In these financially tough times, saving money is a big concern for many households.

There are all kinds of ways you could cut costs from one month to the next that you may decide to take. You may have a gym membership that you no longer use that you could cancel, or you could cut out your daily coffee at work and take a pre-made flask instead.

However, there are some money-saving steps that could not only help to lessen the dent in your monthly budget, but reduce the impact on the environment too. What’s more, ‘going green’ doesn’t have to be complicated: simply getting into a few eco-friendly habits and making a few small lifestyle changes could really pay off over the long term.

Let’s take a look at how you could go ‘green’ and save some money into the bargain.

Save money – save the planet!

There are all kinds of small, but important, changes you could make to help you save some money and be more environmentally friendly.

You could go green by:

• Replacing your old lightbulbs with energy-saving ones.
• Switching off any electrical items, such as TVs, radios, games consoles, etc. at the wall when they’re not in use – particularly overnight.
• Using a clothes line or clothes horse to dry clothes wherever possible, rather than always relying on a machine dryer.
• Investing in a water-saving shower head to reduce the amount of water used when showering.
• Turning your thermostat down by a degree, to save money on your heating bills.
• Having a few car-free days every week. You could join a car share with work colleagues who live nearby, or even walk/cycle to work if it’s within a reasonable distance.
• Turning the lights off whenever you leave a room.
• Putting a brick in your toilet’s cistern to reduce the amount of water that is flushed away.
• Closing your curtains in the evening to stop heat escaping through the windows. Also check for any draughts around windows and doors that could be blocked using draught excluders.

Adopting just a few of these approaches could really make a difference – to your budget and the environment.

In fact, the most polluting daily activity by U.S. consumers is driving. And improving fuel economy by just 5 miles per gallon would save Americans 1.5 million barrels of oil per day.

To improve your green living efforts and reduce your impact on the environment, follow these simple tips to increase your fuel efficiency.

Tips to Increase Fuel Efficiency

• Avoid Excessive Idling: Allowing your car to idle for long periods of time, like while you’re waiting for someone or warming up your vehicle during the cold winter months, not only wastes fuel, but also reduces the overall lifespan of your vehicle.
• Perform Regular Vehicle Maintenance: Keeping your engine properly tuned can improve your gas mileage by as much as 4%, according to FuelEconomy.gov. Not to mention that fixing faulty oxygen sensors can increase fuel efficiency by as much as 40%. Other fuel-saving vehicle maintenance includes:
  • Regularly checking and replacing your air filter can increase fuel efficiency by 10%.
  • Maintaining proper tire pressure and alignment is not only safer, but also it can increase fuel efficiency by 3.3%.
  • Using the proper motor oil – the type recommended by your manufacturer – can increase fuel efficiency by 1%.
• Slow Down on the Highway: Driving fast may get you to your destination quicker, but it’s terrible for fuel economy. For example, you’ll lose about 2% in gas mileage for every mile per hour over 55. And in addition to lowering your overall mpg, driving fast wears out your tires faster due to the heat generated during higher driving speeds.
• Drive Gracefully: Fast acceleration and quick braking aren’t just hard on your vehicle, they’re bad for fuel efficiency. Driving smoothly will make your passengers happier – and save you about 2 miles gallon. Remember, just like the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady will win the fuel economy race.
• Remove the Junk from Your Trunk: Another way to increase your fuel efficiency is to travel light. For every 50 pounds you drive around, you lose 0.25 mpg. Remove items you don’t need to have in your car before making your daily commute, and you’ll save a little bit of money – and every little bit helps!
• Plan Your Errands: Whenever possible, combine your errands and plan your route in advance, so you do less driving. You may not increase your fuel efficiency, but you’ll reduce the environmental impact by using less gas.

Fuel Efficient Cars

In addition to following these tips for increasing fuel efficiency, you can always buy a car that gets good gas mileage. In addition to hybrids, electric cars and other automobiles that run on alternative fuels, there are plenty of gasoline cars that average 30 mpg or more.

According to FuelEconomy.gov, the top fuel efficient cars for 2008 are:

1) Toyota Prius (48 mpg city / 45 mpg highway)

2) Honda Civic Hybrid (40 mpg city / 45 mpg highway)

3) Toyota Corolla (28 mpg city / 37 mpg highway)

4) Toyota Yaris (29 mpg city / 45 mpg highway)*

5) MINI Cooper (26 mpg city / 35 mpg highway)*

6) Smart fortwo Convertible (33 mpg city / 41 mpg highway)

7) Ford Escape Hybrid FWD (34 mpg city / 30 mpg highway)

8) Mazda Tribute 2WD (34 mpg city / 30 mpg highway)

9) Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD (34 mpg city / 30 mpg highway)

* Gas mileage is calculated based on automatic transmissions. Gas mileage in models with manual transmission is typically higher.

Green Living Beyond Fuel Efficient Cars

Remember, green driving is more than just increasing fuel efficiency. Before choosing a car to fit your green lifestyle, you should also consider the overall environmental impact created by building and driving your car.

As an example, the Prius gets some of the highest gas mileage ratings. However, nickel is used to produce the battery in the Prius. The environmental damage caused by mining, transporting the nickel to build the Prius results in a staggering statistic: Building and driving a Prius causes more overall environmental damage due to the nickel battery it uses than building a Hummer that is on the road three times longer.

You’ll find plenty of information online at FuelEconomy.gov, from a specific vehicle’s energy impact score, carbon footprint statistics and EPA air pollution score. And once you’ve chosen your vehicle, you can find the best auto insurance, as well plenty of driving safety tips, at Nationwide.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Melanie_Broemsen

If you are among the population of people who live a green lifestyle as a member of a rural community, you are in a good position. I would suggest, however, that you think about ways you can support a lifestyle movement that seeks to protect rural areas of our country (like your community), by making the more urban areas more livable, sustainable and green. This movement is here and it is strong and it is called new urbanism. New urbanism is a movement affecting areas where most of us live, including those in the suburbs and city centers.

One of the key threats to our beautiful rural areas and farming communities is the spread of urban development. New urbanism seeks to contain that spread by encouraging the development of communities that can accommodate more people. I’m not talking about increased high rises and ugly housing complexes. I’m referring to the development of lovely and affordable urban houses, town homes and condos/apartments that reflect the beautiful architecture and unique detail of those neighborhoods that were created in America before World War II.

New urbanism neighborhoods are found in newly built developments and renovated communities both in the suburbs and older city centers. This new mindset has taken almost 20 years to take root in our national psyche. It is at its essence a straightforward, fundamental focus on changing where we live to improve our quality of life. We are tired of choosing or rating successful neighborhoods based on the largeness of the yard or house. Life is much more than that.

In the new urbanism mind set, quality of life is defined by how our environments affect our emotions and our ability to live a life according to sustainable, healthy values and core life priorities. New urbanists believe that if we can develop more communities that make it is easy to enjoy green living, working and socializing right in our own neighborhood we can make a positive impact on our environments.

Benefits of New urbanism communities:

•New urbanism will contribute to less vehicular pollution by making it easier for people to find employment close to where they live or to establish their own businesses at or close to home. New urbanism communities, because of their location near or close to population centers, have the technological and business resources to support entrepreneurs and a wide range of businesses.

•Communities that subscribe to new urbanism principles attract residents who want to live a green lifestyle so it will make it easier for you or your family to adopt green lifestyle practices.

•The greenbelts surrounding your city or suburban area will be better protected if new urbanism communities in your region thrive since new urbanism encourages home buyers and renters to choose existing urban centers over new developments on large lots in shrinking rural regions.

New urbanism provides the structure needed to influence the largest percentage of our populations in North America and around the world. For more information on how you can lead the change in your community or if you’re planning to make a move to a new urbanism community, please visit http://www.newurbanmom.com

Sharon McMillan is a writer and advocate for the healthy “new urbanist” lifestyle. She’s a suburban mom of two who has developed a career around marketing and promoting healthy productive communities for families and businesses. If you have comments or questions please visit http://www.newurbanmom.com or contact Sharon directly at newurbanite@gmail.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharon_McMillan