Solar panels, electric cars and personal wind turbines are nice, but not everyone can afford to spend thousands of dollars to update their homes and vehicles. If you want to go green on a budget, do not despair.
You can make small, simple changes at home that will have a positive impact your life, your family and your planet. If you are a beginner in the green movement, learning the ropes, get your feet wet for free or little cost. Perhaps you can have those solar panels installed in a few years.
Conserve Water with a Plastic Bottle
Place a few pebbles into a disposable plastic bottle and then fill the bottle with water. Flush the toilet and gently place the weighted water bottle in the tank while the water is low. Be careful not to set the bottle on the flapper inside the tank. The bottle displaces some of the water in the tank, raising the water level so that the refill water shuts off prematurely.
A simple water bottle in the tank reduces the amount of water used for each flush by half a gallon or more without affecting the function of the toilet.
Clean with Natural Products
You can use baking soda, vinegar and water to clean nearly every surface in your home from your toilet bowl to your teeth. Expensive, chemical cleaners are unnecessary and damaging to the environment. Mix your own natural cleaners at home to go green, save money and protect your family from potentially harmful chemicals. A few examples include:
- Vinegar diluted in water is a tough cleaner on floors and counter tops, and can even be used to make disinfectant sprays.
- Mix one and a half cups of vinegar with one cup of water in a spray bottle for an effective glass cleaner.
- Vinegar and baking soda can tackle even the dirtiest toilet bowl. Pour a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda into the toilet and scrub. Add a little lemon juice for stubborn stains.
- A paste of baking soda and water whitens teeth. Simply add water to baking soda until you achieve the consistency of toothpaste and brush the paste onto your teeth with a toothbrush. Wait a minute or two, and thoroughly rinse away the paste.
Clean Your Refrigerator
Next time you clean the inside of the refrigerator, pull it from the wall and clean the coils on the back as well. The coils are responsible for keeping the inside of the refrigerator cool. Removing the dust and buildup from the coils reduces the energy needed for the coils to function properly and improves the efficiency of the refrigerator. Simply wipe the coils with a damp cloth to lower your appliance's energy consumption.
Clean Out Your Car
Carrying extra weight in your vehicle reduces the gas mileage. While you are cleaning your car, check the tire pressure as well. Keeping your tires properly inflated improves fuel efficiency and extends the life of your tires, reducing the number of tires in the landfill.
Do Not Buy Anything for One Day
Set your wallet aside for just one day. Go all day without buying a single thing. Nothing. Not a cup of coffee, no gas, not a single stick of gum. A large part of going green is reducing, so reduce the amount of stuff you purchase. As you go about your day, make a mental note of everything you would have bought.
Think about the packaging of those items that would have ended up as land pollution, the fuel that was consumed delivering those products and the clutter the items would have created in your home. You cannot live your life never buying anything, but the point of this single day is to make you aware of what you are buying and to consider the necessity of every purchase. Whenever you feel you have a cluttered life, give yourself a spending break to better evaluate your purchasing behavior.
Sources:
The Daily Green: Do One Thing, Save 10 Gallons of Water a Day (accessed January 1, 2011).
Chasity Goddard - Chasity Goddard holds a BA degree from the University of TN. Her wide-ranging interests and research skills pull her in various ...
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