The other day, on the coldest day in ten years, the Bean and I stayed inside all day, playing with cars and watching Wall-E. As I watched this amazing movie for the fourth time, I was suddenly struck by a kinship between environmentalism and frugality. These two things work together, really. If you’re naturally frugal, you use less and re-use more. If you side with environmental issues and have changed some of your behaviors to be more green, or to reduce your carbon footprint, you will save some money in the long run.

Hand in hand, I say. So, in the interest of thrift and of saving the environment, here are a few things we’ve done at our house:

LAUNDRY LIST

When I was in Italy a few summers ago, no one used a dryer. Everywhere you went, you saw clothes on drying racks and clotheslines. I wanted to save some energy by not using our dryer as much, and wanted to get that ‘dried in the sun’ smell that I love so much, so I bought a drying rack for our clothes last spring.

The first month I used it, our electric bill was down $20. In the winter, there’s another bonus of the drying rack: it adds much needed humidity into our place, naturally, when the clothes are drying on it.

When we do use the dryer, we keep it on its lowest setting. It uses less energy to dry them on a cooler setting than to heat the air the clothes bounce around in, and this is better for our clothes as well (less wear and tear.) The clothes last longer and we don’t have to spend to replace them as often.

In the washer, I never really use the hot water setting anymore, either. It’s better to wash the clothes on warm or cold. Better all around.

BULKING UP

It’s only been in the past year or so that I’ve fallen in love with Costco, but it, like any other love, has become important in my life in such a way that I can’t remember what it was like before I started going there.

Bulking the product uses less packaging, and less production, allowing the producer to save energy and me to save money. I use Costco coupons fervently, and stock up on items when I have the coupon for them (I don’t think I’ll need to buy shampoo again this year!)

Also, I prefer Costco to other box stores; their employees enjoy great benefits. What I’d love to see is for Costco to start making their warehouses more environmentally friendly. They already provide a great service by providing their customers information on electronic equipment recycling programs, but installing solar panels to offset the amount of electrical energy the big stores use would be a better start for them.

PAPER OR PLASTIC?

One other notable thing about Italy is that you have to pay for the plastic bags at the grocery store checkout. Nearly everyone there carries mesh bags for shopping. We take canvas bags, when we remember; if our country would start to charge people for plastic bags, I believe they’d become a relic.

My mother used to crochet rugs out of her plastic bags. They were beautiful. I wish she’d start doing that again. She’d make some extra money, and would reduce the amount of bags in landfills. If you’re crafty, and have time, cut your bags into long strips, and make things out of them. I love objects made from recycled materials; so do a lot of other people. So does the environment.

WATCH THE DOORS; THE DOORS ARE CLOSING

We’re a multiple-car family. We have two family cars and CarpenterBoy has a van for work. Yet, whenever we can, we use public transportation. Last summer, when gas prices skyrocketed, it was partly out of necessity to ride our bikes and the trains and buses more. We were in better shape from riding and our wallets were a bit less sore from the relatively small cost of a ride on the BabaBingBing train, as Bean calls it.

And the less our emissions are, the better.

YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE

Some time last year, I bought CFL light bulbs; we replaced a few of our bulbs at that time, and have been slowly replacing the other bulbs as they go out. CFL bulbs cost a little more when you purchase them, but they save you money on your electrical bill in the long run. They use less energy and last longer than regular bulbs; talk about quality over quantity.

When they do go out, though, you must take care in their disposal. Most cities and some stores have programs in place for CFL disposal.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

When we started to recycle the paper, plastic and glass that goes in and out of our home on a regular basis, we noticed that our garbage output declined immensely. This is a good thing. I often think to myself how wonderful it would be to have a compost heap, to reduce more of our waste; unfortunately, we live in the city. I know there are small ways to compost. Perhaps that will be a goal to work on for this year.

On the frugality issue, though: using cloth napkins, using rags rather than paper towels, and patching up our jeans have all definitely saved us money over time. Hand-me-downs for the Bean are wonderful, too.

These are just a few small changes we’ve made in the past few years in the interest of the environment and our wallets. I’m interested in knowing more tips, too. What do you do that is both frugal and green?