Make Love To the Earth

Unless you're looking to recreate a scene from I Am Legend, taking care of our sweet Mother Earth should be something you're interested in doing.  However, if you're like most selfish bastards, you want to get something out of it as well.  Lucky for you, I've created a list of little things that make a big difference (to the Earth and to your wallet):

1)Bring your own bags

Re-usable bags have become somewhat of a trend lately.  They make them in all sorts of designs and colors. Check out these awesome ones:

Pick up about 4 or 5 and you're probably set for any shopping trip you make.  Here's where you can save a little cha-ching:

• Most grocery stores now give you 5 cents for every bag you bring of your own.  That's right, Einstein, you've saved a quarter!
• If you're a drugstore whore like myself, grab a CVS Green Bag Tag.  Strap it around one of your bags and make sure the cashier scans it every time you check out.  Every 4 scans, you get a dollar back.

2)Buy from companies that love the Earth, too

Look for brands that use recycled materials in their packaging.  Find cleaning products that are phosphate and chlorine free. OH LOOK! I already found one for you! They're called Seventh Generation, and they're amazing. Check out this FACTOID:

If every household in the US replaced just one 6-pack of 140-sheet virgin paper towels with our 100% recycled product we could save:
over 2,200,000 trees, over 780 million gallons of water, a year's supply for over 6,000 families of four, and 5.7 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to over 8,400 full garbage trucks.

Wowza. Here's where the moneymaking comes in: their website is always PACKED with coupons.  On top of that, they have a rewards program where you enter codes from their products and earn points to get COOL STUFF.  Who doesn't love COOL STUFF?


3)Bring your own cup

You're already lugging around 5 tote bags, you might as well throw a coffee thermos in there, too.  Did you know that if you bring your own cup to Starbucks, they'll take 10 cents off the price of your drink?  That means you'll only be paying $10.78! (Justkiddingilovestarbucks)


4)Recycle your electronics

Do you get a new phone every time you're due for an upgrade?  Was the iPad just not good enough for you, so you went ahead and got the iPad 2?  If you answered yes to that one, please X out of my blog right now because I don't want to look at you anymore.

Anywho, all these old electronics are just taking up space in your junk drawer, am I right?  There's a great place that will take your old technology (even ones that don't work anymore) and recycle them.  Just go to Gazelle.com, tell them what you have, and they'll give you a price.  They even pay you to ship it to them! And sometimes, they even give you a BOX to put it in! WOAH!


5)Knowledge is power

Recyclebank is a great website that's all about teaching you ways to do your part for the environment.  If all you read just now sounded like "blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah" in your head, just wait.  You can also earn points for doing all SORTS of things, like watching videos about recycling, or entering codes from stuff you already buy like Ziploc bags and Kashi cereal.  You can redeem these points for all sorts of cool stuff, like magazines and gift cards! Best of all, it's free to join.  Yeah, that's right, FREE!

There you have it.  Helping the Earth, and saving some money towards buying that giant Land Rover you've always wanted.  Just kidding, don't do that.