Are You Green?

Are you green? If you are not ready to jump on former Vice President Al Gore's green band wagon, you should still consider a few green ideas that could save you some cash. Here are a few money saving tips to make any tree hugger proud!

1. Unplug appliances and electronic when you are not using them. This could reduce your electricity bill by 20% a year.

2. If you drive with your foot in the carburetor (as my Dad used to say!) take it out. If you drive 55 mph instead of 65mph you will save an average of 15% on fuel.

3. An annual savings of $10- $40 can be yours if you put your computer in sleep mode when it is not in use.

4. Paper! Use the back side of junk mail envelopes to write notes, or to make lists. Save sheets of paper that are only used on one side. Let the kids use the clean side of the paper to draw or doodle on . Use the back side of the paper in your printer to print out drafts, one time recipes, etc.

5. Speaking of your printer; when printing a draft or unimportant document use your preference selection under "print", click on draft and then gray scale. This will make your print cartridge last twice as long.

6. Pay your bills on line to save postage and paper.

7. Invest in a programmable thermostat. Programing your furnace at a lower setting when you are gone or asleep will net you a savings of $100 a year on your utility bill. Keep your daily temperature at 68 degrees and wear a sweater. If you are sitting and you are chilly, get up and move around for exercise and it will warm you up.

8. Replace your incandescent lite bulbs with a compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL). The saving to replace just one 100 watt incandescent bulb is about $30 over the life of the bulb.

9. If you like crafts or like to sew recycle old blue jeans and flannel shirts in to warm and cute quilts. Turn old T-shirts into pillows, use old panty hose as stuffing. Turn old sweaters into purses. There are many craft/sewing ideas on the Internet for recycling old clothes. These handmade items make wonderful gifts. People love to receive handcrafted gifts.

10. With spring coming soon, many of you may be getting "spring fever". If you love to garden get together with friends and neighbors to swap cutting from each others existing perennials. When making new plant purchases, go together with friends and split flats of plants. Make a donation to the Arbor Foundation and they will send you free trees.