Being Sustainable-And Perhaps Saving Money?

One of those big goals around here for 2020 was to tighten the budget so that there would be even more money for travel and a future long distance move. An unstated or unadded goal until now was to increase my sustainability level-mainly when it comes to the amount of trash and waste I produce, but in other areas as well. I know I need to step up my game, especially as I see more wildfires and melting ice reports on a daily basis (just to begin with)!

Surprise, surprise, for the most part cutting money and cutting waste go together. At least with my math.

Note: I care about the planet and believe in global warming and climate change issues. That should not surprise a single reader. I also feel pretty strongly that much of the solution for these changes need to come from governments and from private industry both of whom have the money, the brain power and the tools to experiment and make changes. But I also feel like even small individual changes matter when added together......

Some parts of my frugal lifestyle are automatically sustainable (hello cloth napkins), but as I tweak the budget, as well as thinking of other changes I can make, these are the things I am doing in the new year to both lower the bottom line and/or help the planet.

There are some things I already do that save money as well being environmentally friendly.  I gave up paper napkins for cloth long ago. I consolidate errands as a matter of habit, and live in an inner suburb where driving for needs can be done close to my home. I wash most things in cold water, and use full loads. I use absolutely no chemicals in my yard including round up. Instead we use solutions like boiling water for weeds and putting down quick oats to get rid of ants. We use energy efficient bulbs and do not drink bottles water (we keep a few gallons on hand for emergencies).

So here is the new year, new list:

1. With a few allowable exceptions, I'm going to be focusing on a buy used first policy as much as possible. Certain clothing items, quilting fabric and yarn and foodstuffs will obviously not be in that category. I'm not saying I'll never buy new, just that it will be my last resort if I cannot find it through the marketplace, at a thrift shop or through my Buy Nothing Group! I'm sure there will be a few or more never used items added to the exception pile.

2.  As I declutter and downsize some more while I Iook forward  to  moving even smaller in the next year, I am committed to seeing if I can find alternatives for everything that is leaving my house, rather than just hauling i to a thrift store. Can I re-use it as a rag? Can I make something out of it? Can I give it away to someone who is looking for what I might have through my Buy Nothing Group or elsewhere? The landfill or the pile of bins behind Goodwill will be my last resort. And contributing to my buy nothing group makes me more comfortable with the asking, of course!

3. Wasted food in landfills is a large cause of pollution and wasted food is bad on my food budget-especially as I have set a general goal of keeping expenses to seventy dollars a week this year. So I've invested in some storage containers and have made a plan so that leftovers will not be just thrown in a container, but rather into one of those Tupperware divided dish things so anyone who wants can see them for lunch and for dinner. We cannot compost as we live near an area that is being dug up for a new housing subdivision and we would be inundated by the de-homed pests. 

from crate and barrel

4. I want a clothes rack and got an extra laundry basket and am committed putting as much as possible into the non-dry load. I feel the need to dry underwear, flannel sleepwear, jeans and sheets and towels. Other than that, hanging things up makes my clothing last longer and uses much less electricity.  

5. I want to look intensively look at other areas that I can cut out "disposable items". Can I make re-usable paper towels (we will always need some paper for dog gak and such)? I have a pattern and am about to make makeup remover squares out of flannel, so that I can stop buying cotton balls or squares,  And my one worst weakness, I am a body and facial wipe girl. I want to get rid of this habit of throwing multiple wipes into the landfill daily, whether I end up using the flannel squares, making my own version of a facial wipe that goes with a spray, or starting to use traditional cleanser in the bathroom! I can also make fabric gift bags instead of buying wrapping paper if I start early and go big. I already have mainly given up straws and coffee cups, but it's time to take a big step forward in this direction.

In the interests of honestly and reality, there are other things that I am either unwilling to do, cannot do, or am not sure how to do:

1. I'm a carnivore,  I love meat and I am always going to, although I attempt to limit beef to a night a week. For my pocket book as well s the planet, because I am always more liable to get steak or short ribs, rather than hamburger.

2. I am naturally cold blooded and and such keep my home at 73 in the winter although in my defense I keep the summer temps closer to 78. Our house is very well insulated but the numbers definitely go up at this time of year.

3.  As a road tripper (who also gets claustrophobia when she flies), the travel thing is a conundrum-even when figuring cost effectiveness, but mainly in terms of the environment. Driving cross country alone or with one other person, train travel, flying. How does one even compare the three options (and is there another). How does one choose, and how can I make a cross country drive both cheaper and more environmentally sound?

4. Like many of you, our  trash removal company requires bags. And I have dogs, so I have plastic bags. I have yet to find another solution for either.

5. I don't limit water use like I should. We have a water hungry lawn for part of the year. I definitely do NOT come from the navy shower school of thought, although I live in an extremely dry, you never sweat, Colorado climate where daily showering is the exception rather than the rule.

And there you have it, the goals, the plans, the good and the in between both finance and planet wise. Where are you on this spectrum. Where would you like to be? What would you add, what would you take away?