Save Money--In the Utility Closet

IN THE UTILITY CLOSET: Air Conditioner and Furnace Filters: Instead of replacing your disposable air filter several times a year, consider buying a permanent one that can be washed and reused indefinitely. Most of these filters have lifetime warranties, so you'll save money in the long run as well as reduce the amount of waste you send to the landfill. If half of all U.S. households replaced their disposable air filters with a single reusable one, the number of air filters saved form landfills each year could blanket the entire land area of Washington, D.C. Dry Cleaning: If you must use dry cleaners, try to go less frequently. You will not only save on drive time and fuel, you'll save plastic. Dry cleaners bunch items together into plastic garment bags, so the more items you bring at once, the better. If one in ten households took one less trip to the cleaners each year and saved two plastic garment bags, the plastic stitched together would make more than nine thousand hot air balloons. Better yet: Request no plastic bags, and return your paper hangers to the dry cleaners for recycling. You can also try eco-freindly dry clearners, or wet cleaners (whcih use biodegradable soap). Dryers: Clean your dryers lint screen, and don't overload the dryer. You'll save up to 5 percent on your electricity bill. If everyone did it, we'd save the energy equivalent of 350 million gallons of gasoline per year. Better yet: Use a clothesline when possible. Phone books: Recycle them. Better yet: Call a stop phone book delivery and then use an online telephone directory instead. Telephone books make up almost 10 percent of waste at dump sites. These hints come from "the green book" ....buy the green book and go to www.readthegreenbook.com.


About the Author
just an individual who's concerned with treating the world more gently along with saving money. for more tips go to http://saveapennysavetheworld.blogspot.com