own vegetable and fruit garden in your back yard. If both of those are hard to come by in your current living situation, then buying in bulk as well as only the essentials will help cut down the cost of spending as well as the geological footprint.
3. Cut Down on Gas
Cutting down on the use of gas, not only helps your wallet but the environment as well. There are many easy ways to make this change that doesn’t involve going out and purchasing a new car. Carpooling to work and back, is a great way to cut down or at least share the costs of gas. Another helpful change can come from trying to walk and bike as much as possible. Try and go to a central location where everything can be taken care of in one trip. It also helps improve gas mileage by taking out the access weight in the car along with keeping tired fully inflated.
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