Eight everyday ways to cut costs and live efficiently

Thanks in large part to the current economic woes, Americans have started looking for ways to make our lives more efficient. At the same time, people are beginning to recognize the real impacts of waste, from light switches to landfills, on the fragile health of our planet.

Luckily, living more efficiently is as eco-friendly as it is cost-effective. It’s also quite simple: All you have to do is pay attention to the way you use the resources around you every day.

From the way we drive to the way we eat, our daily habits determine how much stuff we use -- whether we’re talking food, fuel or plastic -- and one small change in your daily routine can add up quickly.

For example, by simply relaxing the way you drive -- accelerating and braking calmly, staying in the speed limit, and keeping your car running smoothly -- you can improve your gas mileage as much as 33% and save $1.31 per gallon, all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle wear-and-tear. What a deal!

Below, we’ve put together an eight-step cost-cutting program that’ll put you on the road to serious daily savings, without costing you an extra dime.

The steps are listed in order of difficulty and impact, so although the first few steps will be fairly easy to incorporate into your life, the savings and environmental benefit are limited. The last few steps are more difficult but also promise more savings and greater benefits for the planet.

Each of these small changes can yield big results, so just follow the suggestions below to help keep your planet and your wallet healthy, no purchase necessary!

1. Turn off the lights when you leave the room

Why pay to light an empty room? Lower your energy bill by remembering to turn lights off when you leave the room and by teaching your kids to do the same.

Trouble remembering? Try putting sticky notes next to your light switches to jog your memory. Or, let your lights take care of themselves when you’re not around by installing occupancy sensors.

Find four more ways to cut your lighting bill.

2. Skip the bottled water -- Bring your own

Bottled water typically costs about 10,000 times the cost of tap / filtered water, so by using your own mug instead of buying one individual, disposable plastic bottle every day, you could save $500 a year. What’s more, you’ll help reduce the 60 billion plastic bottles being sent to the landfill every year.

Sounds like a no brainer, right?

Get tips on finding the right water filter for your home.

3. Waste less food

Cutting down on food waste is one of the best, and easiest, things you can do to help the environment and pad your wallet. We Americans throw 25% to 50% of our food away, most of it still good. Besides the greenhouse gases this creates, it costs us a billion dollars just to process the food in our garbage system. Some studies estimate that reducing food waste by half could cut negative environmental impacts by up to 25%.

Want to get value from your food scraps? Learn how to start composting.

4. Relax your driving

No matter what kind of car you have, fuel-sipping hybrid or hulking gas-guzzler, you can improve your gas mileage, save money, and reduce your impact on global warming just by changing your driving habits. Be relaxed while you drive; speeding, accelerating or breaking excessively can reduce your gas mileage by as much as 33%, costing you an extra $1.31 per gallon.

Get more tips to help you drive efficiently.

5. Catch energy vampires

Even when they’re turned off, household appliances and electronics continue to draw electricity as long as they’re plugged into the wall. Called “energy vampires” or “phantom loads,” these little suckers can add up to 20% of your total energy bill.

Fight these vampires by plugging your electronics and appliances into power strips or surge protectors so you can turn them all the way off with one switch.

Learn the five worst energy hogs in your home , and find out how to tame them.

6. Be resourceful -- Reuse what you have

Save money and reduce your contribution to the waste stream by buying durable goods and reusing them when you can.

Many items can be repurposed in new and creative ways, so you can go wild finding new uses for old junk. Turn that paint bucket into a planter, build a bench with the wood from your old deck, or wrap gifts in old newspaper. You’ll have fun getting creative and helping the planet at the same time!

Try more creative ways to reuse your things.

7. Choose products with less packaging

Of the 245 million tons of garbage Americans threw away last year, the largest category of waste was containers and packaging, representing a full 50% of the total waste produced. Worse, all that packaging can increase the price of a product as much as 40%, so you’re paying more for a bunch of useless plastic that goes straight to the trash can.

Finding the products you want without all the excess packaging can be difficult, but it’s not impossible.

One of the best ways to minimize packaging is to buy in bulk. Wholesale retailers like Costco and Sam’s Club sell products in large, commercial-size packages at a hefty discount. Many grocery stores have items like grains, nuts, beans, and spices in bulk bins, and you can also buy your produce whole instead of pre-sliced and shrink-wrapped.

See more ways to avoid excessive packaging.

Get more cost-cutting tips for reducing consumption.

8. Fly less frequently

Air travel is one of the greatest advances of the modern age. It’s fast, fun, and it opens up parts of the world that would be completely out-of-reach by any other mode of transportation. Flying, however, has significant drawbacks.

Air travel has a massive impact on the environment. For example, a round-trip flight from New York to London uses more than 57 tons of fuel and emits more than 1,600 pounds of carbon dioxide per passenger. That’s about 80% of the total carbon emitted by the average person in a year!

Flying is also getting more expensive. As airlines work to make a profit in the face of increased government regulation and ever-rising fuel prices, we’ve seen higher fares and more fees.

So, take a boat or a train instead of flying on your next trip, and you’ll prevent thousands of pounds of carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere, not to mention saving money and avoiding airport-induced headaches.

Have to fly? Try purchasing carbon offsets to compensate for the emissions produced by your flight.

More from ecomii:

• 20 heat conservation tips for your home
• Donate or recycle old electronics
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle to lower carbon emissions
• Catch energy vampires
• Breaking down the 5 big energy hogs in your home

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