Category Archives: Budget Environmentalism

How Much Water Do You Need For Cooking?

It doesn’t sound like much, but boiling too much water when you cook is a waste. It’s not just the water, after all. It’s the energy it takes to heat it.

You aren’t always going to be certain of the exact amount you need, of course. Most people I know aren’t going to measure the water they put in the tea kettle when boiling water for tea. Then again, it’s more efficient to boil the water in the cup you’re going to use in the microwave if one cup of tea is all you’re doing. Just watch out for sudden boiling from superheated water.

You may also want to consider steaming vegetables rather than boiling them. First of all, steaming is generally better for keeping nutrients in the vegetables, rather than releasing them into the water. I think they taste much better that way too.

In addition to only boiling what you need, remember to put a lid on the pot when you’re boiling water. It will come to a boil sooner, saving both energy and time.

Easy Floor Cleaner

Cleaning floors is not one of my favorite things. Somehow my kids always manage to make it just a little pointless, generally by getting particularly dirty in the back yard later that day or the next, and tracking in tons of dirt, chalk and/or mud. They’re talented that way. And I love it.

They’re some of the big reason why I love making my own floor cleaner rather than buying it. No nasty chemicals, cheap, and I can even make my kids use it if they mess things up too quickly.

Here’s my basic formula for tile. Just as easy as mixing something bought at the store.

Basic Vinegar Floor Cleaner

Add about a half cup of white vinegar per gallon of water. My husband hates the smell of vinegar, so I add a bit of lavender essential oil to cut the vinegar scent until it dries. Mop as usual.

This mix is generally safe for tile and wood floors; just make sure that you don’t get the wood excessively wet. Your mop should be just damp. Some people like to add some vegetable oil to give wood floors a bit more of a shine.

Do You Really Need All the Gadgets?

I admit it. It’s nice having all the gadgets around the house that make life just a little bit simpler. But have you ever given thought to which ones you really need? Ever thought about how much money you can save by not buying them? By not using the ones that require electricity?

Not all gadgets do, of course.

Electric can openers are one gadget I find to be pretty unnecessary. Cans aren’t that hard to open. I can see where you might want some help if you have hand or wrist issues, such as carpal tunnel, but otherwise?

Electric mixers are another thing I don’t see as necessary very often. They’re great for some uses, but most days if I need to mix something, a spoon or whisk works just fine. Although my kids do grumble if it’s a treat and there aren’t any beaters to lick when I make a treat.

Out in the yard, leaf blowers just horrify me. Such a waste of fuel, not to mention loud! Get a broom, start sweeping. Just like hanging clothes out on the clothesline, it’s good exercise as well as good for the environment.

All that said, yes, I love my breadmaker, which certainly counts as a gadget. Ditto my rice maker, which frees me from having to time rice cooked on the stove so carefully. I could get along without them, but they do legitimately make my life easier. The breadmaker in particular means that I am willing to make bread at home, which I probably wouldn’t try (aside from banana bread and zucchini bread) without it.

And that’s because some gadgets are good. It’s hard to determine where you should balance between the energy efficiency of a specialized gadget and using more power. You have an oven most likely, but that doesn’t mean a toaster isn’t a better choice for making toast. Takes a lot more power to heat the oven. However, so did making the toaster.

So how do you decide? What’s a worthwhile gadget? What’s unnecessary?

Is the Cost of Going Green Worth It?

A lot of green purchases cost more upfront than their non-green counterparts. Organic food, compact fluorescent bulbs, cloth diapers… it can be hard to see why you would bother paying extra. All these steps seem like such small things.

However, each of these has the potential to save you some significant money.

The hardest to track is probably the organic food. How do you know if a health issue is caused by the buildup from the food you’ve been eating or if you would have had it no matter your diet? You can’t.

But other differences may be noted. You might find that you are more satisfied when you eat healthier foods. Some people find that their urge to snack goes down when they cut the junk food. Combine that with going organic and you might not be spending as much extra as you think.

Compact fluorescent bulb savings are also hard to track. You don’t know what fixture adds a particular amount to your electricity bill. Their estimated average savings per bulb for the life of the bulb is about $30… not a bad deal.

The need to recycle them can be a bit of a challenge, but you can learn how to handle that in your area at http://www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling

Cloth diapering is something I’ve recently gotten into, as readers of this blog already know. The upfront cost is significant, a few hundred dollars, but through the time my daughter is in diapers I will have saved a lot of money. I would have saved a lot more if I had used cloth diapers starting with my oldest child.

Depending on the brand of diapers you buy, payback can be a few months under a year to a few months over a year. That’s not a bad deal. It’s some extra work, but with modern cloth diapers it really is not all that complex. No pins required.

Not every green purchase has such obvious financial advantages. Organic and fair trade clothing for example, cost more, but you aren’t going to get that money back. They’re about making a choice based on your conscience.

The big changes such as solar power have extremely long payback times and can be unattainable for people who rent. It’s a great choice for those who can afford to wait to earn their money back and have a living situation that allows it, but it’s not a green choice that everyone can do right now.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that not every green choice comes with a price tag.

Choosing to buy less, for example. Making do with less is a green choice and doesn’t cost you anything. It is perhaps one of the most neglected green options out there, as people love to shop. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter, just that it’s one of the least glamorous choices you can make.

But it can feel really good. It’s an adjustment, but not so uncomfortable as some might think. And the impact on your pocketbook is a positive one.

How Much Will Cloth Diapering Save Me?

After spending about $350 or so on various cloth diapering supplies (cloth diapers, cloth wipes, wet bags and a diaper sprayer), the question of course comes up as to how long it will take me to earn my money back. I mean, the lack of waste is nice, but it’s a bit of a financial commitment and money’s tight for us. Knowing when the payback is reached is a nice reassurance.

Payback for us won’t come as quickly as for others. We always bought the store brand Target diapers, which are significantly cheaper than name brands such as Pampers. A mid size pack of Target diapers runs under $11 pretax, versus $16-45 for Pampers, depending on the number of diapers in the package.

The number of diapers in a package drops as the diapers get bigger, so that they can keep charging the same price per package. This makes it hard to do more than approximate things.

And I haven’t even tried to figure in the cost of disposable wipes. Diaper costs alone should be sufficient to show the benefit in a reasonable time frame.

$350 is around 32 packs of diapers. Less actually, since that’s pretax, so I’ll call it 30 packs. Still too many but I would rather overestimate than under.

It’s hard to figure out how long to assume each pack will last on average. Call it two packs a month at the size I buy. I’m guessing here, based on a newborn using 8 or so diapers a day while an older child uses 5-6 a day.

So 32 packs would go for 16 months.

I’m skipping a few factors here. On the disposable side, there’s the cost of going to get the diapers, which is small as I can combine it with other errands. However, the need for them in the past often caused trips to Target that could have otherwise been combined with later trips. The more you shop the more you buy, you know?

As noted above, I’m also skipping the cost of disposable wipes.

On the cloth diaper side there’s the cost of doing laundry. Probably a load every other day in the early days, then spread out depending on how well I can stand waiting. Plus the time to handle the laundry, including hanging them out on the clothesline in good weather for them to dry. But I do that with all the laundry these days, so I really don’t think of it as a big deal anymore.

There’s another factor to consider. One site I saw said it’s an average of 30 months of diapering with babies. However, I’ve also heard that cloth diaper babies tend to potty train earlier. I like that benefit, even if there’s no obvious cost savings with cloth. But it does mean that the financial cost of disposables adds up for longer.

And one more subtle cost factor. This is absolutely my last baby, so I can’t spread the cost out over multiple children. I had my OB make sure of that with a tubal ligation during my C-section. Too bad I didn’t discover cloth diapers sooner.

But cloth diapers have a resale value if they remain in decent condition. When the time comes, I can go to a forum such as Diaper Swappers and get something back for what I’ve spent already. That can bring the payback time frame way down.

Overall, I’m enjoying these early days of my cloth diapering adventures. I hope it continues to go well for us. The money saved and the decreased waste make the extra work worth it for me.