5 Ways To Cut Costs And Help Protect The Planet

Often, making changes to your lifestyle can positively change both of these things. And, there are many ways to cut costs at home, and some of those switches also help protect the planet. Sustainable living is more important than ever, and living sustainably saves money. Here’s what you can do to start making a difference.

1. Waste less food

One of the most significant issues in the United States in terms of waste is food waste. More than 40% of the food made in the U.S. each year is never eaten, and much of this waste ends up in unsustainable landfills.

This is by no means a personal consumer problem: some changes need to be made in the entire food industry to truly eliminate food waste. However, you can personally make changes that will help less food be wasted while also saving you money.

These are just a few ways that you can reduce the food waste in your life:

• Make a meal plan before shopping.
• Freeze produce and leftovers before they go bad.
• Buy local produce to eliminate shipping waste.
• Put a list of what’s in the fridge outside the fridge so you don’t double buy.

These simple changes will allow you to waste less food while also saving money. By buying less, saving more, and making sure you use everything, you can impact your finances and the planet.

2. Find simple ways to reduce your water use

Another fantastic way to combine saving money with saving the planet is to reduce your water use. A high water bill can be overwhelmingly expensive at times, and people don’t always realize just how much water they use. By making an effort to reduce your water use, you’ll be able to keep a better budget and not waste as much water.

Among the many great ways to reduce water use, these are some of the easiest and most effective things to implement.

Save your warm-up water

When preparing to shower or a bath, do you often turn on the water and let it run until it warms up to your desired temperature?

Keep a bucket in your bathroom, and put it under the faucet until your water warms up. Sit this water aside to use other activities, like mopping, watering your plants, or cleaning. Water is water, so why let it go to waste?

Install a rain catcher

Do you keep plants inside or outside that you often need to water due to intermittent periods of drought? Installing a rain barrel can save you a lot of water. These barrels collect rain as well as the water that runs off your roof. The recycled water can be used to water plants and yards.

Run full loads

The importance of this final tip depends on how energy- and water-efficient your appliances are. Generally speaking, try not to run your dishwasher or washer unless you have a full load. This will cut back on water use, as less water overall will be used.

3. Install green appliances

The latest green appliances are both energy efficient and water efficient. Not only do they help save the planet by being kinder to the world, but they will also save you money on both your water and electric bills. Gradually moving over to the green side as your home needs upgrades will help you to spread out the cost. As you use these items, the savings will add up.

4. Go sustainable

It can feel overwhelming to try to live a sustainable life, but making small changes can help you to save money and also positively affect the planet.

Sustainable changes don’t need to be life-shattering; they can be simple while remaining practical. Think of the little things:

• Bringing your own bag to the grocery store reduces waste and eliminates any bag costs.
• Using your own washable cutlery for takeout rather than plastic cutlery is easy.
• Filling up a reusable water bottle reduces cost of buying and reduces waste.

None of these changes are hard to do. They take some time to adjust to, but the savings you see in the long run are well-worth adapting to a new, more sustainable lifestyle.

5. Reduce meat consumption

Finally, one more thing you can do that combines saving money with helping the planet is eating meat less frequently. Studies have shown that the meat industry causes a lot of damage to the environment.

Plus, meat is expensive. By eating less meat each week, you can make a big dent in how much you spend while also decreasing the impact you have on the world.