Go Green, Live Rich

While living green is good for the environment, it can also mean more green in your pocket too. To show you how to save the planet and save in your pockets is financial expert David Bach with his new book, Go Green, Live Rich. This is the ultimate how-to guide for navigating the vast tide of today's green options.

As the author of books such as The Automatic Millionaire and my personal favorite, Smart Women Finish Rich, Bach has enlightened thousands on how to save money and get rich through the examination of daily actions and taking smart little steps to bulk up your bank account. He now applies these principles to going green using the same easy-to-follow methodology.

He starts by asking you to look at your impact. Creating awareness of how your daily actions affect the environment will set you on a path to action. Bach then reviews the basics of daily life and how slight adjustments can make a big difference in your carbon footprint and bottom line -- such as choosing what and how you drive, reducing energy consumption at home and work, and going low-flow on water use. He stresses that going green is really a mission the whole family can get behind, as well as benefit from the amount of money that can be saved.

Bach cleverly puts a twist the concept he used in his previous books of calculating your "latte factor" (adding up how much you spend on small daily purchases like a coffee to see how much money you waste without realizing it).

This time it's your "litter factor" where he asks readers to consider the amount of paper cups used for those daily cups of coffee and how much landfill waste is produced through the plethora of single-serving water bottles tossed in the trash.

Some wonder if going green means paying more for things like organic and recycled products. Bach explains how -- in the long run -- if everyone buys green, it sends a message to manufacturers that the demand is there, and that will drive prices down.

While Go Green, Live Rich is a great beginner's guide to making your lifestyle more eco-friendly, the book is also a fantastic resource for those who have been living green for a while. It's packed with website references for green shopping and more information to help you make earth-conscious choices.

And for those ready to take more hardcore steps, the second half of Bach's book is filled with suggestions such as investing in socially responsible stock options, starting a green business, and getting in on the new green invention revolution.

What Go Green, Live Rich really does is pose the question, why wouldn't you live a green life? It's a win-win for the environment and your wallet.