I know there is a lot of information available on how to be “greener,”and the benefits to the environment. For instance, last year around Earth Day, I vowed to stop using the plastic grocery store bags, and I purchased these Envirosax reusable bags. Most of the stores in my area started offering plastic bag recycling as well, so there are many places now I can take the plastic bags when they start to accumulate.
This Earth Day I thought it would be interesting to cite some financial information on how much “green” efforts can save you. Again, all these are good for the Earth too, but it can also be a motivating factor when you see how many “green” backs your “green” efforts are saving you.
- You can save money by using cloth napkins, and paper towels. If an average family goes through a standard 250 package of napkins a month, and they are $2.50 a package, in a year the savings would be: $30. Paper towels are about $3 for a package of two, and assuming you use a package a month, the savings in a year would be: $36.
- If you can use cloth diapers, (even some of the time) the savings really start to add up and are enormous- especially if you invest in cloth diapers and use them for a second and or third child.
There are tons of spreadsheets on the Internet breaking down the costs of disposable diapers versus cloth diapers. Basically in summary, if water is cheap (and in the US it is), there is less of a toll on the environment by using cloth diapers. The savings seem to work out on average, by the time your first baby is about 10-12 months old, you would have spent the same amount on cloth diapers as you would disposables. At that point you have broken even, and after that, you have recouped your costs, and are basically diapering for free (minus the cost of water to wash them).
If you have bought diapers recently, I don’t have to tell you how much of a savings this can be. Especially if you have two children in diapers at the same time! If a family uses a case of diapers a month and on average they are about $30 a case, in a year on the low end, that is $360 a year. If you invest in cloth diapers, after 10-12 months, you will have saved $30-60+, and after that you are saving at least $30+ a month!
- Buy energy efficient appliances. Energy Star has a list of qualified products. Here are just two examples of how much money you can save with Energy Star appliances: Energy Star Refrigerator: $10.82, Energy Star Front-Load Washing Machine: $50.50 (just on the electricity- not counting the savings in water!) Total for these two appliances: $61.32
- Unplugging appliances when not in use, can help save on your electricity bill too.
- By paying your bills on-line, you not only save the costs of stamps to mail your bills, you also save on the costs of checks, by not having to re-order so many. On average my estimate is you would save about $50 a year by doing this.
- Make one meal a week, a vegetarian meal, and save on the cost of meat. If the average package of meat or chicken costs around $7, in a year you would have saved $364 on meat!
Just these few tips would save the average household about $574 a year. You can add to that if you are a family using cloth diapers! These saving could be several trips to the grocery store, several tanks of gas, several meals out, or even a nice weekend away!
Join me in the coming year to try to be as “green” as possible, and save yourself some “green” at the same time. If you have any more money saving tips that are good for the Earth too, I would love to hear them.
Happy Earth Day!
