I’ve been doing a series over on Instagram #100WaysSaveMoneySaveThePlanet and in my research, it’s rare that I came across personal finance books and blogs that talk about the relationship of our consumption on our wallet and the planet. So for this post, I wanted to do a roundup of posts that highlight this message that if we want to save money, we have to start caring about the Earth. If you note some of these blogs, they are more in the personal finance / financial independence world and are pretty influential.
Is there an article that showcases the relationship with saving money and the planet? Please link them below.
“It should be no surprise how often doing the frugally conscious thing turns out to also be an ecologically conscious choice. Reduce, reuse, recycle keeps you from buying things in the first place, and to give usable items a longer or second lifespan. Good for the planet, good for your wallet.”
Sometimes, we associate frugality as being cheap, but if we really look at the definition of the word, frugality means making use of existing things, of working with the community, of learning to do without sometimes. Being frugal means giving life to old things. Read more about what frugal means.
“I don’t know how all this will effect me and my family down the line, after all, it’s pretty hardcore, but I already see the wheels turning as I move room from room noticing how waste-FULL I’ve become over the years. We throw out bags and bags worth every week without thought, and I’m hoping this becomes one of those light bulb moments where you look back and see how far you’ve come :) Again, not unlike those events that lead us to better financial management!
So there you have it. Zero Waste 101 :) Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot.
Let it marinate over the weekend and see how you feel about it. I’m not here to convince you in either direction, I just find it helpful to explore new lifestyles with hopes of picking off the good parts and mashing it into your own world :) You never know which will end up changing your life (7 years ago I could care less about personal finance!), but it’s worth taking a few minutes to find out.”
Love this from J. Money. J. Money is laid, back financial blogger who founded Budgets are Sexy. When I first started going the low/zero waste route, it was just a self-experiment. My first documented entry into this movement was me trying to complete a plastic free grocery shopping which meant none of my produce was in plastic bags. It also meant I avoided lots of packaging from pre-made food. I highly second J. Money's advice to try it and see how it affects your life. How will it change the way you consume? If you are up for the challenge, sign up for the #SaveMoneySaveThePlanet below.
Ready to see the impact of your
consumption on the planet,
sign-up for the 15 day
#SaveMoneySaveThePlanet Project.
“JUST SAY NO– no to plastic straws, no to disposable napkins, no to plastic utensils and bags. Saying no is free, boosts your confidence, and prevents tons and tons of waste!”
This is probably the best advice out there. "No, thanks!" is a complete sentence. This is the first tenet of Zero Waste "REFUSE". Say no to things that you don't need, that don't add value to your life. This means saying no to free stuff. It's so easy to get free stuff. Saying no is about being conscious, of not living the default.
“Giving up your packaged food habit really puts into perspective how wasteful buying groceries can be and how much processed food you’re putting into your body. And you don’t even want to know about these 10 sickening secrets of processed food. The best way to avoid packaged food is to buy in bulk, shop locally at farmer’s markets, and find package free stores.”
This is straight forward advice from Reader's Digest. It's sometimes the convenience of items that generate waste. We live in a grab and go society and sometimes we buy on impulse because we don't have the time to plan meals and sit down for dinner. This leads to waste and a bulging waistline.
“ Mad Fientist: Wow! Zero Waste Home?
J. Money: Yeah, Zero Waste Home.
J. Money: But the concept is that a lot of us just throw away stuff, we don’t pay attention to what we buy and consume. It all goes in landfills, it’s bad for the environment and all that kind of stuff.
And I’m not like an environmental – I try my best, but I think what’s interesting about this is that it just gets you to stop and make conscious choices of what you’re doing. I started doing composting because of her. Just the idea that you can put something into the ground and have it be good, all these little things like, “Instead of the trash, I just put it in a composting pit.” It’s real simple to do.”
Love this exchange between Mad Fientist and J. Money, two preeminent personal financial bloggers. Sometimes, we just have to look at things differently to start doing it. Start simple! It's also good to start thinking about this as the start optimization of life where you not only optimize your spending, but your investments and your waste generation.
“Population is still on the rise, for now. The world’s poorest people will gradually move up to having refrigerators and indoor housing, so the number of “Services” will rise. But my challenge is in the “E” part. He says that we can maybe reduce that part by half over the next 30 years. I claim that we can EASILY reduce that by 75% immediately, because right now almost all of the energy used by the rich world is wasted.
For example, consider the average American, driving a car 15 miles each way to work. They burn a gallon of gas per day, which would be 33 kilowatt-hours if you could convert this to electricity with no loss. Those who choose to commute in trucks are at double that figure.
Our irrational self-defeating addiction to convenience and soft flabby TV-absorbing laziness increases our energy use while making our lives less enjoyable.
You could go on to list hundreds of tiny, easy optimizations like this which affect every part of the rich world’s energy consumption, and indeed, I have done exactly this over the last five years. And through a happy mathematical coincidence, reducing your energy use by 75% tends to bring your spending down by a similar amount, which puts you on the path to being financially independent in less than a decade.”
If you are not familiar with Mr. Money Mustache, he retired at the age of 30 from his job as a software engineer. They lived a very frugal life, saving and investing the rest. Mr. Money Mustache increased financial freedom and happiness as well as a decreased environmental footprint as a result. He has described the typical middle-class lifestyle as "an exploding volcano of wastefulness."
Mr. Money Mustache was also on Tim Ferriss and you know I am a big fan of Tim as he always brings insightful guests so having him on solidified my appreciation for both men.
Mr. Money Mustache and Financial Independence
“ Earth: (chuckles) Goodness, no! I’m far too big to ever be destroyed, short of being thrown into the Sun. But what you humans do risk, is destroying your own bountiful way of life.
Right now, your prosperity is provided by a plentiful supply of clean air, water, food, and energy. Although some of you like to take all the credit for this, it’s really my ecosystem that does all the hard work: the plants, animals, oceans, air currents, and especially the atmosphere. Without these services, you would lose your ability to create the food and products that form your current prosperity.”
No economy without ecology. Isn't that so true though? We can't continue the way we are going and expect to have the Earth be there for us. We rely on the Earth's resources for our survival. We need to take better care of it.
“Around this time, I also adopted a Zero Waste Lifestyle. I felt passionate about reducing my waste, but I also knew that aspects of the lifestyle would help save me money in the long run. I focused mostly on using reusable materials instead of disposables as well as reducing waste while shopping. For example, instead of purchasing paper towels and napkins, I switched to using cloth napkins and real towels. A large cost saving came from purchasing a menstrual cup to help cut costs on monthly purchases of tampons/pads. Other great switches are bringing a water bottle everywhere and making cleaners from simple ingredients. I switched to shopping in the Bulk section with cloth bags as well. Items without packaging cost less and you can get as much or as little as you need. In addition to these changes, I purchased second hand items as much as possible and biked as much as I could.”
I met Ginny on Instagram and commented on a post when she announced that she was student loan free. How amazing to have done it in so little time so I asked her how and why she did it. Her response showed that a part of wanting financial independence is to look at your habits. She said adopting a Zero Waste lifestyle helped her reduce expenses, save more and pay off debt.
Financial independence and low waste/zero waste living. The impact of spending on the wallet and the planet.
