Ten Ways To Convince A Non-Green That Going Green Saves Money.
Sure, there are a lot of people out there who could care less about the “green” movement. They either think everything is fine, or science will bail us out at the last minute, or they have “well, if no one else is doing anything, why should I?” syndrome. Unfortunately, you might not be able to change their minds by telling them that the planet might kill us all off if they don’t do something, so why not try a different tact? Who doesn’t like to save money? Going green, as well as helping the environment, can also save the average person a ton of money. Maybe some of these will work on your skeptical Uncle, even if he thinks we are all a bunch of crazy tree-hugging hippies!
1. By installing a low flow shower head, you reduce your water bill.
2. With a programmable thermostat, your electric bill could be cut in half.
3. Next time you need a car, check out some smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. You could save hundreds a week in gasoline!
4. Pick up a faucet water filter for $25 and stop buying bottled water. A one time cost of $25 lasts for about 3 months…how much does bottled water cost?
5. Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s. You can reduce your light bill by 1/3 if you replace every bulb in your house. Plus, they last up to 10 years!
6. Next time you are in the market for furniture, see if you can buy it used. Could save you a ton of money!
7. Baking soda and vinegar can create a cleaning agent for almost anything. Cost? $2.00 or so.
8. Check books out of your local library instead of buying something you will only read once. A book a month adds up to a lot over the course of a lifetime!
9. Buy products in bulk. Saves money, saves waste. Come on, you know your Uncle loves Costco anyway!
10. Encourage the use of manual tools rather than gas powered ones. A main culprit? The lawnmower. A reel mower is cheaper, cleaner, and provides free exercise. How big can that lawn be in Florida anyway?
Do you have any tips to encourage those “non-greens” around us to go green? Let me hear them!
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3 Comments, Comment or Ping
~Dawn
Right now we buy two 3 gallons jugs of filtered water every 6-8 weeks (longer in the winter) and my roomie drinks that. I drink tap water- so for the time being it is cheaper to not get the faucet filter.
Nov 13th, 2007
Luke Tipping
This is great stuff. Another ‘attitudinal’ idea, I refer to here.
http://greenonthecommon.blogsp.....t-eco.html
There’s a lot of debate about whether fuel economy messages are right for green. Like any innovation, green innovations need to have a genuine utility and use that exist beyond ‘green’.
The big Q is “what extent is the new product better than the one it is replacing?” The more better, the better. Which is why within a hierarchy of messages (I’m not suggesting that fuel economy should be higher up than green), it’s important to think about the other relative advantages of green innovations.Check out my blog for more!
Nov 14th, 2007