How can we live lightly on the Earth and save money at the same time? There has been numerous amounts of ideas shared regarding this question, and I am sure you have heard these over and over, but I think I should put in my 2 cents anyway. Helping to change the world isn’t that hard. It begins with one simple decision — to unplug a charger, to trade paper napkins for cloth. These small acts become habits that create a chain reaction. As they gain momentum, soon you’re not doing just one thing; you’re revolutionizing your life in a way that can, in fact, save the planet. Below are some ideas I think would definitely help the planet we live in.

Lights Off:

Al Gore is one of the most influential leaders of the green movement. Yet his advice sounds like something my parents used to say, usually right around bill time. “Go through your house every single day and turn off any lights you’re not using,” he states. “That’s a big way to save energy.” Two-thirds of all the electricity used in the residential sector of the United States powers lights and appliances. Considering that electricity production generates more than 1.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, a simple flick of the switch seems as good a place to start as any, wouldn’t you agree?

Cleaning Away:

The author of “Better Basics for the Home,” became a leading advocate of natural home-care products after an exterminator visited her apartment building and landed her in the hospital with chemical poisoning. In her online newsletter she provides recipes for natural alternatives (care2.com/healthyliving). While furniture polish will set you back about $4, cleaning with 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar and a few drops of olive oil costs mere cents. There are also some Green cleaning products on the market as well that do a great job!

Paper or Plastic:

Neither. No matter how you look at it, paper towels and plastic create waste — even if you stick to recycled brands. You use them once and throw them away. Most end up in landfills anyway! Reusable microfiber towels grip dirt and dust like a magnet and don’t let go, even when wet. I have a few of them lying around. They aren’t cheap, but there are some good deals out there! Next time you wipe your counter or clean a mirror with a reusable microfiber towel you can think of the trees you’re saving.

Materialism:

I know it is tough. We are all materialistic and get rid of one thing for the other, but it doesn’t necssarily hurt to use the same thing for different uses. Reduce, reuse, recycle. We hear this credo all the time but often limit its practice to cans, bottles, and newspapers. Do it for more than that! Many retailers, such as Radio Shack and Best Buy, provide drop-off bins for recycling cell phones, while items such as clothing, toys, and computers are things that small nonprofits, shelters, and rescue missions would love to have. I have volunteer Fridays at work and one of our locations was Salvation Army working at the Thrift Store and you would not believe the clothes and things they get that would provide amazing usages. Of course you have heard of  goodwill.com.

Grow Stuff:

Let’s face it — we all don’t have green thumbs, but try anyway and stick to it. grow a garden. We are constantly killing plants to get what we want. From the production of petroleum-based fertilizers to the cross-country distribution of seasonal fruits and vegetables, the modern food system accounts for 10 percent of U.S. energy consumption. If you take a portion of your lawn and turn it into a garden, you’ll be amazed at how much food you can get out of it.” You’ll not only save money; you’ll be eating vegetables at the peak of their nutritional value. If you live in an apartment, grow a garden inside. I am attempting to do that myself. We’ll see how that goes…

These are just a few things I recommend doing. Of course, I could go on for pages and pages on how to save the world, but we all know, we just have to start acting, right? I promise, if you start doing the little things, the big problems won’t be so bad anymore. It take something catastrophic to happen before most of us react, but I think we should react beforehand. Keeps us from having to clean up our own mess we are sure to complain about when it happens, even though it’ll be our own fault. So, take some time out of your life to do the small things and it’ll pay off. Mother Nature says so