How Frugal saves the Environment

[pretty cheap jewelry]

In my humble philosophy 'frugal' is an excuse to be environmental.

I mean being environmental an excuse to be frugal.....

Hmmm, you get the picture.

Are you doing this for the environment? I certainly am, but am not afraid to call myself a cheapskate

[getforfree]

I am more for saving my money than saving the envirment

[DivaJen]

They can both serve each other, I agree.

Examples:

LED Christmas lights and line drying laundry both use less electricity - good for the wallet, good for conservation.
Cloth diapers and dinner napkins keep trash out of the landfill and are cheaper over the long haul.

I love that many activities that are frugal are also Earth-friendly, and vice versa.

[LuxLiving]

How timely a topic -

Our water bill has exploded from 23.00 a month when we moved here 6 years ago to 63.00 a month now and is slated to go to 73.00 a month next year!! I'm just guessing but it appears that it would be cheaper to buy paper plates and toss them than to pay for water! Hello spit baths! We are on rural water and this is beginning to border on the ridiculous.

I'm not into environmentalism on a large scale but it makes me angry that I feel like I can't afford to wash my hands and that I'm even thinking that this styrofoam scheme sounds like a less expensive option!! GRRRR!!!

Would love to hear other's thoughts. Any ideas on where to file a complaint??

[lrjohnson]

There is a lot of pleasant crossover. I buy used, make things last, avoid buying some items altogether.

I do some environmental things that aren't necessarily frugal: I recycle almost everything, including the stuff that there is no money for. And I compost. neither saves me money on garbage because my landlady pays garvage.

I don't pay for water, either, and unfortunately there I use too much. if I had to pay I'd be better.

[MonkeyMama]

I tend to conserve energy and water more to conserve it than to save money. Or maybe a little of both. I am a very environmental-conscious person so the 2 go a lot hand in hand. I don't like to ne wasteful overall and that helps with frugality, and being frugal keeps us from being too wasteful.

There are many instances where being environmentally friendly costs more. Hybrid cars for example, way out of our price range for now, but someday I would like to own one. We pay a chunk for our cloth diapers to be cleaned, it costs more than disposables, but this is not why we use clothe diapers - it is not to save money. We could wash them ourselves, but for a little more money I get the best of both worlds - plus they get delivered to my door weekly and I don't have to run our for diapers at the last minute - hehe. I contribute a premium to our energy company to support renewable energy, etc. For us some of our environmental choices cost us more.

[pretty cheap jewelry]

When I had my babies 8 yaers ago I thought I was the only one in the world still using cloth diapers!! I line dried them because the UV actually killed the bacteria from the ammonia that contributes to diaper rash.

It seems to be using a drier is sort of an environmental crime when it is hot and dry outside already.

Lux, I wish I could think of more water saving ideas. Our company bases it's wastewater bill on the water you use in the summer. So if you conserve as much as you can in the summer, you actually end up with a lower tap water bill as well as a sewage bill.

How about your landscaping? Make sure you are using very low water using plants. Grass is one of the worst. So are many typical flowering things. Learn what is nice looking and low maintenance for your yard.

[PrincessPerky]

The whole environmental or frugal is like the health vs beauty thing.

I don't actually compost for the environment, I do it cause I hate to take garbage out (truthfully the cat eats the scraps....)

I have found that the more I try to cook from scratch the less garbage I make, which is a good thing IMO, and the less I pack prepackaged foods for trips the less garbage....so environmental is good for the wallet (heh and often good for health/beauty too)

[MonkeyMama]

IF I Could go back I would put astro turf in the backyard. I never owned land before and I hate all the water we waste on grass. so useless. We have no choice in the frontyard - homeowners association. Our water is insane but it is a flat rate - no metering. Some day when we have the money we will tear out the grass and do it. Something to look into anyway.

I babysat for a lady who used a diaper cloth service and thought it was the greatest idea and I Would use one when the time came. It is the same ease as disposables, but I have been dissapointed how few people I converted. My SIL tried it for a while and whimped out because she had bad diaper liners that leaked. I knew someone else who tried, before she met me, but whimped out because the 0-3 month clothes did not fit her baby with the bulky diapers. Whatever. 0-3 month clothing never fit my babies regardless of diaper bulk. Not very committed - LOL. I got my hubby to go along, if he can do it, anyone can. Unfortunately diaper services are only available in the big cities it seems. No rinsing, you toss it like garbage and put it out once a week to be exchnaged for clean, dry dipes. But as the kids get older I am nice and toss the solid waste in the toilet - but you don't have to go that far if you don't want to.

We don't use yard chemicals or pest control, etc. though - which saves money and is better for the environment as well. Just thought of that one. We gave in for a little bit when we first moved into a new development and everyone started spraying for pests and I swear ALL The bugs for a square mile converged in our yard - LOL. But we stopped and things have settle down - phew.

[Fern]

Both are equally important to me; personal finance, nature/environment and health/nutrition are my top 3 interests.

[mom-from-missouri]

Originally Posted by LuxLiving

How timely a topic -

Our water bill has exploded from 23.00 a month when we moved here 6 years ago to 63.00 a month now and is slated to go to 73.00 a month next year!! I'm just guessing but it appears that it would be cheaper to buy paper plates and toss them than to pay for water! Hello spit baths! We are on rural water and this is beginning to border on the ridiculous.

Same here. We also have a well, but we need to use it more. I force my self to only run full loads of dishes and laundry. If I wash dishes by hand, I do it in a plastic tub in the sink, so I can even recycle the water. The dishwash water I can use to clean tubs and toilets, and rinse water is good for plants and to mop the floor with. I usually keep water in my mop bucket, so I just dump it and refill with the rinse water. One month ours was $170. The next month we got it back down to $59. My goal is to get it to $50 or less, but with 5, sometimes 7 of us in the house-its hard--we do have to bathe and in winter water the stock.

[Gruntina]

I hate to admit this... If I am contributing to good environmental causes, its the result of being frugal.

I wish I take more time into thinking about the environment but I dont.

[PRICEPLUS]

I recycle and I try not to waste what I have. I think being frugal and environmentally concious are not mutually exclusive. Using less means less waste!