10 ways to save money AND save the environment
Unfortunately, I often find it necessary to have good finances to choose good environmental choices. Organic food is often a few bucks more expensive than non-organic, and many clothing brands with a pronounced environmental profile are in a price range that not everyone can afford. That’s why I thought, like this, in perhaps the poorest month of the year, that it would be in its place with some green economy stuff too! Budget is the theme of the month in The Sustainable Society.
1. Shop in season
The best way to save money in the grocery store is not to stop buying organic, but to shop in season. Seasonal food is a good site to start from, and flips you can buy good, good and not infrequently organic raw materials that are cheap just because it is now WE SHOULD buy them.
2. Have a purchase-free period
When the economy goes low, such as after Christmas, we automatically do the environment a favor by consuming less. But why not pull it to its head so that it becomes a conscious choice instead of a sad consequence of a thin wallet? Take the opportunity to introduce a week-free week, a month-free month or an entire quarter and allow your finances to recover while you live significantly more green. Decide what you can buy (food, consumables and experiences are usually a good basis), and then decide to do what you already have.
3. Take the New Year’s promise seriously
Do you have as a New Year’s pledge to get more exercise into your everyday life to feel good? Perfect, then you have every reason to go (or cycle, if the ground permits) where you are going. Start by looking at the pedometer on your phone, and set a goal of at least 10,000 steps a day (usually about 7 kilometers). If it is possible to combine with your way to work, you can leave the car at home or postpone the renewal of the bus card for a few weeks. Both parts save money, environment AND give you that everyday exercise on the purchase. Want to take it even further? Bring workout clothes, and run home after work!
4. Decline no to plastic bags
Now that most stores have finally accepted their responsibility and have begun to urge us all to refuse plastic bags, there is every reason to do just that. In addition, they now cost a few bucks in many places, so there is money to save on having a cloth bag or similar to them when you walk into a store. Every little helps!
5. Reduce food waste & shop in the freezer
Having to buy extra milk for the one you had that went bad, or to realize that you only had to use a fraction of the fresh spice before it withered is bad for both the environment and the wallet so clearly. We throw a lot of food in the garbage and pour many kilos of liquid food and beverages in the sewage each year, and the money we literally throw away we could have instead put on ecological alternatives for example. Here, the freezer is your best friend. Freeze everything that is left over and which you suspect you will not eat up for the next two days, and check the freezer before you do the week’s food planning so that you use up everything that is there as well. Cheaper, better and good!
6. Fix the draw
To cook for the crows makes neither the wallet nor the environment happy. Take advantage of the cold temperatures that make it easier to feel where it actually draws, and make an effort to solve the problem instead of drawing up the heat more. With sealing strips, the vast majority of doors and windows quickly become draft-free, you do not have to freeze and may even lower the indoor temp to some degree when you are finished, which saves a few bucks on the next electricity bill.
7. Wash and wash properly
Every time we run the dishwasher or washing machine it costs us a lot of energy, water, and laundry/detergent. That sum is basically constant, whether we run the machine half full or full. In other words, half a machine wash becomes twice as expensive, since we have to wash twice to get the same number of clothes clean. Therefore, always run the washing and dishwasher completely full, and with any eco-programs of course (they often save a considerable amount of water).
8. Hit multiple flies in one fell swoop
Some things are difficult to solve without a car and depending on where and how you live it can also be difficult to leave the car completely. But then it might be worthwhile to maximize that day’s driving instead. It’s all about planning smartly so that as many cases as possible end up on the same day, in the same area.
Do you know that you have to go to the car inspection or to the doctor in two weeks? Then check if you can simultaneously perform other tasks in the same area. Maybe you can shop weekly in a store where instead of your usual one that is the other way around? Maybe it would be perfect to take the same package of dog food in the same vein, or drive away the last month’s recovery, two small cases that certainly require a short drive otherwise? Each case in the same area you can combine probably saves a few miles of driving, which not only saves you gasoline money and the environment exhaust but also actual time. If you can also merge with someone else and combine your cases, you will save even more together.
9. Ship whole and semi-finished products
Just as it saves money and the environment to shop in season, it is both cheaper and kind for the environment to cook from scratch. The many production stages in whole and semi-finished products require energy and transport, and of course, there will be an extra charge for every part you do not have to cook yourself. Save money and the environment by buying raw materials (preferably organic for a little extra SEK in your pocket and green plus points) instead.
Tick off all the obvious
Sure, some things are obvious, but it is also easy to take them for granted instead of really checking that it is done. Switch to LED lights, vacuum the back of the fridge and freezer and set them to the right temp (+4 and -18, respectively), switch to green electricity, turn off lights and skip standby mode and so on. Take a swing through the home and check that you are actually doing everything we know is right, so it probably rings in a few dollars at the same time as the environment takes a joyful shot.
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