Easy Eco Shifts That Can Save You Nearly $3,000 a Year

Skip Paper Towels

The Shift: Trade in paper towels for reusable cleaning cloths. You’ll conserve as much as 30 pounds of tissue-grade paper and keep paper waste from entering landfills.

The Savings: Up to $150 a year if you use two rolls per week

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Install a Water Filter

The Shift: Install a water filter on your kitchen faucet for unlimited access to filtered water. Replace plastic bottles with reusable and refillable glass, steel or aluminum ones. You’ll be conserving fossil fuels, as well as about 30 pounds of plastic waste per year.

The Savings: Up to $880 per year

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Use Highly Concentrated Cleaners

The Shift: Replace conventional cleaning products with natural, highly concentrated ones. They may cost more than traditional products, but they’re more concentrated; if you dilute them, the products will last longer, saving you money in the long run.

The Savings: Up to $100 per year

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Pack a Waste-Free Lunch

The Shift: Pack your kids a waste-free lunch using a lunch box, thermos and sealable containers instead of buying individually wrapped snacks, disposable lunch bags and plastic baggies.

The Savings: Up to $540 a year

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Put Displacement Bags in Your Toilet Tanks

The Shift: If you have an older toilet that uses more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush, buy a tank displacement bag and place it in the tank away from the moving parts. The half-gallon of water you displace will be saved every time you flush, conserving 8,700 gallons of water per year.

The Savings: Roughly $35 per year

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Replace Your Showerhead

The Shift: Replace your current showerhead with a low-flow model, which uses 1.5 gallons of water per minute, compared with the standard 2.5 gallons per minute. You’ll conserve 12,000 gallons of water a year.

The Savings: Up to $380 per year

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Use a Canvas Bag

The Shift: Use a reusable canvas bag when grocery shopping.This one doesn’t save you cash, but it’s important! The average family takes home 600 plastic bags a year from the grocery store. Opt for a canvas tote and keep plastic out of landfills.

The Savings: 600 bags per year

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Switch Out Lightbulbs

The Shift: Replace your standard incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. You’ve heard it before, and there’s a reason. If every household switched to CFLs, we could prevent the release of 500 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

The Savings: $275 per year

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Install Faucet Aerators

The Shift: Install faucet aerators in your bathrooms to reduce water flow and increase water pressure. You’ll save up to 3,650 gallons of water per year.

The Savings: $30 per year

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Forget Paper Napkins

The Shift: Trade in your paper napkins for washable cloth ones. If we all gave up just one napkin a day, we could prevent a billion pounds of paper waste from going onto landfills a year.

The Savings: $50 per year

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Use Rechargeable Batteries

The Shift: Use rechargeable batteries instead of single-use ones. You’ll reduce battery waste, which can be a source of contamination.

The Savings: $60 per year on battery costs

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Shut Down Your Computer

The Shift: Shut down your computer every night (at home and in the office) to conserve electricity.

The Savings: $55 per year

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Scrape Your Plates

The Shift: Instead of pre-rinsing in hot water, scrape food remnants from dirty dishes into the trash or compost bin before loading the dishwasher.

The Savings: $40 per year on water and water-heating costs

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Wash Full Loads of Laundry

The Shift: Always wash full loads of clothes in cold water. By doing bigger loads less often, you’ll conserve 1,700 gallons of water and save yourself some time.

The Savings: $150 per year

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Go Paperless

The Shift: Stop paper waste! Sign up for paperless billing and make online payments.

The Savings: $60 per year in postage costs

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