Save the Environment and Save Money Too

credit: helmet13 

A lot of us imagine that to be more environmentally friendly we’d have to spend more money. But a new David Bach book called Go Green, Live Rich suggests exactly the opposite: if you live a greener lifestyle, you can actually save money.

His main theory is that you can profit by recycling. That means, for example, that instead of throwing away something you no longer need – an old sofa or books you’ve already read – you can “recycle” them by selling them. That’s become especially easy these days thanks to websites like eBay and Craigslist. Bach extends this thinking to buying “recycled” goods too – for example, using sites like Freecycle.org to find goods you need that are used but still good enough for your needs.

Another money-saving green scheme that Bach mentions is to get rid of your junk mail, which of course is mostly catalogs. The green side of this is that if you opt out of catalog mailing lists, you won’t be party to creating more and more wasted paper. And you’ll save money, he suggests, because the average American spends over $1,400 per year on catalog purchases. Of course, the danger is that you’ll still buy new things, just not out of a catalog, but it certainly takes some of the temptation away.

The ideas of Go Green, Live Rich are mostly common sense – but sometimes we need reminding. And making money out of helping the environment can’t be a bad thing.

Tags: Budgets & Money Management | David Bach | Environment | finance | lifehacks | Saving | Saving Money