9 thoughts on “How much do you save or spend financially by living a green life style to the best of your ability?”
Wood Smoke
It is hard to give the amounts saved, but here are a few examples of things I do to save energy…this is old-school hippie stuff:
1. When taking a daily shower, wet your loofa and skin, apply soap, turn off shower, scrub it all up. Contemplate life. Turn the shower on less warm water, and rinse in near cold water.
2. If you are clean when you enter your bath, your bath towel should be clean. Make sure your towel is hung in a way air and sun will be sure to dry it. Use the same towel all week. (Long hair, needs 2).
3. When you get a large container of any kind of shampoo, conditioner, dish soap, etc. You can usually dilute it by half and still get the same benefit. If that is too much, when your container is almost empty, fill with water, shake, and use for a mild cleanser.
4. Do one giant load of laundry one time per week, use cold water, air dry your T-shirts (they last longer).
5. Turn off all the excess lights! When the sun is shinning, let it in. Turn out those lights and open the blinds. If the temperatures are not extreme, open all of the windows and vents.
6. Carpool, take the bus, share a cab. [Little Rock, AR recently installed bike carriers on their buses, so people who could possibly bike one way, or to a certain point, could then switch to the Bus.]
7. Shower with a Friend!
alienzoltar
well i sure dont save a lot of green…hah..oh i just kill myself..
Twilight
I lead a pretty full on green lifestyle, in that we exchanged city jobs and houses for a shack in the country, growing (some) of our own food, meeting all of our water (and water disposal) needs, planting out trees for both crop and to improve the native environment.
Yet we are not self sufficient. We rely on the power grid, we pay out for phone services and of course a lot of the infrastructure from healthcare to road maintenance is carried out by the government (in australia) and funded through taxation.
The question is very relative and a matter of perspective.
When we both worked in city jobs, we spent out probably around $70,000 Australian a year to keep body and soul together, whereas out here that figure (excluding investments in capital development of our farm, which are significant) is about $20,000 a year.
The key difference is that that $20,000 a year mostly come from savings as our "jobs" mostly focus on making the place sustainable and able to produce enough income to meet costs. That will probably take another 3 years on top of the five we have already been out here. But then, one of the great joys of living on your own terms is that you do not have to work especially hard 🙂
A sustainable lifestyle can go a long way to reducing dependence on the money-based economy, as by definition, what you do for yourself you do not need to buy in. There is always a balance to be struck between what you need from the outside world, what you are contributing to it, and surviving.
Our philosophy continues to be to look at how we want to live and devote our resources towards making that happen. We are getting there.
Ryan J
Well, I don’t save much up front, but I’ll give an example of what I could save over time. Best example is my motion activated security light outside…I live in Florida and bugs fly around all night, which causes that light to stay on most of the night…now think of the 60W bulbs that was in there when I moved here, 2 bulbs @60W all night, that burns alot…..now thinlk of those 2 bulbs at 4.5W each(yes, 4 decimal 5, not forty five). LED is the way to go and for motion security light sockets, they are perfect.
ben25orl
You can buy a soap package from a company called Pure & Gentle (PGI). They use carbonfree manufacturing, by using their products for a year you’re taking the equivalent of 15,000lbs of carbon or 2 1/2 cars off the road.
Generally lasts a family of 4 over 5 years and costs less than 1/5 what you’d spend at the grocery.
Energystar showerheads- Oxygenics. 5 star shower and guaranteed to save ya $20 a month in energy.
Puronics- Inhome water filtration generally saves you 25% of your electric bill, every month if you have electric water heater.
There’s great products out there, you just have to look because they definately do not get mainstream attention.
lavengro60
I live a red lifestyle . Green is for frogs. Flames and spicy red pepper make proper food. I will burn and burn out with my appetites satiated, even jaded,if at all possible.Keep your cool, deep emerald , ultra-rational life style.. Give me rubies that set my heart aglow and the flame of my mind ignited.
kitten101
We have spent alot for more energy efficiant stuff ie. lightbulbs, ect…… but have not saved a dime… infact our hydro bills are higher! I live in the dark most of the time!
Prabhakar G
I was a gree buff. No cooked food at all.That saved me gas,the expences of washing utensils,etc.There was no saving as far as cost of food was concerned and may be you have to spend more for the fruits are sometime quite costly.When you go in for tgreen diet you must think of all the medical and other expences you are spared by a wholesame diet.
dad
Well i got this house 3 years ago 2 story my heat bill was a little over 3 hundred a month to high for me so i gutted and insulated the entire thing during the summer the following winter when gas hit the roof my heat that includes hot water and cooking went to almost a thousand a month . Its a big house so i just couldn’t pay it and eat to so what i did was get a wood burner ordered broken solar cells off eBay sooper cheap built solar panels got a propane fridge propane instant hot water heater collect wood all summer long i get for free its all over the place people give it to you to get it out of there yard sometimes they will even pay you . And my burner will burn oil to so i get used motor oil from repair shops they give it to me just to get rid of it . I use that if im going out for a wile to keep the house warm wile im not there works great
So all and all im saving around 1000 a month if not more . I don’t know what the gas prices are anymore . I still buy water and pay sewage and of course property tax . Water is around 35 a month taxes are 700 . So it cost me approximately 1000 a year to live hear give or take a few bucks . Don’t get me wrong its a pain in the butt getting up in the middle of the night putting wood on the fire but its better then going without food and that’s going up to so i think next year ill grow my own .
Life in the states is turning into a pain . i dont know what most people are going to do . Alot losing there homes because of the cost of every thing. The shelters are full anymore. By by miss American pie.
It is hard to give the amounts saved, but here are a few examples of things I do to save energy…this is old-school hippie stuff:
1. When taking a daily shower, wet your loofa and skin, apply soap, turn off shower, scrub it all up. Contemplate life. Turn the shower on less warm water, and rinse in near cold water.
2. If you are clean when you enter your bath, your bath towel should be clean. Make sure your towel is hung in a way air and sun will be sure to dry it. Use the same towel all week. (Long hair, needs 2).
3. When you get a large container of any kind of shampoo, conditioner, dish soap, etc. You can usually dilute it by half and still get the same benefit. If that is too much, when your container is almost empty, fill with water, shake, and use for a mild cleanser.
4. Do one giant load of laundry one time per week, use cold water, air dry your T-shirts (they last longer).
5. Turn off all the excess lights! When the sun is shinning, let it in. Turn out those lights and open the blinds. If the temperatures are not extreme, open all of the windows and vents.
6. Carpool, take the bus, share a cab. [Little Rock, AR recently installed bike carriers on their buses, so people who could possibly bike one way, or to a certain point, could then switch to the Bus.]
7. Shower with a Friend!
well i sure dont save a lot of green…hah..oh i just kill myself..
I lead a pretty full on green lifestyle, in that we exchanged city jobs and houses for a shack in the country, growing (some) of our own food, meeting all of our water (and water disposal) needs, planting out trees for both crop and to improve the native environment.
Yet we are not self sufficient. We rely on the power grid, we pay out for phone services and of course a lot of the infrastructure from healthcare to road maintenance is carried out by the government (in australia) and funded through taxation.
The question is very relative and a matter of perspective.
When we both worked in city jobs, we spent out probably around $70,000 Australian a year to keep body and soul together, whereas out here that figure (excluding investments in capital development of our farm, which are significant) is about $20,000 a year.
The key difference is that that $20,000 a year mostly come from savings as our "jobs" mostly focus on making the place sustainable and able to produce enough income to meet costs. That will probably take another 3 years on top of the five we have already been out here. But then, one of the great joys of living on your own terms is that you do not have to work especially hard 🙂
A sustainable lifestyle can go a long way to reducing dependence on the money-based economy, as by definition, what you do for yourself you do not need to buy in. There is always a balance to be struck between what you need from the outside world, what you are contributing to it, and surviving.
Our philosophy continues to be to look at how we want to live and devote our resources towards making that happen. We are getting there.
Well, I don’t save much up front, but I’ll give an example of what I could save over time. Best example is my motion activated security light outside…I live in Florida and bugs fly around all night, which causes that light to stay on most of the night…now think of the 60W bulbs that was in there when I moved here, 2 bulbs @60W all night, that burns alot…..now thinlk of those 2 bulbs at 4.5W each(yes, 4 decimal 5, not forty five). LED is the way to go and for motion security light sockets, they are perfect.
You can buy a soap package from a company called Pure & Gentle (PGI). They use carbonfree manufacturing, by using their products for a year you’re taking the equivalent of 15,000lbs of carbon or 2 1/2 cars off the road.
Generally lasts a family of 4 over 5 years and costs less than 1/5 what you’d spend at the grocery.
Energystar showerheads- Oxygenics. 5 star shower and guaranteed to save ya $20 a month in energy.
Puronics- Inhome water filtration generally saves you 25% of your electric bill, every month if you have electric water heater.
There’s great products out there, you just have to look because they definately do not get mainstream attention.
I live a red lifestyle . Green is for frogs. Flames and spicy red pepper make proper food. I will burn and burn out with my appetites satiated, even jaded,if at all possible.Keep your cool, deep emerald , ultra-rational life style.. Give me rubies that set my heart aglow and the flame of my mind ignited.
We have spent alot for more energy efficiant stuff ie. lightbulbs, ect…… but have not saved a dime… infact our hydro bills are higher! I live in the dark most of the time!
I was a gree buff. No cooked food at all.That saved me gas,the expences of washing utensils,etc.There was no saving as far as cost of food was concerned and may be you have to spend more for the fruits are sometime quite costly.When you go in for tgreen diet you must think of all the medical and other expences you are spared by a wholesame diet.
Well i got this house 3 years ago 2 story my heat bill was a little over 3 hundred a month to high for me so i gutted and insulated the entire thing during the summer the following winter when gas hit the roof my heat that includes hot water and cooking went to almost a thousand a month . Its a big house so i just couldn’t pay it and eat to so what i did was get a wood burner ordered broken solar cells off eBay sooper cheap built solar panels got a propane fridge propane instant hot water heater collect wood all summer long i get for free its all over the place people give it to you to get it out of there yard sometimes they will even pay you . And my burner will burn oil to so i get used motor oil from repair shops they give it to me just to get rid of it . I use that if im going out for a wile to keep the house warm wile im not there works great
So all and all im saving around 1000 a month if not more . I don’t know what the gas prices are anymore . I still buy water and pay sewage and of course property tax . Water is around 35 a month taxes are 700 . So it cost me approximately 1000 a year to live hear give or take a few bucks . Don’t get me wrong its a pain in the butt getting up in the middle of the night putting wood on the fire but its better then going without food and that’s going up to so i think next year ill grow my own .
Life in the states is turning into a pain . i dont know what most people are going to do . Alot losing there homes because of the cost of every thing. The shelters are full anymore. By by miss American pie.
Edit:: God help us all.