Earth Week: Sustainable Tools

Re-usable money savers:

In honor of Earth Week here are some sustainable and money saving tips for living and eating on or off campus:

1. Pack your lunch. My senior year schedule left little room for a dining plan. I was on campus between meal times so it didn't make sense to skip sleeping in to get a wilted salad with some tepid, rubbery dressing. Instead, I kept some money on my student card for emergencies and either ate at home or brought my lunch to campus. I saved close to $400 a semester and earned gas points buying at the grocery store!

Green Advantage: Think of the number of plastic forks, spoons, carry-out containers, paper wrappers, milk cartons, dressing packages and plastic bags the average student uses at a dining hall on campus in a single day. Now compare that with a responsibly packed lunch.

2. Be Responsible for your baggage. I am always surprised at how buying things like zip locks and plastic wrap blows up the grocery bill. Save money by investing in re-usable sandwich and snack bags. With a variety of bags under $10 buying one or two can help considerably reduce the amount you spend on disposable convenience items like plastic bags for chips, fruit or cookies. Imagine saving $15 a semester ($3.99 a box for conventional bags, 1 box monthly for 4 months) or $30 a year in plastic bags alone!

Green Advantage: More eco-friendly than your regular sandwich bag these little ditties are responsibly manufactured and worth their weight in gold... literally.

3. Use dish towels instead of paper towels. Personally I can't live without a good dish towel but for those of us who want convenience without the frills paper towels are usually the way to go. Imagine saving up to $2 a week on paper towels by buying a set of 3 "Paperless Paper Towels". They are dishwasher and machine safe making them a cheap, sanitary replacement to the otherwise costly disposable paper towel.

Green Advantage: According to Squidoo.com 1 paperless paper towel does the work of 17 rolls of paper towels!

For a great selection of sustainable lunch, kitchen and shopping products (including snack bags, lunch boxes, grocery totes and produce bags) check out Reusablebags.com

Save up to 60% during their Earth Month Sale on select products!