4 Ways to Go Green While Saving Some Green!

**Did you miss the other posts in this series of 31 Days Of Intentional Living?  You can find them here!

Going “Green” and saving money aren’t always two phrases that go together!  In the never-ending quest of having less chemicals in my home and using less paper products I have found the following 4 ways to be an easy way to be more “green” in my home, while at the same time saving me some green (also known as cash!)

1. Quit buying paper napkins and make your own.  (Ok, I haven’t done this yet, but this is on my to-do list.  I’m hoping to get have these made before Christmas.  I have some cloth napkins that I bought at Target that already help reduce my paper consumption!)  I found some great tutorials from One Great Thing By Jillee, and AKA Design + Life.
2. Replace paper towels with microfiber cleaning cloths, bar mop towels, or make your own un-paper towels!  A Blossoming Life and Cat Eyed KP both have great tutorials on how to make your own (and they are really, really cute!).  My Merry Messy Life also shows you how to make these without sewing.
3. Replace plastic and paper shopping bags with reusable shopping bags.  These are sold everywhere and you can buy them really cheaply or if you are crafty, I found some fun tutorials at Atkinson Designs and Maricucu.   I Can Find The Time has a tutorial on how to make shopping bags out of pillowcases!  Many stores give you a discount by using reusable bags which also saves you a little extra green (and you don’t have the annoying plastic bags floating around your house)!
4. Make your own all-purpose cleaner.  Here is an easy recipe!  You will need one quart sized jar with a lid, orange peelings and enough vinegar to cover the orange peels.  First place the peels inside the jar (just the peelings, not the rest of the orange).  Then pour the vinegar into the jar to cover the peels.  Place lid on the jar and seal tightly.  I put the jar under my sink in the cupboard for around 2 weeks and then put the vinegar/orange peel mixture into a spray bottle.  I dilute my cleaner to 50% cleaner/50% water.  I have also used lemon peels and they work well, too!

What are your favorite ways to go green while saving money? 

Have you enjoyed what you read here today?  Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource?  If so, please do me a favor!  I have included the links below to share with other intentional women!  They’ll be glad you did!

**Did you miss the other posts in this series of 31 Days Of Intentional Living?  You can find them here!