Home

Links between Spending Smart going green and are undeniable. Here are some ideas that will have Mother Earth and your wallet thanking you.

• Avoid bottled water. Money doesn’t grow on trees but water does fall from the sky – for free. Yet, Americans likely spend in the neighborhood of $16 billion on bottled water. Maybe it’s no accident that Evian spelled backwards is naive. Bottled water can easily cost $10 per gallon, many times the cost of gasoline. Meanwhile, plain tap water, which for generations has been a perfectly fine source of drinking water, costs about half a cent per gallon. And the environmental damage that bottled water causes stems from oil used to make the bottles to gasoline to transport the bottles to bottles that end up as litter and in landfills. Buy a reusable water bottle to carry tap water or filtered water.
• Step off the gas. In the short-term you might not have control over what you drive, but you have control over how you drive. Don’t be a lead foot. Driving 75 mph, rather than 65 mph, could cut your fuel economy by 15 percent. And don’t drive like a jack rabbit. Anticipate traffic conditions to avoid sudden braking and acceleration. Aggressive driving can lower gas mileage 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent in the city. Check your tire air pressure. Underinflated tires can increase fuel consumption more than 3 percent. And check for the lowest prices in your area. Online site GasBuddy.com and others allow you to compare gas prices in your area as reported by fellow drivers.
• CFLs. Using compact fluorescent light bulbs saves you money, both on the bulbs and on electricity costs. In fact, each bulb will save you at least $30 over its life compared with incandescent bulbs, according to conservative estimates by the Department of Energy. Replace your five most-used lights with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to see how well you like them. They’ll last far longer than incandescent bulbs and use a quarter of the electricity. Today’s CFLs so much better than a generation ago. It’s time to try them again.
• Keep paid-for air indoors. When you pay to heat or cool your house, do your best to retain that conditioned air. Replacing windows is a lousy idea if you’re trying to save money. You might never recoup in energy savings what you spend on replacement windows. But do seal windows, doors and cracks with inexpensive insulating kits from your local hardware store or home center. Pay special attention to cracks, like those around pipe cutouts to the outdoors, gaps around chimneys, recessed lights and unfinished spaces behind cupboards and closets. Seal them with inexpensive caulking and insulation.

These tips will help both the green in your neighborhood and the green in your wallet.