Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Luckily I have a beautiful day outside to watch from my office window to observe (I'm trying to be positive here).

Although I know its a little late in the day, there have been some awesome giveaways today that I thought I would share with you in case you still have some time. Reusable totebags seem to the popular giveaway, and I think you will find them quite useful. This information has been gathered from other websites, like inqusitr.com, and ehow.com.

• All Disney Stores are handing out free Mickey Mouse totebags today. Bring in three plastic bottles to any location to get yours.
• Head here to get a mail-in rebate form for Reynolds Wrap’s recycled foil wrap. Then, you can go buy a roll of it and get your money back (up to $3.99).
• Walgreen’s is giving out free recyclable tote bags today. All you have to do is print out the coupon here and buy anything in the store to get yours. The coupon will also give you 15 percent off most items in the store.
• You can get a free reusable tote bag from The Body Shop, too. No coupon needed — you just have to spend at least $30 and they’ll give it to you. The store will also donate $2 from all purchases today to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• Target stores are offering $2 coupons for GE Energy Smart compact fluorescent light bulbs for the first 1 million guests to check out in each store. They’ll also hand out free reusable tote bags.
• Check with your local Subaru dealer or Whole Foods store, but the two have been putting on a "eco-tour" for Earth day, where if you test drive a Suburu, you will receive a $20 gift certificate to Whole Foods, and a potential tote bag.
• Earthbound Farms is also giving away a free tote bag if you are the first 10,000 people every week in the month of April to request for it. You just have to read and do a little pledge.
• For our Canadian friends, Starbucks in Canada is offering free coffee on April 22, 2009 if you bring in a travel mug. They will fill it up with a complimentary brewed Pike Place Roast!
• Not to vote for more consumerism, however, Old Navy is one of my favorite places to shop due to moderately low prices and nicer clothes. They are currently running a special when you buy a $1 tote you will receive 10% off your purchase and may find more on ways to save (i.e. coupons) on their website.

There are more awesome deals for you out there, so be sure to look around at what is in your area!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors...

My apologies for the tardiness of this post...its getting to be that point of the semester when many large papers are due, so the next month may be more sparse for new posts. I'll let you blame my teachers too.

A couple of months ago I created a post on checking out gyms before buying membership. Well, here would be the first place to go - outdoors! Not only is it free, its also a great way to utilize nature's (or your city's) beautiful scenery. The money that can be spent on a year gym membership can be quite extravagant, and the machines also use a lot of energy to help you do something people can do out in the real world - walk, run, or bicycling. Now I understand gyms have many other uses, like strength training and other valuable equipment, but many people do go to gyms to simply use the treadmill or exercise bike. I personally found myself at gyms for a few reasons: a) cold weather/time of day, b) the ability to control pace and distance with a machine, and c) the personal safety of a gym. For me, a and b have been resolved, but the security of a gym environment in comparison to running outdoors can be a challenge, especially for women. I think the key is to be smart about it - Don't run in the dark, stay on routes with heavier "traffic" (i.e. more publicly used areas), and don't run the same route all of the time. [However, as a side note, I also think this is an illusion that can be created in our mind. A gym can be just as a dangerous place as running routes in your city or town, don't be fooled.]

Anyways, about a month ago, I was planning to start doing some marathon training outside, but I was left very frustrated with methods of measuring the distance of runs. I didn't have the money to afford a fancy GPS running watch, which can track your routes, and I was finding difficulty calibrating my iPod Touch with Nike+ program (i.e. a type of accelerometer mechanism). After much time spent on the internet scoping out potential tools to help me figure out the distance of my runs, I came across a website that utilizes Google Maps to help you figure out your mileage. All you have to do is click points that follow your route on the map to start. Using the satellite view, I was even able to calculate off road routes, like my local dog park. Its available at Run.com, and its been an absolute god-send for me to keep me running outside. If you are looking for a better way to document your routes rather than just driving them with your car to use the odometer first, please give this website a try, a great resource to getting more runners outside. You can also see routes people have documented doing in your area!


Even if you aren't into the whole exercise thing - now is the time to start getting outside to absorb some vitamin D from the sun! Enjoy what the outdoors can bring to you or your family.

Recyclable Style

My mother-in-law is very much into Diet Coke. She has the shirts, memorabilia, but first and foremost, keeps gallons of it at her house. Over this past Christmas I had really wanted to make her a very cool hand-made project by using Diet Coke wrappers, in particular, a purse. She had loved the afghan I crocheted for her during the previous year, and lets face it, its much cheaper (and more personal) than buying a gift. However, I failed to realize that collecting these wrappers can take a long time. I have been meaning to try to collect these over the year, but I thought it would be cool to share this project's instructions with you, in case you might know of someone who would like this as a gift.

I found instructions for this project from another blog, on the candy wrapper purse blog by Mylinda Agler. Once you learn this folding technique, you can pretty much use any type of wrappers, from potato chip bags to candy wrappers. The colors, the style of the bag, the material, and any other editions provide you with an awesome amount of creativity to work with.

If you aren't into the arts and crafts scene but would still like to get one of these bags for you or someone you know, check out Ecoist bags. With over 50 styles of bags in tons of colors, they provide a great eye catching bag while saving the Earth. Even if you know you wouldn't buy any of these, they can be a great source of ideas on what kind of bag you might like to make.

Finally, if you are more of a visual learner, there are a couple of good videos on You Tube showing the methods of candy wrapper folding. Some of the better ones (in my opinion) can be found here or here.

Who would have thought you could make an awesome gift out of garbage?

Economically Efficient Ways of Buying Soda

While I cannot claim that soda is at all a green or healthy lifestyle choice, I'll be the first to admit my addiction to it and I won't quitting anytime soon. Now that we're being realistic, I've been thinking about the most efficient way to purchase soda. As you know, soda can be bought in many forms, from 12 ounce cans to 2 liter bottles, to a 24 pack of cans. But which way gives you the most bang for your buck?

Obviously, going generic would be an easy way to make buying soda more efficient, which usually is half the price of name-brand soda. In this case, I will examine what happens when we look at name-brand soda since it will be the most expensive and generally carry the same price across the board. Generic sodas can range in price, so be sure to check out what your grocery store offers.

If we look at the name-brand, 24 pack of soda, with no sale price, this usually goes for about $7.99, not including tax. When we break that down, that comes down to about 33 cents per 12 ounces of soda (which is the general form of measurement I will be using here as a standard). A 12 pack of can soda will typically come about the same price or even more, since it usually is priced at $4.50. At $4.50 its about 37 cents a can. If we look at the 2 liter bottle of soda, at the name-brand price, its usually $1.29, again with no sale price. Translated into ounces, 2 liters is equal to approximately 67.6 ounces. This is equal to about 5 and a half cans of soda, which then levels out to about 23 cents per 12 ounces of soda! We save approximately 10 cents per 12 ounces of soda when we buy 2 liter bottles of soda.

(I am not aware of the price of the 6 pack bottles of soda, just because I usually can't drink that much at a time, but I have left my equation for calculating these numbers at the bottom for you. Next time I go I will check out the price and add it here as well.) After checking at my local grocery store, for a 6 pack of 20 ounce bottles goes for about $4.29. At this rate, you are paying 42 cents per 12 ounces of soda. Again, this assuming there is not a sale, and this is a price of a name-brand soda.

Our other ways of buying soda, like 20 ounce bottles up by the check out counter, are clearly over-priced and used as a type of impulse buy for you. These are also priced at about $1.29 a bottle. At that rate, you are spending 77 cents per 12 ounces of soda! Thats a huge difference, so next time you are waiting in line at the store, look away from those displays, because their purpose is to rip you off and satisfy your need for whatever you like to drink.

Pepsi and Coke have also been selling these "half-cans" of soda, which I hope you can already predict these are a rip off as well. Aluminum is an expensive material right now, so you will be paying for it. If you cannot drink a whole can of soda at once, again, consider the wallet-friendly 2 liter bottles of soda. You only have to pour as much as you can drink.

In addition to saving on buying 2 liter bottles, watch for sales! This week my grocery store had a sale for 88 cents on name brand soda. That brings me down to 16 cents per can of soda, or basically half the price of canned soda! Again, with generic soda, you're likely to see similar savings, so if you can bear with it, give generic soda a chance, and consider just buying name-brand soda when its on sale.

Now, if you are drinking SO much soda, it might be possible to profit back from such, by turning your aluminum cans in for some pocket change. In our area, a large 20 gallon garbage bag of non-crushed cans gave us about $1.50 back, so its up to you whether this is something to pursue. However, I would encourage you to recycle these containers, plastic or aluminum, to keep our Earth clean. You can also make a lot of cool things out of 2 liter bottles, and there is a list of awesome ideas here. I remember when I was in 3rd grade we made miniature green houses out of them, and watched a plant grow a little bit everyday in our bottle. I use one now to work with my dog's water dish (like a water cooler works) so I dont have to fill his dish as often. In addition, since using 2 liter bottles requires you to use your own glasses, this can also be a more eco-friendly way to serving (assuming you are not using disposable cups). Since you wash and reuse these glasses, you are not filling our landfills further.

To use this equation in figuring out what you are paying per can of soda at your grocery store, I used to following:
(With 12 or 24 packs of soda:) Price divided by number of cans.
(With 2 liters of soda:) Number of total ounces divided by 12, then the price divided by the number you got from the first part of the equation.

Damn those math teachers in school, I really am using math in real life!

Frugal Green Girl buys a house!

Well, over the past couple of months, my husband and I had been in limbo about to continue renting or to consider buying a home. Both can have advantages and disadvantages. Not really acting on our thoughts about buying, we happened to stumble on our dream starter home, with a pretty dreamy price. After discussing things with our potential seller, we applied for and received pre-approval on a loan. And after negotiating happened over a day, we settled on an offer. Right now we are amidst of a home inspection and final loan approval this week. While I know all of you are not looking to buy a home right now, I plan on featuring a couple of posts on the home-buying process since there are many opportunities to afford homes at reasonable costs - especially in the buyer's market that exists right now.


While being a graduate student does not supply a great income to our dual income, we found we were still able to afford a reasonably low down payment with an FHA loan. FHA loans are loans that are insured by the government (specifically the Federal Housing Administration), that are provided to lenders to let people, who may typically not be eligible for a loan due to a small down payment or low income, afford a home. These are very common with first-time home buyers who generally cannot afford a hefty 20% down payment, and FHA loans allow down payments at 5% or even less. These types of loans are also good for people with credit problems or bankruptcies, and provide a great way to rebuild credit. In addition, much of the down payment can be gifts from relatives (which some lenders may not traditionally allow). However, these loans are not just for first-time home buyers or people with bad credit - anyone can qualify and there are no income limits. More information on the potential benefits of FHA loans are available in home buying books, on numerous websites, and specifically the FHA's website.

While this sounds like a good deal, there obviously can be catches to something that seems to good to be true. In many ways, FHA loans can be more expensive than a traditional loan, because of the fact of the low down payment and the insurance you have to pay for supplying such a small down payment, so be sure to do your homework before considering FHA loans as an option for you.

More to come on first time home buying for sure, as this is proving to be quite a journey and learning experience in the world of personal finance. :)

From your fellow readers

Hello everyone,

This week, especially due to mid-term exams before spring break, I would love to take this opportunity to turn this post to you guys, the readers!

Jamie, a fellow reader, told me about TerraCab, a new business that has recently launched that provides fleets of emission-free pedicabs. Plus, they are sponsored by other companies so they are absolutely FREE to riders. These cabs will start becoming available on Earth Day, April 22nd, in Seattle, Washington, but they do plan to expand nationally. The vehicle works via petal-power by a trained driver, which contains a rechargable battery to work the headlights and signal lights, and to assist on hills. Plus, the companies that also sponsor these vehicles give free coupons to riders. So a free ride, and an emission-free vehicle to get where you need to be, where do I sign up? For more information, check out their website (http://www.terracab.com) or call 1-877-7FREERIDE. Hopefully they will be expanding nationally very soon!

Naomi, another fellow reader, told me about Beatmyprice.com, a new price comparison website that will search the web to make sure consumers are getting the very best deal. This site works a little differently from most in that the more you search, the more the website will continue to grow! Be sure to keep an eye out for coupons as well to save even more, which can be found at RetailMeNot.com.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to mention Frugal Focus, of which this blog is a feature of. Not only will you see posts from my blog on here, but you can also find posts from blogs very similar to mine, especially with ways to save money. Its a great chance to see more ideas in one spot, explore the other great blogs out there, and as always, hearing what Frugal Green Girl has to say this week!

Just as I posted reader submitted ideas here today, I always want to hear of the new things you have discovered in your frugal/green quests as well. If you have a good idea, feel free to email me at frugalgreengirl@gmail.com.

Also, just as an FYI, I will likely not post until mid-week next week- a very cruel professor decided to make our essay mid-term due in the middle of our spring break week. :(

Energy Saving Search

The power of our computers can be a huge, energy-consuming matter. While I love my computer dearly for all it helps me with in life, its not always a friend to the environment. There are lots of great computers out there that allow for an "energy saving mode", or carry the energy star compliancy sticker. So what if a new computer is not in your future right now or you don't have an energy saving computer? Well, believe it or not there are even more ways to save energy than just buying an energy star compliant computer, or turning on the energy-saving mode on your computer.

The colors used on your display screen can be an energy waster by the brightness of the color used. For example, Google is a prime example of a absolute white screen, that takes more energy to produce than, say, black. While I know not all of us can have the advantage of choosing a black over a white backdrop, its something to think about when putting a picture on your desktop, or keeping some windows down on the scroll bar, rather than keeping them up on your screen if you aren't using them.


Treehugger.com also wrote an article regarding this phenomenon:

"Take a look at Google, for instance, who gets about 200 million queries a day. Let's assume each query is displayed for about 10 seconds; that means Google is running for about 550,000 hours every day on some desktop. Assuming that users run Google in full screen mode, the shift to a black background will save a total of 15 (74-59) watts. Now take into account that about 25 percent of the monitors in the world are CRTs, and at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, that's about $75,000/year, a goodly amount of energy and dollars for changing a few color codes."

Also, many people have created "black" versions of Google's popular search engine:

• http://black-google.blogspot.com/
• http://www.blackle.com/
• http://www.blackoogle.us/

While I know it seems using these search engines may be only a small drop in the bucket, every little bit helps! If we all adopt this strategy, it will begin to add up. You'll also save slightly on your electric bills for conserving energy, so its a win for our environment and your pocketbook!

Try Before You Buy: Gym Membership

Over the past month I have started training to run a half-marathon in April. I was very excited at the prospect, and I knew training for the event would be my biggest challenge. Staying committed to any type of program that requires discipline can be hard for anyone. Due to the cold weather that occurs during this time of year, I thought it would be too harsh for me to run outdoors having no real experience in running. Normally, I use our student recreation center, which provides free gym membership for all current students. However, on weekday nights, I found this place to be quite on my nerves. There are no fans on to ventilate the place properly, and it was incredibly crowded, which left me sometimes waiting in line to use a treadmill. In addition, I also have a minor phobia about crowded places, which got me to think of turning to a new place to continue training.

Looking at gyms for membership can be an overwhelming process, with a lot of information to consider. Now, obviously the most environmentally friendly route for exercise is to be out in mother nature herself, not on energy consuming exercise machines. Always consider that option first. In my case, I decided to take on gyms that would allow a one month membership, instead of committing myself to a year membership. Gym memberships can be so expensive, and they are hidden with loads of fees, even for just enrolling as a member. In addition, these rates can also increase every year. Although paying for membership on a per month basis will likely be more expensive than as an enrolled member, you are not committed to something that you risk not using every month. Hence, I enrolled for a month until the weather gets warm enough to run outside.

If you are thinking about enrolling in a gym membership, consider many options for information:

• Talk to friends, family, or co-workers about where they go. What do they think? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a member at their gym? Sometimes referrals from other members can also get you discounts.
• Check out online resources like insiderpages.com that provide reviews on local businesses in your area.
• By all means, take a tour! Take tours of multiple prospective gyms, especially if you are looking to train in a specific area. Do they have the equipment or the services you are looking for? Do not be afraid to ask questions about their gym, this is a big portion of your money that is going to them.
  
• Many gyms will offer a trial membership, take advantage! Some are for a week, some a day, but either way it will give you an opportunity to feel what things are like in this environment. Often these trial memberships will be posted on the gym's website or a sign on the in or outside.
  
• Beware of clauses in your membership contract. Someone I know enrolled in a gym for a specific group fitness class, which was later canceled after she had enrolled. She was not allowed for a refund or to cancel or transfer her membership.
• BE SURE this is something that can fit into your monthly budget and will be worth the use! Gym membership is not getting any cheaper these days, so be sure it is worth the money up front.
• If you are looking to use a single piece of equipment the entire time during your membership, like in my case, a treadmill, consider the advantages of purchasing this item. Generally the use of this item over its lifespan will be paid off much sooner than your gym membership, and you will still have something tangible after all is said and done.
  

Starting an Emergency Fund

Over the past couple months, I have decided to take up my mother's advice, and start a type of semi-emergency fund. I'm not talking about the emergency funds that the big boys in personal finance talk about, which apparently should be anywhere from 3-6 months of your salary in case the worst happens, I'm talking about a smaller version that we all can live with. The premise for this account is simple - open another account at your bank or credit union (I just call mine "extra") and set the account to take out a small amount, like $10-$20 per paycheck, out of your savings or checking account (where ever you put your paycheck).


Because it is such a small amount of money, you hardly even notice its gone. Over time, this amount will build up, not to a staggering amount by any means, but something to aid you in case your washer breaks, or the car needs repairs. The blow seems less detrimental to your budget when you already have an account set up for that sort of thing. I have had no real need to use this account yet, but now that I have saved up a decent amount, I would feel sort of sad if I had to take from it, which is a new experience in comparison to my normal bad spending habits.

The Advent of Stainless Steel Waterbottles

Due to a time crunch last week, I was unable to post for that week, in turn you will receive two posts from me this week. So be sure to read the following entry after this one to get your fix. :)

Last month I was contacted by the owner of Cynergreen, a company that manufactures and sells various types of stainless steel water bottles in order to promote less waste and earth friendly products (They also do some other great stuff, but I leave it to you to visit the website if you want to know more). I had been noticing over the past couple of months that more and more of the stainless steel type of water bottle appearing around my place of work, and I was wondering if these would feel better and work better than my plastic Rubbermaid water bottle I had been using since the beginning of my going green days. Anyway, they gladly sent me one to give it a trial run. To say up front, these bottles are BPA free, which you may know from a previous entry here on Frugal Green Girl, is something to look out for. I would suspect that since stainless steel is generally treated the same, that most stainless steel water bottles, regardless of manufacturer, are BPA-free as well.

This is the water bottle that I received, which is just the right color for me and this blog. I tested this out for the following week, and came to the following list of pros and cons about using this type of bottle:
Pros:

• The stainless steel does a good job at keeping water cooler than my plastic Rubbermaid bottle, or in my mind it felt cooler at least.
  
• This bottle also had a convenient carabiner for easier carrying.
  
• Despite its wide mouth opening, spilling was rare for me (and that's something you don't want people to see at the office).
• Holds a good amount of fluid (20 oz). However, stainless steel bottles come in all shapes and sizes. My boss has a gigantor bottle that holds 48 oz.
  

Cons:

• Something about metal in my mouth that I don't like...I don't know how other people feel about this, but metal on my teeth sometimes gives me a goosebump-like feeling.
• I really didn't like the twist-off top. I would spend a lot of time trying to either get it off, or trying to put it back on correctly so it fit in the alignment of the lines in the metal to hold it on. This seems to be a common theme among all stainless steel water bottles, so if it doesn't matter to you as much, then there is little here to worry about.
  

Truthfully, I still use my plastic Rubbermaid one over the stainless steel bottle, but I will still use the stainless steel water bottle occasionally. The point is, if you aren't using a form of reusable water bottle by now, you should take its value seriously. Not only are you saving the planet by reusing materials, but you are also saving money by not purchasing bottled water and using water from either the tap or a Brita/Pur pitcher.

Making your own Bread!

If you can't tell by my blogroll, I am a huge fan of The Simple Dollar. If I could do blogging as a full time job, I would like to think this blog would be modeled similar to Trent's. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out! While his blog is mostly about personal finance issues, going green can often be a product of saving money. Anyways, one of his most popular entries is the value of homemade bread and how to make it. While I wasn't sure about this at first, since bread at the store typically costs a little more than a dollar (or 79 cents at Aldi stores), I wasn't sure if this could be a good timesaver. However, Trent talks about the amount of preservatives in bread in order to maximize shelf life, and what effect this has on the actual taste of the bread and your health for that matter. I remember when I was a kid during the 90s and popularity of the bread-baking machine, and tasting not only the goodness of homemade bread, but also the warmth from the oven. Its a really good taste, which is likely why I eat so much of it in nicer restaurants that make their own bread. So anyway, after reading Trent's entry I thought this would be worth a try, especially because I would like to be learning more about how to cook. I have pretty much never done any type of bread making in my life, but followed the instructions and some common sense logic, and turned out a beautiful and delicious loaf of bread. It was actually a fairly easy thing to do on a Sunday as well, which for me is like a chore day and a lounging day around the house, so adding in bread making wasn't all too much of an inconvenience. Plus, you get to punch the dough for a good ten minutes, which can be a great stress reliever! Nothing like hitting two birds with one stone on this one.

This was my end product for my first try at baking homemade bread, and it was quite scrumptious! The ingredients are a simple mixture, no real rocket science here, and getting in the appropriate amount of flour. All you need is a packet of yeast, milk, butter, sugar, salt, and flour. Again, for more detailed instructions (with great pictures) check out Trent's entry at The Simple Dollar. Even through industrial bread only costs a little over a dollar, the cost of the ingredients are likely to be less, especially if you buy them in bulk, and its flat out better for your health without all the preservatives of industrial bread. You could even use organic ingredients and make this even more healthy! Your local co-op is a great source for these ingredients, and many grocery stores are now adapting a "natural foods" section where organic foods are more available and affordable.

Consider giving this one a try, you might even enjoy it (the punching especially)!

The Value of Customer Reviews

For those of you with larger dogs, I find trips to pet stores a challenge in terms of finding effective dog toys that aren't destroyed in seconds. I will spend a great deal of time standing in aisles, contemplating whether this toy will withstand my dog's chewing ability. After numerous attempts at trying to find "good" dog toys for my young lab at my local PetCo store, I decided to take up on Amazon.com's 4-for-3 deal on pet toys. I was on the hunt for the "indestructable" dog toy, hoping to find more than one. While the descriptions are helpful, the one thing I find myself looking to more commonly is the customer reviews. DO NOT underestimate the power of this information. I cannot tell you (nor do I want to think about) the amount of money I have spent on dog toys that have been destroyed in a matter of minutes.

This review is one that I read for the "Busy-Buddy Tug-a-Jug", one of the many toys that involves a puzzle with treats or food. I'm happy to say that after 4 days, it is still in tact and looks like it will be with us for a while. I was happy to find reviews written my dog owners with a similar problem - the power chewer. I plan to continue buying dog toys on-line solely for the customer reviews I can read after finding 4 good quality dog toys. While some are more expensive, I would rather spend the money on something that will last a year or two, rather than something that will be shredded to pieces within a few days. In addition, online retailers like Amazon generally have cheaper prices than pet stores, will have good deals like the buy 3 get one free, and have a greater variety of toys than any store. These reviews are on many retailer websites, like Walmart or Target in addition to Amazon, so be sure to look for them and take advantage of the information they have to offer.

I also used these reviews when making large purchases, like the recent laser printer I bought a few weeks ago. With 52 customer reviews and an overall star rating of 4.5 out of 5, this gave me confidence this printer would work well. The reviews also give you an opportunity to find out about minor faults or things that you wouldn't know about until you have actually purchased. The common complaint with my printer was the paper would curl easily, however, I considered it minor when deciding to purchase, and I do not have that problem after using it.

This practice is also very similar to Consumer Reports, which is something I subscribed to over the past year to purchase 2 vehicles and new cell phone service provider. Consumer Reports provides information on cars, electronics, appliances, insurance, child and baby items, and more. To date (our cars were purchased in February and April of last year), the cars that we have bought have had no problems, and neither has our new cell phone provider. You can receive all the information over the internet for only $5.95 on a per month basis, and cancel when you don't need it anymore.

Consider the power of customer reviews next time you are making a purchase that involves consideration of the variety of products available, it can save you a good deal of money when you buy right the first time around.

Reducing What You Print

Being a graduate student, I have a lot of crap to print. Professors always want us to read extra outside articles in addition to whatever textbook readings there are. Plus, I want to save a lot of these for my doctoral comprehensive exams in a few years for studying purposes. When I first moved here, I was fascinated by the fact that Kansas seems to lack an environmental awareness, and the amount of printing seems to only add to it. My undergraduate university had double-sided printers everywhere, which saved students A LOT of paper. Imagine the difference of only using 15 pages of paper rather than 30.

I know many of you are probably thinking, "Why don't you just read them on your computer? That is a much more ecofriendly way of reading papers for classes." I know. And I agree with you. However, I care about my vision, I'm not someone who can read 30 pages of pdf files for hours without getting a headache. Plus, I am also someone who likes to take notes on the paper and highlight certain ideas. Its much more generative for my thinking.

Anyway, so yesterday my husband was having issues with one of our older printers. He was trying to print homework for his classes and the printer just kept saying the paper was out when it clearly was not. We ended up printing from my printer (I seem to accumulate free ones when I buy new computers, and I have another in my office). But overall, I cannot express how much I hate inkjet printers. If one drop of water touches the paper, the ink goes everywhere, and I find myself conserving the ink as much as possible because it seems to run out so quickly, thus costing me another $30 to $35 for more ink cartridges. While I am sure there are ways to save in this department (refilling cartridges rather than buying new ones, primarily), I have decided to purchase a laser printer with double sided printing. When you actually look at the money you save buy going with a laser printer, in addition to the double-sided printing, its quite amazing.

With a laser printer cartridge (i.e. toner), I bought a $70 "high-yield" cartridge that prints approximately 7,000 pages. That's 1 cent per page. Comparing to ink jet cartridges, which can differ in price, but if you just say $35, which is what I paid on average for an ink cartridge for my Canon printer, averages about anywhere from 200 to 450 pages at 5% coverage. If you are at a higher capacity, (the 450 page mark) that's about 8 cents a page, and at lower capacity (200 pages) it costs around 18 cents a page. That's a huge difference!

With my husband now returning to school and needing to read outside articles, I could only see benefit in purchasing a laser printer. "But aren't those expensive? They are usually a very big and complex machine." I hear you thinking. True, but its a key to know of where are the right places to look. Amazon.com, for example offers excellent deals on laser printers, rather than paying full or expensive prices at your local Office Max or Best Buy. I purchased the Brother HL-5250DN REFURBISHED printer. For a new one of these printers, it would be $190 on Amazon.com, or $250 at a store. A refurbished printer cost $160. New or refurbished, I don't think this printer is very expensive in comparison to other laser printers, especially ones with all the bells and whistles. But when I buy refurbished, I save $90! You can always save money by purchasing a company refurbished product, which also typically comes with a warranty to ease your mind.

Add this all up with the amount of paper you save by using a double sided printer (which you can always turn off if you have a paper to turn in that cannot be double sided), the savings are colossal. If you have a lot to print, consider looking at what else is out these. Laser printers are more affordable nowadays than you think.

The debate of "Doggy Daycare"

I'm sure you have seen them around your town or a nearby city... doggy daycare businesses. They take care of your dog during the day while you're at work, and will typically board your dog while your out of town as well. When I first saw these places, I thought "boy, people need to know the line that they have crossed when they can't even take care of their own dogs", but now, I have become one of them.

As you may or may not know, I have an active, year-old yellow lab in my house, whose energy is usually bogging down my ability to get my work done at night (Those familiar with my situation may sympathize). On most days, I would come home for lunch to let him out, and then return to work/school, while he is spending around 8 hours a day in a crate. This semester I was not as fortunate to have an hour to come home every day at lunch, and have been forced to bring my dog to one of these places.

While I am frustrated about the cost of these places, I find myself feeling better that my dog is tired at the end of the day, sleeping happily on the couch with me in the evenings, rather than being worried about how to entertain or distract him while I am trying to work on homework. The place that I bring my dog charges about $13 a day when you buy a package deal of 20 days. Additionally, today I had an incident with the daycare place where my dog was bit on the ear after startling another dog. I, knowing my dog's personality, did not think much of it, while the owner of the business apologized many times to me and cleaned his wound numerous times throughout the day. I could tell he felt deeply sorry and guilty about the situation, even though I have no idea how he felt it could have been prevented. Either way, he also offered me 5 free days of dog care due to the hole left in my dog's ear.

While this story does not have much of a point of being green or saving money (besides having my dog bit in the ear that gave me some free days), I was thankful to find my dog under the care of such nice, friendly, and caring people, and an important awareness to have in the world of today's franchises and falling economy is regarding the local businesses in our small towns or big cities that provide a presence in the community like no other. I have no problem giving more money to businesses that give back to the community, are an active member of the community, and provide a level of customer service that you may not get anywhere else. Not too long ago the corporate business did not exist, and all stores were the "mom & pop" type. Consider giving hometown and local businesses a shot at serving you, you may be pleasantly surprised, and helping out your local economy. In a way, its very similar to the idea of "organic" products - only with the business in mind.

Green Landscaping and Care

While I do not have the opportunity to take upon this myself, I'd like to encourage you to think about landscaping your property - "green" style. The best way to go about this is to plant native species in your yard. "Native" refers to a plant or tree indigenous to your particular area. The major plus side of planting native species, the best part is that they take care of themselves! You dont need to plant any special type of soil, or water obsessively (i.e. waste water). Native plants will thrive in the soil you plant them in, as well as the work well with weather conditions for that region of the country. In other words, planting native species in your yard will save you time and save you money with the decreased water expense. Plus, native plants also work with and enhance local ecosystems.

Not only am I talking about plants, but also about the grass that covers your yard. Many people plant the common blue Kentucky grass, which, unless you live in that native region, requires a lot of watering during those hotter months. This amount usually ranges around 3 inches of water (again, depending on your area) to keep your grass looking good. That's a lot of water!

For information on native trees, shrubs, perennials, ferns, and grasses, check out plantnative.org

Also, if you have a nice big backyard, consider creating your own composting bin. This website offers numerous plans for different types of composting bins, but keep in mind that they do not have to be a complex item that requires a construction crew to build. It can be as simple as taking some steel fence wire, looping it around and attaching it to make a circle, and then adding your compost. All that would be needed for tools is a wire cutter. You can build more than one to create a "compost fence" or a cool fort for your kids!

In addition, if you have a canine friend living with you, there are ways to compost your pup's waste to save space in landfills. City Farmer has a lovely website on how to create these bins, step-by-step, and other ways to dispose of your friend's fecal matter in an environmental friendly way.

I'm anxious for the day I will have a yard! :)