5 WAYS TO SAVE OVER 3,000 A YEAR BY GOING GREEN (Without any real effort whatsoever)

If you’ve been considering going green, but don’t know where to start- here are some ideas for you. Save your money, your health, and your environment by just making a few simple changes in your daily life. 

Switch To The Green Wash Ball 

The average American will be washing between three hundred to nearly four hundred loads of laundry annually. Depending on the choice in detergent and the size of the family, most American’s spend an average of $180-$659. The Green Wash Ball washes your clothes without detergent up to 1,000 loads of laundry. This means, for about ten dollars most people will be able to use the Green Wash Ball for three years. 

Financial Savings: Between $170-$649 Annually
Earth Savings: Laundry detergent contains phosphate, a water pollutant, known to kill ocean life. 
Stop Using Paper Towels 
On average, American’s spend $20 a month on paper towels. It doesn’t sound like too much, of course. However, by the end of the year $20 a month adds up to another chunk of $120. Switching is easy, with the use of cloth napkins for about $12 a package. These can be rewashed and reused as needed.

Savings: $118
Earth Savings: American’s will be dumping more to the waste, with 3,000 tons of paper towels in landfills daily. 

Quit Smoking 
Save your money and your health by quitting smoking. Quitting smoking is free, prevents pollution and could save your life. The average smoker spends $150 a month on cigarettes,a whopping $1,800.

Savings: $1,800
Earth savings: Cigarette “butts” are not biodegradable. Still, 176,000,000 pounds of cigarette butts are disposed of a year in the US alone. 

Skip The Shampoo 
For a while, I too joined the No-Poo movement for the sake of saving money. While the first month was probably the greasiest of my life, the hair later turns to it’s natural pH state with the help of baking soda and vinegar, leaving the greasy days behind you. The average woman spends an average of $160 dollars a year on shampooing their locks. Switching to baking soda and vinegar will on average cost about $25 for a year. 

Savings: $135
Earth Savings: Many shampoos contain a hydrocarbon called “Limonene”. Limonene is potentially hazardous and poses a risk of water contamination and is also a carcinogen. 

Make Your Own Soda 
Though it may cost an initial investment of anywhere from $30-250 dollars for a decent soda machine, the average person spends $850 dollars on soda a year anyway. By making your own soda, at about 15 cents a can’s worth, American’s (for a family of about four) can save at least $720.

Savings: With investment, $470-690
Earth savings: We use 8 trillion aluminum cans a year. Using a glass can help prevent these cans from ending up in the landfills.