Save money while being green

While adopting a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is good for Mother Earth, it can also be good for the pocketbook. For example, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) can pay significant dividends for their users and the environment. CFLs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer, providing users with an average savings of $30 per bulb. Using five CFLs around the house can net you $150 in savings before those bulbs need to be changed. Another environmentally friendly practice that can lead to big savings is choosing tap water over bottled water. Each year, 2.7 million tons of plastic waste finds its way to the world’s landfills. By choosing tap water over bottled water, you’re helping to divert that considerable waste. If you purchase one bottle of water per day at $1.50 per bottle, you’re spending $547.50 to feed that habit, when water from a tap is free and, if poured through a filter such as Brita or PUR, equal in quality to its bottled counterparts.