More Ways to Save Money that are Good For the Environment

My last list on this topic was fairly popular, so I decided to dig up a few more ideas. Many of these require a little more effort, but most not really that much more. And isn't doing your part worth a little effort?

1. Refill your printer ink cartridges- I only started doing this in the few months and I feel like a sucker that I was paying so much for ink all of those years.
2. Compost- Why not make good use of your kitchen scraps and pulled weeds instead of taking up space in a landfill? You can use those things to improve your soil and grow a better garden. Composting is much cheaper than buying soil and additives and is often of better quality.
3. Eat more fresh vegetables- Switching to a vegan diet does more to decrease global warming than buying a hybrid car. Am I suggesting you do this? No. But decreasing the meat in your diet and increasing the vegetables and whole grains will improve your health, save you money and help the planet a little too.
4. Learn to make things yourself- Recently my husband came home from work and said that he needed a hobby to take out his frustrations that didn't involve torturing his high school students. His plan- make a few pieces of wood furniture. Boy, am I excited. Even if he only makes the first two items on the list it will more than cover the cost of the tools, plus no packaging and I can use the sawdust for the compost pile. So far he has made a shelf which has made a small dent in the clutter in my home. :) Now this is not the answer every time, but if you can makes things for yourself there is a lot of potential money savings and it can be good for the environment as well.
5. Pay your bills online- Save paper, clutter and postage.
6. Use less heat/air conditioning- Turn it off when you're out of town. Turn it down at night or when you're away. Consider a programmable thermostat or installing a few ceiling fans.
7. Potty train your toddler- Easier said than done. But think about how much money you'll save when you don't have to buy diapers. Disposable diapers are not recyclable and they're a huge contributor to landfills. Forcing a child before they're ready is not really effective, but you can still strongly encourage. (Almost every day my son tells me he wants to sit on the potty. He sits there long enough to eat his gummy bear and then we're done. Perhaps someday we'll get more results.)
8. Use the cruise control button- This can give you up to 15% better gas mileage.
9. Plan errands to avoid driving back and forth across town. Group them together.
10. Fix things that aren't preforming at their best. A few months ago I got a new dishwasher, and while I was excited to have a dishwasher again, it's performance was somewhat lacking. Everything had to be pre-rinsed and put on the soak cycle, plus I usually had to wash things a few times. Finally I called a repairman. He was amazed that it worked at all. He fixed a valve and we are in business. It was under warranty so I didn't have to pay for the visit, but I was annoyed with myself that I didn't do it earlier. I could have saved a lot of time, energy and detergent if I had called him months ago. This principle applies to more than dishwashers.