1. Use cloth re-usable grocery bags or reuse your plastic or paper grocery sacks. I’ve been making my own from material from the $1 fabric bin at Wal-Mart. I take them with me whenever I go to the store and use them for sacking my purchases. To make them, I measured a paper grocery sack and made bags according to those measurements, adding handles for carrying. I also make smaller bags to use as produce bags. I make them out of thin cotton fabric.

2. Buy products that are minimally packaged. Instead of buying individual cups of applesauce, buy the largest size you will use before it will go bad and fill re-usable plastic containers to use for lunches or individual servings. Many times these larger sized products are cheaper than the individual sized ones.

3. Use cloth napkins for meals instead of paper towels or paper napkins. You can make these up really easily using inexpensive fabric. I use fabric from the $1 bin at Wal-Mart. Bandanas make great napkins! Also, if you don't mind your napkins not matching, you can use up scraps from your sewing projects. I always have at least enough fabric left from sewing projects to make at least 1 napkin!

4. Instead of throwing away old clothes, donate them. If they can’t be donated, take off any buttons, zippers, etc that can be re-used in sewing. If you can’t use them, you probably know of someone who sews that can use them. If the material is cotton, I cut out 4-inch squares out of the stained/damaged garment. I use these to make quilt squares. Cut old T-shirts into cleaning cloths. Find a way to re-use it if possible. If there’s no use for it THEN throw it away.

5. Shop at thrift stores and garage sales for clothing, house wares, etc. Not only will you save money, but you keep these items out of landfills.

6, Change light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs. While more expensive in the beginning they will lower your electric bill and the bulbs last longer than conventional bulbs, so you save money that way as well. Our local Dollar store has started carrying these REALLY cheaply.

7. Wash all your clothing in cold water, this saves money on your electric bill

8. Consider investing in a solar-wind hybrid dryer….a CLOTHES LINE!!! (lol!!)

9. Change the way you clean house. Use cleaning products that are good for the environment. Some good brands are Method, 7th Generation, Mrs. Meyers, and Shaklee. The products are non-toxic, natural, biodegradable, and contain no phosphates or chlorine. Many are concentrated and use recycled packaging. I really like Method products, they smell wonderful! With the concentrated formulas, you generally don't have to use as much and that saves you money. If you don't want to use these type products, you can make your own, which is even cheaper. You can find ton's of "recipes" online, just do a google search for homemade cleaning products!

10. Limit your use of paper products, such as paper plates, paper napkins and paper towels. We’ve pretty much gotten rid of all of these products. I occasionally use paper plates, but we never use paper napkins or paper towels. I use recycled T-shirts for cleaning cloths and I’ve purchased big cotton towels for use in the kitchen.