(Happy Throwback Monday! It would have been Throwback Thursday per usual had Earth Day been responsible enough to occur on a Thursday. This post originally ran on Earth Day 2023, which was April 19.)
Everywhere I looked online this morning were reminders of Earth Day 2023. My initial reaction was to remember my high-school Ecology Club. That’s when I believed, truly believed, that we’d have this all figured out pretty soon.
Boy, was I young.
That thought was followed by this one: Frugalists are eco-warriors.
Because we are. We really are! Although our goal is to be good stewards of our finances, we wind up being good stewards of the Earth. The steps we take to save money help us ameliorate our impact on the environment.
Here are seven ways we do that. Note: These aren’t universal. Few people likely do all these things or even most of them, but I know that my regular readers do at least some of them.
1. We buy less
The less you buy, the less you have to throw away. DF and I both have very basic wardrobes because we’re very basic people. (Even though he does have a couple of tuxedos* hanging in the basement.) It helps that he’s retired and I work from home, but even when we did work we each relied on a handful of shirts and slacks.
We also have very basic furniture, décor (several of his mother’s artworks plus a couple of paintings we bought years ago), cookware and garden tools. He’s cut his own hair for decades using a Flowbee (I swear to God), and I get mine done at the beauty school for $11 plus tip. (As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a small fee for items bought from my links.)
Nothing wrong with wanting things! And we do have things. We just don’t react blindly to each Big New Thing that’s announced. Instead, we pick our spots and apply my “should I buy it?” filter: Is this something I want badly enough to dust for the rest of my life?
DF’s mom is very hardcore: Every time she decides to buy something new, she gets rid of two things she already owns. I want to be her when I grow up.
2. When possible, we buy in bulk
DF and I get oatmeal 10 pounds at a time from Costco. (We used to get it from the bulk-buy section at Fred Meyer, but the pandemic put a stop to that.) That’s a lot less packaging than buying, say, a box of eight packets of instant oatmeal. We recycle the Costco box and use the two waxed-paper bags as trashcan liners because of course we do.
Instead of buying 10 five-pound bags of flour, we get one 50-pound sack and use the empty bag to store pruned raspberry canes until they’re dry enough to burn in the autumn. (If we did buy flour in smaller bags, we’d of course recycle those as well.) Rather than buy and toss multiple hand-soap bottles, we refill one with diluted liquid soap that costs us less than a penny.
Bulk buying saves in another way, too: Fewer trips to the store, which means less gasoline used and fewer impulse purchases. It also contributes to a longer life for your car.
3. We repurpose
If it breaks, can it still be used in some way? If it’s no longer needed for its original purpose, can it be turned into something else? If there’s something I need, how can I make it myself?
A few examples from my own household:
Some of the buttons in my button jar were taken off old shirts just before they became cleaning rags. We use strips of cloth from worn-out garments to tie up pea vines; I will plan to use them this year on a new vining zucchini from the Renee’s Garden lineup, “Incredible Escalator.“ (As a Renee’s Garden affiliate, I will receive a small fee for purchases made from my link.)
My workstation is an old shelf set atop a small bookcase on one end and scrap lumber on the other. It works exactly as well as a desk.
Our old mop rusted clean off its handle. That handle is now suspended from wire (also repurposed) in our built-from-scrap greenhouse; we tie string to it, then train cucumber vines to grow straight up.
We have watering cans in the greenhouse, too. Literal cans: They’re made from empty food cans with “spouts” we made by crimping the cans with pliers. DF’s granddaughters like the little one – “a tiny watering can!” – the best.
The outdoor garden beds are made with scrap lumber from former projects or that was given to him by friends. A cage made from an old dog run protects our apple trees from hungry moose, ensuring a winter’s worth of dried apples, frozen pie filling and applesauce.
4. We embrace the sharing economy
Freecycle and Craigslist have faded noticeably, but the Buy Nothing Facebook concept reigns supreme in my world. Apps/sites like OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and NextDoor also make it possible to put what you no longer need out into the universe, and to find things that you do need.
Some of these transactions might involve payment, but sometimes people just want to get rid of things. Either way, better they should find new owners instead of dumping them into the landfill.
The sharing economy also relates to the “we buy less” category. For example, my niece has a pressure washer and a hand-held blender. Haven’t needed the washer yet, but I’ve borrowed the blender when making applesauce and rhubarb compote. She also has a mandoline that I had borrowed a couple of times, but now I have my own – and I got it from Buy Nothing.
In my lifetime I have given away two cars. I could have gotten some trade-in credit for the first, since I was in the market to buy a new one. Instead, I sold it for $1 to a relative who needed transportation to work and to college. Sold the second car for a buck as well, when my daughter and her then-husband moved from Seattle to Phoenix.
Cheryl, a longtime frugalist profiled in the “Meet a Reader” series, did this, too. Her frugal lifestyle made it possible for her to share such a big-ticket item without causing stress to her own budget. Ditto.
5. We interrogate purchases
There’s nothing as dull as yesterday’s sensation. Fad clothing, foods and toys quickly lose their luster and too often wind up getting tossed.
Or maybe donated to charity thrift shops, but these places throw away stuff, too; they can’t use everything they get, so they have to prioritize what they think will sell. At least some of the donations will wind up in the landfill.
Remember that when your kid/grandkid wants still more plastic gimcrackery. And remember it for ourselves, too. When you don’t rush to buy every new thing that comes along, you produce a lot less trash.
6. We cook
And we save. Boy, do we. Especially when we combine sales plus coupons plus gift cards plus Buy Nothing finds. Here’s how a recent batch of slow-cooker chili shook down:
- Frozen black beans (Costco bulk buy) that I’d cooked with olive oil, cumin and garlic
- A half-cup of leftover pumpkin puree, also from the freezer
- A 62-cent “manager’s special” can of tomato sauce
- A can of diced tomatoes bought on sale at 58 cents
- Sauteed vegetables: celery we’d grown, chopped onion that I’d used a coupon to buy (81 cents a pound, which is a steal up here) and some red Bell pepper from the “ugly but still good” shelf in the produce section
- The fat for those sauteed vegetables had been saved from a pan of roasted chicken thighs (we save and freeze all meat fats)
- A can of Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup (a last remnant of the free estate-sale groceries we got a couple years ago)
- Cumin, garlic, salt, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper (the salt was free from Buy Nothing and the other spices were bought in bulk at Costco)
- Some diced London broil gotten free from a Buy Nothing member who’d overcooked the meat; simmered low and slow in a tomato-based sauce, it turned out fine
How much did this chili cost? A lot less than a single bowl of chili at a restaurant, and we got half a dozen meals out of it, served over rice bought in bulk at Costco.
Note: I know that not all frugal folks are able to cook, or have any desire to cook. Some have partners/spouses who prepare meals, and some rely on takeout/prefab food just as much as non-frugalists do. But as I keep saying, the food budget is the category with the most wiggle room. If you cook even twice a week, you’re going to save.
7. We air-dry our laundry
One of the best buys DF ever made was some rope and a couple of pulleys that run a clothesline between our back deck and the greenhouse. We no longer have to stand in the snow to hang out sheets!
Not everyone lives in a place with great-smelling air, and some folks have allergies that preclude clothing being left outdoors. Indoor drying racks are a good solution; we have three large and one small. Every day is a good wash day at Casa Frugal.
Bonus: Line/rack drying prolongs the life of your garments, and can lower your utility bill by 10 to 20 percent. Or so say the folks at The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
For us, Earth Day is every day
Maybe your intent is merely to spend carefully and stay solvent. The fact is that you’re also an eco-warrior. Being frugal can help reduce your impact on this place we call home.
Okay, readers, what cheapskate ecology tips did I miss? Feel free to share how your frugal habits help save the Earth.
*They came from the Value Village thrift shop, and he sometimes lends them to his sons for special occasions. Looks fairly natty in one himself, too.
I wash plastic baggies and gallon size plastic bags. I have a three-tier hanging basket over my dish drying rack on which I hang them with wooden clothespins to dry. I wash and reuse aluminum foil in the same way. When the plastic bags and foil have reached the end of their useful lifespan, I recycle them. I rarely cover bowls of leftovers with plastic wrap instead just covering them with an appropriate size bowl or plate.
We bought our house in the town we both worked in. Our jobs were four miles from our home saving us a lot of gas money and putting less emissions into the atmosphere. I always batch errands if possible. Tomorrow I have three errands all in the same section of town: banking, Dollar Store (they have the best price on Cleaning Vinegar) and the pharmacy (to use a $3 off a $10 purchase if used by a specific date). We really stay home a lot but it’s not a burden. I love my home and am happiest reading a library book on the deck, sipping tea with DH or frugally entertaining visiting friends. I make a mean crockpot of Hotdogs and Boston Baked Beans…the beans from scratch, of course.
My bed sheets are a hodgepodge of parts of three different sheet sets. When a top sheet, bottom sheet or pillow case wears out I donate it to St. Vincent de Paul who accepts material for resell and then pair it with other parts of partial sheet sets.
Hanging clothes outside is such a joy! Yes, I really feel that way. Not only money saving and environmentally sound but it’s nice to be outside and the very best part…they smell so fresh.
Clarification: I pair the remaining sheet or pillowcase with other remaining sheets or pillowcases. They don’t match but nobody sees them except DH and myself.
Washing and reusing plastic bags….can’t believe I forgot that one! We do that, of course.
Our pillowcases don’t coordinate, either:
https://donnafreedman.com/pillowcases-match/
They don’t on the Sit-Com Mom either. I think it looks cool!
Speaking of plastic bags, a hack I learned from you, Donna, is to repurpose drycleaner bags and the plastic packaging for 18 or 24 rolls of toilet paper and use them for trash bags. I knot the drycleaner bag at the coat hanger end (sometimes 2 or 3 times) and then turn it inside out; it usually fits my kitchen trash can.. The toilet paper packaging, I cut very carefully on one end. Sometimes it’s not big enough to reuse in the kitchen garbage but I usually can find another use, such as putting soon-to-be-recycled cans in them. Right now an empty 18 pound bag of dry dog food is my recycling bag — those also work.
I just cut open a Costco-sized pack very carefully yesterday. And DF saves the 50-pound flour bags and 25-pound sugar bags for storing old raspberry canes and yard waste until it’s dry enough to burn.
When the pillow cases no longer fit the pillows, due to pillow case shrinkage/age, or size discrepancies, I put one pillow case on each end of the pillow.
Double-teaming! I like it.
Those watering cans are so cute!! my favorite is the smaller one too 🙂
When the plants get some size to them we can just dump in lots of water. Smaller plants would be overwhelmed, though. Besides, the kiddos love the “tiny” nature and like to water very, very slooooowly.
Thanks for checking in, and for leaving a comment. Hope to see you at FinCon in New Orleans.
When my wedding gifts finally wore out I replaced the sheets and towels with all white goods. It saves matching up everything when folding laundry and if some wear out there are matching replacements. My OCD could not bear mismatched pillowcases.
Great idea! I have to remember this one.
That reminds me of me with a lot of things, but I have noticed that many have mismatched pillow cases and I have seen it so much that I like it now.
I do a lot of the things you do, Donna. I don’t buy as many things in bulk now that I’m living alone, but I still do this for nonperishables (e.g., toilet paper). I also split a few bulk-buy bargains with the Bestest Neighbors.
And, like Christine, I wash/reuse plastic bags (the BNs gave me one of those Tinkertoy-style bag dryers one Xmas), batch errands, and use linens till they’re threadbare. Our local animal shelters accept worn-out sheets and towels.
Something else I do is pick up NY State 5-cent deposit cans and bottles on curbs. (If/when the state raises the deposit to 10 cents, this will become a real side hustle–and it’s not bad as it is!) I also recycle non-deposit containers and dispose appropriately of as much other trash as I can manage.
Wish they had a deposit law here. It could become a side hustle, especially since we see them when we take walks.
Sharing a bulk order is a good workaround for someone who doesn’t need, say, five dozen eggs at a time. Thanks for mentioning that one.
Washing and reusing Ziploc bags is my superpower! LOL.
I can’t recall the last time I purchased “garbage” bags – I reuse plastic grocery bags for this purpose – and as I normally have a reusable bag at the store, my friends give me their plastic grocery bags to reuse!
Vinegar for all house cleaning – cheaper, works better on Florida hard water stains, and no chemicals into the environment.
Cleaned out my closet recently and took 3 good sized bags to the donation center — NOT the landfill!
We now have compost at work, so I collect mine in a container on my counter and bring it in for composting.
We repurpose allll the bags as well: six-packs of toilet paper, giant Costco bags of those Pretzel Thins, the inner bags of large boxes of cereal, etc. When I visit my daughter, I bring home tons of plastic supermarket bags from her stash (when she forgets her reusable ones, she saves the plastics for me). No need for us to buy garbage bags either. I’ve scored some for free, though, from Buy Nothing pickups.
Our kitchen scraps get composted as well. Garbage in, garden out.
Donna, one of your posts years ago was about how you re-use drycleaner bags and other plastic bags as trashcan liners. I haven’t had anything dry-cleaned lately, but when I worked at my former job (the one where I had to wear dressier suits and to look “professional”), I constantly was re-using those drycleaner bags. You also mentioned the plastic packaging for the zillion-roll bulk packages of paper towels and toilet paper, but some of it wasn’t quite wide enough. One more reason I love going to Ollie’s and Goodwill: when I buy a lot, they have huge plastic shopping bags perfect for the kitchen trashcan. They’ll use one big bag instead of 3 regular-sized ones. Anyway, I learn lots from you!
Oh, and I meant to mention to other readers that to use the dry cleaner bag, you have to knot the small hole on top (where the coat hangers were) and turn it inside out. Then you can tie another knot. I may do this 2-3 times to make sure it’s secure and that the garbage won’t fall out. When finished, the dry cleaning bag’s original bottom, which was completely open, becomes the wide-open top of the reincarnated trash bag.
We’re outliers in that our kitchen trash can is very small. We get to recycle all our paper, cardboard, glass, and tin and aluminum cans where I live, and most of our wet garbage becomes compost. For people who can’t do those things, larger trash cans are a requirement.
Just finished a bag of flaxseed (bought for free with Amazon gift cards from rewards programs) and it’s large enough to stand in the trash can. We do the same thing with those large bags of pretzel thins from Costco. It works for us, but other people’s mileage may vary.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
I never throw away 4-5 quart zip lock bags. I always buy meat in bulk on sale and freeze it one person serving at a time. It is just hubby and me, but we like the savings. Fresh veggies are grown or purchased at our local produce stand.
All great ideas and really is compatible with Earth Day! I do a lot of the suggestions. Wash my baggies and foil and wipe down my parchment paper. I refill my soap dispensers with soap from the dollar store and dilute it
We also share with our next door neighbors of 37 years. We own a pressure washer together. We don’t have to buy big things like that much anymore but when we were younger if we say bought something like a tall ladder we would tell our friends next door for them not to buy one and we could share. They did the same for us. We still share all the time.
We air dry our clothes on racks. Too much pollen right now to do it outside
We cook…..we rarely go out. I make a lot of my cleaning products. Vinegar and baking soda.
Have you done the vinegar and blue Dawn detergent mix? It’s the same as Scrubbing Bubbles, but loads cheaper. It can be used in the kitchen for greasy areas. When I helped my daughter clear out the in-law unit after her divorce, we went through TONS of the stuff.
Horrific before-and-after photos at:
https://ipickuppennies.net/2019/01/the-guest-house-is-ready/
I haven’t heard about the Vinegar and Blue Dawn mix. Just a few drops of Dawn?
I’d been told it should be a 50/50 mixture. For tough jobs that’s probably best. But if it’s not a super-greasy challenge, maybe one-quarter Dawn and the rest as vinegar?
Pour it into a spray bottle and it works so well.
Thanks a bunch!
No I haven’t…Thanks! I’ll give it a try. I remember those pictures Definitely horrific. That “Scrubbing Bubbles” must have worked REALLY well…along with a lot of elbow grease. Yáll did a great job. I would have gagged
One thing that I do that I have never seen on a frugal site is to not let the water run while you are washing your hands. Wet your hands, shut the water off, then really soap up your hands and scrub well. Then turn the water back on for a quick rinse! I always see comments about not letting the water run while you are washing dishes or brushing your teeth, but this is a good water saver too!
Also, I live in an apartment house and we have a coin washer (75 cents) and dryer ($1.25). Since I usually only wash one load a week, it only cost me about $40 per year, plus detergent. I always dry my clothes on two hanging racks and a folding rack, saving around $65 per year. Pretty economical, and I don’t have to worry about machine repairs!!
I remember the first Earth Day too Donna! Seems like yesterday.
When I lived in Seattle and had enough laundry to do two loads, I’d wash them at the same time and then toss some of it into the dryer briefly. You could do a quarter’s worth of drying at a time, and that was enough to pre-dry and tumble some of the heavier items like towels. No need for fabric softener because the water wasn’t hard. All of it went onto racks, hangers in the bathroom or, in the case of a top sheet, draped over a standing floor lamp.
It all dried, and I saved.
Re the water: Yours is like a Navy shower on a small scale. Our water isn’t metered up here, but I still try not to waste it. Because why would I do that?
Like the rest of your readers, I use the bejeebers out of plastic bags. We went on a beach holiday once and I collected a suitcase of driftwood. The husband made a bag dryer out of six of them; they look like prongs and you drape a bag over each one to dry. Two of the prongs are thin enough to put gallon milk jugs over to dry them out before repurposing. (An added money savings: for a few years we had enough driftwood left that when someone admired the setup, they got one for Christmas.) I use our chicken and dog food bags for garbage bags, and also collect the ones from our neighbor who also buys the large 40 pound bags. We have a large compost heap that acts as backup to whatever kitchen waste that we cannot feed to the dog or the chickens (like onions) and then finishes composting the poopy chicken straw. We are pretty militant about no food waste, even if it means we have eaten some oddball meals. I bake our bread and sweet desserts. I grieve that we cannot hang laundry outdoors, partly due to Fairbanks weather but also the animals would amuse themselves by trying to tear it off the line. But we do have a rack indoors that I use regularly for smaller items. We don’t need work clothes anymore so are working our way through wearing those out instead of buying anything but shoes or underwear new. Someone sent me an old photo yesterday and I am still wearing the shirt in that picture and it was taken 25 years ago!! That is about it.
That sounds like a lot to me! It also sounds strangely familiar…. 😉
I love the idea of the driftwood baggie dryer! Not only functional but artsy and beautiful too. Reminds me of a driftwood lamp my mother had when we were kids. She sold it at a yardsale when she broke up her house to move in with us. Hate to get attached to “stuff” but I really do regret not grabbing that lamp. Your drying rack must add a lot of character to your kitchen. Such a cool idea.
I do all of those things, except hang laundry. I am OBX-NC and when I say it is damp here, that does not come close to just how wet the air is most of the time. I have to spray my tub with bleach every 3 or so days and I do have clotheslines, but I put things on them to spray with spot/stain cleaners and then wash them. Great Post!
Thanks!
I try to save energy where I can. Unplug things when not in use. Batch cook. Mostly do laundry in cold water. And of course adjusting the thermostat when the house is empty. Lots of small things but together they add up.
Agreed!
I must say it is great to have kindred spirits here! I laughed when I read the post about a photo with a shirt that’s 25 years old, yep that’s me too. I do so many of the things listed on this site as well and will continue to do so. All mindful consumption helps the earth and your pocketbook. As I’m nearing retirement any extra that can be saved is a blessing. We have a good sized garden that allows us to eat plenty of fresh vegetables and share our bounty. Happy Spring to all!
We have neighbors with whom to share our garden stuff as well. This year, as noted, I’m trying the “Incredible Escalator” vining/climbing zucchini from Renee’s Garden. They’re to be picked when 6 to 8 inches long. Since early picking encourages more fruiting, I’m thinking we’ll have plenty to share (including with the food bank). That is, unless our first foray into making zucchini chips in the dehydrator results in a snack so good that we can’t stop eating them. A neighbor with three kids just got a dehydrator from Buy Nothing, so she will likely want to give this a try as well. And of course we’ll save seeds if the plant is a success.
To anyone who’s interested in trying that plant, or others (I definitely recommend the Chelsea Prize cucumber and the Super Sugar Snap peas), hope you’ll consider using my affiliate link, to help keep the blog lights on:
https://sh2543.ositracker.com/183774/9151
Another thing that’s taking our town by storm is to reduce the size of your lawn. Due to the tremendous population growth + global warming/droughts, we’re having water shortages. In addition to xeriscaping, folks are putting in areas with rocks or gravel or mulch in them, often “rocking” their flower beds. One thing some folks are doing wrong is to put light colored rocks, such as limestone rocks, near their house. My dad worked for a HVAC company and the bosses said the strong summer sun would hit any light-colored rocks or even concrete driveways and bounce back toward the house, making your AC have to work harder. I installed ground cover (Eng. ivy) that does not require mowing under my trees and I’m taking in more areas, making rock gardens in the far corners of my yard.
What part of the country do you live in? Xeriscaping is going to gain ground (so to speak) as water becomes less available and/or more costly, I think.