5 Ways to Be Greener Without Spending a Cent

Sometimes, when I'm at the store, cringing at the price difference between organic produce and the regular produce that's been sprayed with Raid, I can't help feeling that it certainly costs a lot of green to live greenly. It's enough to make a person want to just throw in the green towel and put up the white flag.

But don't give up yet! You can, in fact, live a greener life without going broke. Here are 5 ways to get started:

1. Turn down the temperature on your water heater. You don't need the hottest setting (and you run the risk of scalding your family...yikes!). Experiment with how the water feels at a slightly lower temperature. And turn it waaaaaaaay down whenever your family is away for more than a couple of days. There's no reason to waste money on heating up your water if you're not even home to use it.

2. Open your windows instead of using scented sprays or turning on the air conditioner. Take advantage of the springtime air scented with freshly cut grass and blooming flowers. (Mmmmm...)

3. Ditch the liquid body soaps. Instead of buying heavily processed liquid soap in plastic containers, go for simple bars of soap wrapped in paper or--even better--no packaging at all.

4. Make your own counter cleaner out of orange peels and vinegar. You can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar--both are natural disinfectants. The key is to add lots of orange peels to a large, closed container and let the mixture sit long enough so that you smell mostly the oranges when you open it. (It'll take a couple of weeks before you can strain out the peels and transfer the liquid to a spray bottle.)

5. Pack your own lunch in reusable containers. No reason to spend a mint on salads or sandwiches in those awful plastic clamshell containers!

See? That was painless, and you'll have more green in your wallet. Very handy when you're buying those organic strawberries!

Your turn: What's your favorite inexpensive way to be greener? Let's hear it!

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