green AND frugal?

[christianmomof3]

Is it possible to do both? Can ya'll suggest good books and websites? Thank you!

[ollyoxenfree]

Since "reduce" and "reuse" are both pretty frugal options, I'd say yes, you can be green and frugal.

If you resist the marketing temptations that use "green living" as an incentive to buy and consume new things, you'll be on the right path.

[jewelsJZ]

subbing

[Amys1st]

Most of my frugal ways are also green ways and even better, sneaks into my simple living ideals.

I might add, we sometimes will pay more for something but then it last much longer and we get more bang for our buck. So it saves money by spending money, but then last longer giving it a greener feel. Also I use it until the bitter end and then replace instead of having multiple or several and its more simple.

another example- I use vinagar to clean. Much nicer on the environment and my family and a heck of lot better on the wallet.

[BetsyS]

I think frugal and green definitely go hand in hand.

Using a reusable water bottle instead of buying drinks? No extra waste, plus it's cheap.

Reusable dishtowels instead of paper towels?
no paper plates/forks/spoons/cups?
Cloth diapers?
Composting (less money spent on trash removal, plus free fertilizer for your garden)
Canning/freezing your own in season vegetables and fruits (cost is cheaper usually, plus much less waste from the packaging)

It's cheaper to figure out a way to use less gasoline in a given week, not to mention better to drive less.
Buying used means it's not only cheaper, but a new one doesn't have to be produced.

Lots of overlap in my life.

[Cavy]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

Since "reduce" and "reuse" are both pretty frugal options, I'd say yes, you can be green and frugal.

If you resist the marketing temptations that use "green living" as an incentive to buy and consume new things, you'll be on the right path.

So true .
Just stop buying stuff, and stop wasting things. It's amazing how little food and other things you actually need.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by Cavy

So true .
Just stop buying stuff, and stop wasting things. It's amazing how little food and other things you actually need.

Agree 100%, but now we need to convince the buying American public this!

[jewelsJZ]

My New Year's resolution is to trim our budget and be more green. I just stocked us up on cloth napkins, cloth "paper" towels (old dish towels cut into smaller pieces. We'll keep some paper towels on hand for greasy clean-up or dog bodily fluids), and am in the process of making my own baby wipes. This will save us so much money each month and I love that we aren't throwing things away. I'm looking around for more things to trim off our shopping list. Just can't get rid of the toilet paper or tissues. Did find a great deal on tissues and stocked up.

Now my list feels more manageable, too. I can keep the TP and tissue prices in my head and comparison shop better, rather than trying to keep track of those two things plus wipes, paper towels, napkins, laundry soap, etc.

Also just went through all my kids' clothes and toys and did a major purge, which I will be selling at Spring consignment sales, another GREEN and FRUGAL thing.

Much of this has been inspired by reading threads on MDC. Thanks, Mommas!

[Tjej]

I REALLY like the book Living More with Less. It is a mennonite book, and it talks a lot about social justice issues and consumption. There is a cookbook too.

Tjej

[Keeta]

This blog post talks about how adhering to The Compact is both green and frugal!

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

I think green and frugal are incredibly compatible. The secret is avoiding all of the green stuff that is marketed to everyone. I think that being green keeps me frugal because it gets me in a mindset to reuse, buy used, repurpose - all which are frugal

[zjande]

I think that in a lot of ways, yes, living "green" does go hand in hand with being frugal. But in other ways it's so expensive it makes me want to cry! You've probably read about how indoor pollution is way worse than outdoor or pollution, with our walls, furniture, bedding, clothing, everything off gassing toxic chemicals day in & day out. I so want to replace our beds with organic ones, & buy all organic bedding, and organic wooden shelves instead of our cheap ones that radiate formaldehyde into our environment, cast iron tubs instead of plastic bath tubs...... I'd love to dress our whole family in organic cotton, I'd love to get the horrible, awful, overwhelmingly toxic carpeting out from under all our innocent bare feet....... but it's CRAZY expensive to replace all those things! And so I live with the knowledge that my innocent little growing children are absorbing Gawd only knows how many different poisons every single day in our own house & I pray they don't end up with cancer or infertility or I will blame myself for raising them on chemical carpets & poisonous bedding!!!




OK. I'm done with my rant.