12 Great Eco-friendly Money Saving Tips

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It's Earth Day on 22nd April, so we thought we should celebrate by highlighting some green money saving tips that will help you and our planet. After all, being green is easier if you know it's going to save you money too.

Twelve green tips that cost you nothing

1. Turn your heating down low at night and just add more blankets if you need them. Better still, turn your thermostats down by one degree during the day too. If you usually pad around your house in bare feet or short sleeves, there are definitely savings to be made.
2. Cut back on bottled water and fill up a reusable bottle from the tap instead.
3. Don't leave appliances on standby as they still use electricity. Switch them off properly, or better yet, try to unplug or switch off at the wall instead, so that phone chargers, DVD players, satellite boxes etc, aren't wasting energy when not in use.
4. Resist using the tumble dryer when you can put your clothes on the washing line.
5. Defrost your freezer frequently, to make sure it keeps running efficiently.
6. Recycle anything, clothes etc that you no longer need, by taking them to a charity shop rather than a landfill. And while you're there, see if there's anything you do need at half the price. Or why not find a consignment store that gives you back a percentage in cash when they sell your goods? Or there's always eBay.
7. Leave the car behind and cycle to work instead. Already binned that idea? Well think again: it keeps you fit and even if you only do it once a week, you still save a lot on petrol and parking, and feel noble at the same time.
8. Wash your laundry on a lower temperature – zero if possible.
9. Only boil as much water as you really need to make your cuppa.
10. Regularly check the tyres are at the right pressure on your car. If they're not, you're probably wasting fuel. And remove roof racks, bike racks etc when you're not using them too, for the same reason.
11. Recycle your old mobile phone for hard cash. If you do an online search you'll find several companies providing this service. Some require you take out a new contract, but that's not the case with all. mazumamobile.com was voted the UK's best mobile phone recycler in 2012 by What Mobile so it is probably worth a visit.
12. Take a packed lunch to work instead of spending a fortune on convenient sandwiches.

If you follow these green tips you'll help save money and the Earth.