Living Green and Saving Money

One benefit of going green is saving money. Some of the best green living tips that also save you money are easy to do and take very little time to implement.

Here is a terrific money-saving green living tip that is so simple that it is easily overlooked. Once implemented, this efficient green living tip will enhance your green lifestyle by making your life easier, saving both time and money every month.

What "How to go green" tip am I referring to? It is something you probably already know about: online bill pay.

I have been using online bill pay for several years now because it saved me both work and money. However, it was only recently, based on a comment made by my sister that I realized what a terrific, easy green living step online bill pay could be.

The majority of people can take advantage of online bill pay, and they should. This is a green living tactic that would have advantages regardless of its green credentials, but is even more valuable because it conserves paper and resources.

Anyone with a checking account and an internet connection (which you must have if you are reading this article!) can gain this benefit of going green. To set up online bill pay you need to take the following steps.

First, set up online banking with your bank. Almost every bank offers online banking nowadays. By allowing customers to manage their bank accounts online, demand for person-to-person contact with banking personnel is reduced, and some transactions that required paper can be handled paperless. (Don't worry. You can always make electronic copies of statements and transaction records that can be stored on your computer for retrieval in the future as necessary.)

Green Living has several aspects

Lets talk about our homes. Our trash that goes in the can or recycling is waste we have no choice but to face. Whether it’s hauling the trash cans to the sidewalk, bringing recycling to a center–it’s a mass of garbage that we have to contend with. Liquid waste, on the other hand, simply gets rinsed down the drain and it’s “bye-bye never have to think about you again.” It’s a much more expedient process–one that’s hidden from the eyes of any sanitation departments–and one that can wreak waves of environmental chaos, not to mention what it can do to your pipes. We often don’t realize the harm we are doing by what we rinse down our kitchen sinks, bath and shower drains, and even what we flush down our toilets. But another area of concern is kitchen waste–namely fats, oils and greases which can not only clog pipes, but are terrible for sewage systems. According to the Watership Environment Foundation (WEF), sewer overflows and backups can cause health hazards, damage home interiors, and threaten the environment. An increasingly common cause of overflows is sewer pipes blocked by grease–this results in raw sewage overflowing in your home or your neighbor’s home; An expensive and unpleasant cleanup that often must be paid for by you, the homeowner; Raw sewage overflowing into parks, yards, and streets; Potential contact with disease-causing organisms; and an increase in operation and maintenance costs for local sewer departments, which causes higher sewer bills for customers.

What is Green Living?

Green living is the method of choosing an alternative way to live by reducing use of natural resources and increasing use of own resources. There are two reasons for green living or sustainable living. First of all, it is done to reduce the carbon consumption. Second, it is adopted to live healthy by not using artificial products. For example, green houses are made with lots of large windows to allow natural lights to come inside. Those houses also have solar panel which produces pollution-free power from the sunlight. Instead of buying processed and artificial food from the supermarket, people should rely on local, fresh and seasonal food. Using a bicycle for short distance travel instead of using a car is a good way to reduce your carbon footprint. Showers waste a huge amount of water while a bucket is appropriate for the exact amount of water we need to bathe. If all the methods of green living can be adopted and maintained, there will be a huge benefit for the environment.

Say "No" to Plastic Bags

Today Green living seems to have become the talk of the town, thanks to the increasing environmental concerns, people have started taking thins seriously. Though are various ways of green living, which can be contributed at various levels. However, charity begins from home; we are the first to start doing something rather than preaching and asking people to do. The first thing or tip for green living is say NO to plastics. Wherever you go, always carry a bag, be it market or any grocery shop, make sure you will always say No to poly bags. Make sure you use environment friendly jute bags which can be a better alternative to poly bags. So say no to plastic by replacing it with a jute bag, which you need to carry it often to start your life for Green living.

Green Energy

It's getting easier all the time to run your home on green energy. Choosing to purchase renewable energy may or may not cost you more. And you won't necessarily receive electricity from your designated source; we can't control how electrons flow through the electrical grid like that. You will know that your dollars are paying for the ongoing maintenance or further development of renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal.By choosing alternative power source, you're sending an economic signal to power producers, investors and government representatives that clean power is preferable. In all, coal - fired power plants release 386,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants, including those that cause acid rain, which still threatens mountain ecosystems; mercury, which contaminates fish and can lead to brain damage in children who are exposed; and ozone and smog which causes asthma attacks, heart attacks and other serious health problems. Burning coal is also a major source of the carbon dioxide emissions fueling global warming.

Go Digital to Save Money and the Environment

Save the paper and view the drawings digitally instead It is easy to say "scan it and save it and recycle the paper" or "send me an image instead of faxing me the document". But what is a good viewer to use for viewing scanned documents and drawings, without having to pay for additional software? Microsoft Document Imaging is the default Microsoft operating system tif file viewer. This allows users to view TIF image and drawing files. To reinstall Microsoft Document Imaging on a computer running Microsoft Windows, do the following: 1. Go to "Start", "Settings", "Control Panel", "Add/Remove Programs". 2. From the "Add or Remove Programs List", select "Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007" or "Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010". Then click on the "Change" button. 3. In the "Change your installation of Microsoft Office Professional Plus (version), select "Add or Remove Features". Select the drop down to turn on "Office Shared Features" and "Office Tools". 4. Click on “Continue”. The configuration window will pop-up and show a status bar. 5. When the configuration is complete, the status window changes to say "Microsoft Office Professional Plus (version) configuration has completed successfully." Click on "Close" to close the informational window. 6. After the configuration is complete, close all applications and restart the computer. You are now able to view scanned documents like receipts, documents, and common faxes without having to install additional software, saving paper in the process.

Learn to Live More Simple

The first step is to reduce the waste prevention by a focus on recycling. Please try to promote a greater awareness of the importance of the part of the Reduce-Reuse of it . Make your life simple as possible and make efforts to reduce your purchases and enjoy your life with what you have. Try to replace all disposable items with reusable ones, try to prevent all polluting factors like smoke. Try to make people understand the value of nature, and thus help prevent disasters like global warming. All these polluting factors bring out all sort of diseases so use less. Create less waste in future and thus create a world of green living.