10 ways you can save $, improve your health and help the environment

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You can feed 3 birds with one worm.

Call it a three-fer.

Get the FULL 11-page report HERE.

 

DRINK FILTERED WATER INSTEAD OF BOTTLED WATER

Save hundreds of dollars a year, reduce your exposure to health-disrupting chemicals from plastic bottles, and protect the environment from additional landfill waste. Benefits – less plastic bottle waste, save money, cleaner water that is filtered from various toxins.

BREW YOUR OWN COFFEE AT HOME 

Make coffee at home and save hundreds of dollars! According to the USA Today Coffee Calculator tool, the cost for at home brew for 30 years is $867– compare that to 30 years of coffee at Starbucks for a whopping $22,995!  Restrain from fancy coffee drinks to save calories and protect the environment from paper disposable cups. Plus, no waiting in long lines to get your java fix!

EAT LESS MEAT, MORE VEGETARIAN 

Reduce hormone and toxin intake from factory-farmed meat, improve blood sugar and lipids with increased bean consumption.  Although 1 lb of chicken and beans cost the same, beans produce 3 times more servings than chicken does, plus it requires over 10 times less fossil fuels to produce beans.

WALK OR RIDE A BICYCLE TO GET PLACES

This may not be possible for everyone, but there are often ways to get more physical activity in one’s life while cutting costs. Most modern conveniences use the earth’s natural resources and spare us from physical labor, i.e. snow blower versus shoveling, cleaning your house versus hiring cleaners.  The truth is, we need more physical labor and the earth has limited resources. Conserve fossil fuels and burn your own: walking or riding a bike requires no fuel other than yours!IMG_1682

 

EAT YOUR WEEDS, DON’T SPRAY THEM

Your backyard is a medicine cabinet just waiting to be discovered.  Don’t kill those weeds, eat them! Wild weeds are nutrient dense, FREE and reduce the amount of insecticides and herbicides we pump into our ecosystems.  My favorite ways to prepare dandelion greens, chickweed, violet leaves and nettles is as an addition to pesto, salad, smoothies, quiche or green cakes.

 

RE-USABLE FEMININE PRODUCTS

The average woman will have between 350 and 500 periods in her lifetime, and women who use tampons will go through nearly 11,000 in her lifetime (Sutton et al, 2005).  Imagine the landfill waste!  Re-usable cups and pads can save money, 5 years of tampons is $420.  Plus the chemicals found in commercially available pads and tampons are a concern for reproductive health.

COOK AND EAT AT HOME

It could be easily argued that eating outside the home is a major cause of obesity in our countryjunk-food-cartoon-business-vector-character_MypvW1u_.  Let’s reclaim our kitchens for the sake of our families!  It is cheaper to eat at home and you know more about the food that is going into your body, less sugar, salt and trans fats.  Eating at home will help reduce carbon emissions from driving and increase physical activity from cooking and grocery shopping.  Create family-social time, set a good example for your children.

GROW VEGETABLES IN YOUR OWN YARD

Even the smallest patch of soil can usually grow something… how does your garden grow?  If you don’t have a yard, use containers for green beans and tomatoes.  Keep it simple to keep cost down.  Perennials like asparagus and strawberries cut down on yearly costs.  Gardening burns calories, gets you outdoors and helps you control what chemicals are added or NOT added to your vegetables.  Locally grown produce reduces the fossil fuels necessary to get food from all over the world to your grocery store.

BUY GENTLY USED CLOTHING AND FURNITURE

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure! Reduce toxin (i.e. flame retardant) exposure from new clothing, and reduce landfill waste and resources needed to produce new clothes.  Cost savings can be tremendous depending on what you find!!  Best resources are Salvation Army, Goodwill, Ebay, and Craigslist.

CUT BACK ON ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES

Cigarettes and alcohol are both addictive substances and even small amounts can affect your health.  They are both expensive habits due to taxes.  The health consequences of smoking are not debated.  Alcohol can be healthy at the rate of 1 drink daily, but larger consumption can have negative health consequences.  Reduce air pollution, harm to wildlife and litter from cigarette use.