Cheapo Groovo

Trash into Treasure. Why do so few do this?

Cheapo Bird Feeder

Spread your peanut butter on a toilet paper roll. 

Roll it in birdseed

Hang it on a tree branch.  

How to Knot Your Own Earth Friendly Bathroom Mat #eco #green

 

Recycle Cans and Earn Some Extra Cash!

Your local municipality is earning at least 55 cents/lb. Then they increase your property taxes, water bill, sewer fees, waste collection, etc. Why not keep the money for yourself?

A Bucket A Day Saves $36

I'm a big believer in rain water harvesting. But admittedly, we are not quite there yet. So I kept thinking of ways to conserve water and save on the bill.

Before we shower, we take a bucket, turn on the water, and fill the bucket as we wait for hot water. We then use this water for washing dishes and filling the humidifier. This saves us about $3 a month! 

 

Water Saving Techniques

Watering can

If you’re interested in harvesting rain water, you don’t actually need to purchase a rain barrel. Use what you have on hand - buckets, coolers, plastic or rubber tubs, and even a child’s old wading pool.

Instead of saving for a rainy day, let the rainy day save for you.

Products Made To Fall Apart. The Cost of Walmart!

At our newly opened Slave Mart, I saw shoes for $4.99. So when they wear out in a few months, you buy new ones!

Cheapness -- and the decline in durability that has accompanied it -- has triggered an astonishing increase in the amount of clothing we buy. In the mid-1990s, the average American bought 28 items of clothing a year. Today, we buy 59 items. We also throw away an average of 83 pounds of textiles per person, mostly discarded apparel, each year. That's four times as much as we did in 1980.

Since 1995, the number of toasters and other small electro-thermal appliances sold in the U.S. each year increased from 188 million to 279 million. We buy more than 2 billion bath towels a year, up from 1.4 billion in 1994.

In a paper [PDF] that came out last year, three business professors illustrate how inducing manufacturers to cut product quality enhances Walmart's competitive position. "Because lower quality products are usually cheaper to produce, it is often argued that discount retailers induce lower quality in order to drive down prices. Our model suggests, however, that the competitive and bargaining position effects provide incentives to induce lower quality regardless of changes in production costs," the authors write.

Walmart is also a master at getting shoppers to buy more than they came for. It employs all of the techniques that have been shown to spur "unplanned buying," according to a recent study [PDF] in the Journal of Marketing. The study found that large stores that promote the concept of one-stop shopping and can only be reached by car generate the most impulse buys. Marketing messages that evoke abstract shopping goals are also highly effective at inducing people to put more stuff in their carts.

According to the study, the least amount of unplanned buying occurs when a shopping trip involves multiple stores, each with a specific product focus, and the customer arrives on foot or by mass transit -- in other words, when you shop at small neighborhood and downtown retailers.

11 Energy Saving Tips

1. Give yourself an energy audit
2. See if solar power makes sense using this calculator
3. Set your water heater to 125 degrees
4. Buy low flow shower heads
5. Try to shower in less time or shower with someone else :-))
6. Fill a gallon milk jug with sand, put the top back on, and put it in your toilet tank (be sure it fits without covering the flap)
7. Get yourself a twin draft guard for your drafty doors
8. Unplug all appliances that are not being used, including cell phone chargers
9. Set up a passive solar system to increase heat transfer in any room. Just paint about a dozen bricks black, then put them in a bay window or anywhere that gets direct sunlight. Use aluminum foil underneath the bricks to really heat them up!
10. If you are building a new home, consider earth sheltering. For more info, go to this blog and get building plans here
11. Buy a solar powered battery charger

Foraging For Food

The other day I was watching the news and they had a Chicago chef, along with an expert forager, picking up food along side a Wisconsin road. So I got to thinking about expanding my free food post with a few web sites below. Happy hunting!

• Mushroom Guide (PDF)
• Apple Picking
• Comprehensive Guide (not a freebie)

Live Green And Save Money

Nearly three-quarters of all household water is flushed down the toilet or washed down the shower drain!

• Placing a brick in the toilet tank can save up to 13,000 gallons per year
• Installing a low-flow shower head saves nearly $100 per year since your hot water heater gets a break
• Use a bucket to capture water from your bath tub as you wait for the water to heat up

Two-thirds of the oil Americans consume is used for transportation

• Don't speed - drive 5 miles under the limit
• Avoid sudden acceleration when the light turns green
• Tune up your engine
• Make sure your tires are inflated properly

Home Energy use accounts for 21% of America's global warming pollution

• Buy energy star appliances
• Turn electronics off when not in use
• Swap the incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs