Frugal and Green Go Hand in Hand

QM · 11-02-2008, 06:47 PM

Hi! I just wanted to let you know that since joining FV I realized that by living a more frugal lifestyle, I'm also living "greener". KWIM? I didn't notice this until I was talking to an aquaintance who lives a "very green" lifestyle and votes "Green Party". I didn't have a lot in common with her until I told her what I've been learning on FV. She was so happy that people are making their own soap, laundry soap and shampoo, washing Ziploc bags and the list goes on and on.

Little did I know that green and frugal go hand in hand. Learn something new every day!

**Monner 1** · 11-02-2008, 07:20 PM

Yes, that is usually how it works out. Isn't it wonderful that you get double the reward for a little extra work and it keeps Mother Nature happy too.

Monner

**onencgirl** · 11-02-2008, 07:37 PM

I find that as I make the transition to natural cleaning alternatives that I'm loving getting greener and greener. I know my health and home are loving it. I now use reusable grocery bags, hm cleaning and laundry products, etc. The savings alone is enough to make me switch not to mention the benefits.

**Siebrie** · 11-03-2008, 02:54 AM

Back when I was single and living very frugally, recycling and reusing whatever I could, I was down to ONE garbage bag per month. Now, in a different country, with not-so-frugal husband and baby daughter, we are filling 7 garbage bags per month.

**RetiredVeryEarly** · 11-24-2008, 01:37 AM

I have been both frugal and green ever since I was an adult. Raised in a thrifty and environmentally concerned family. My father mixed up his own non-toxic spray for fruit trees involving ground onions. I remember how bad it smelled, although he died when I was 3 and I don't know that we made it after that. Organic gardeners, etc. back in the 60s and 70s while I was growing up.

In my very first apartment I saved my aluminum cans, although there was no public recycling place at all to take them anywhere that I knew of. I moved a large bag of cans to my second apartment, and then two bags of cans the next time I moved! I was very affected by the first Earth Day in 1970 and by gosh I wasn't going to throw any aluminum away. Finally the third place I was living was with my sister, who worked for a brewery and knew where to take aluminum cans. I left them with her when I moved to my fourth place. :-)

Hubby was told by the mayor in our previous town that if we didn't put more trash out they would think we were throwing it in ditches or something. We threw out 2 or sometimes 3 containers of garbage in a YEAR. If somebody brought a baby with poopy diapers around, we made them take the dirty diaper home. Can't keep that around for months while you let the garbage can fill up, even out in the garage! We composted and recycled everything possible, and shopped with an eye to having little trash. Almost never cooked meat, old meat is another thing you don't want to have sitting in a trash can. Not just that it would smell, but it draws the racoons. Anyway, yes, frugal and green go together, ain't it great?

**rainbowgc** · 11-24-2008, 12:20 PM

I do agree frugal and green go hand in hand. Frugal finds many resourceful ways to re-use and re-purpose so much that it really makes an impact.

**kestrel91316** · 11-24-2008, 04:58 PM

My personal lifestyle focus has shifted back and forth between frugality and low environmental impact (green) for many years, but really there is so much overlap I'm doing both most the time now.

**peanut** · 11-25-2008, 12:37 PM

Yep. I once 'wowwed' members of an Internet board with a post on how I throw out so little garbage a week. Summer is great for us because we can compost. Very little gets thrown away. And a lot gets reused or recycled. I love seeing how environmental and frugal overlap!

Jean