How often do you think about your carbon footprint and the saving the environment? How often do you think about being more “green” but then not doing much about it?

Well Wednesday 22^nd April is Earth Day and it’s the one day of the year that represents us all standing together in unity for the environment and showing the world a new way of doing things! 2015 is the year that economic growth and sustainability can finally join hands. The United Nations have said that we need to set the example that our world leaders should follow because although climate change might be at the very back of our minds, if there at all, it’s already affecting many people, animals and places across the world.

So… we’ve been thinking of ways we can go green – which Oinq will be most pleased about! We’ve discovered that as well as helping to protect the environment, going green is a great way of saving money. So we think it’s a win-win plan of action!

Take a look at these ideas, that as well as being environmentally friendly, could save you cash at the same time…

• Reuse and recycle – many of us are already doing this just out of habit which is great. Reusing the resources that we have saves us money as we won’t need to be buying new things all the time, and recycling is one of the easiest, and most effective, ways to help the environment.

• Reducing our energy consumption – doing a home-energy audit to ensure we’re not wasting energy at home without realising. A large amount of greenhouse gas emissions come from the energy used to power our homes so we don’t want to be causing more by over-powering and then wasting energy!

• Adjusting our water heater settings – the average water heater heats the water to temperatures too hot for humans and wastes energy and money when doing so. Let’s take a look at our thermostats!

• Start composting – a massive amount of food is wasted and thrown away every year so we can help make a difference by turning our food waste in to soil; that way we’re not wasting food and we’re also saving money by not having to buy soil for our gardens.

• Buy an affordable, fuel-efficient car – for those of us who need a brand new car in our lives, there are a lot of affordable options that are also extremely fuel-efficient. The better the fuel-efficiency, the less greenhouse gas produced, which is another step in the right direction towards saving the environment (and money!).

• Build a rain barrel – think how much water we waste when watering our garden and how much it adds to our water bills every month. By building (or buying) a rain barrel you can water your garden using the rain water that runs from your roof – that way no water has been wasted and we’ll be saving money on bills as well.

• Bring your own mug – taking a stainless steel coffee mug with you when your on the go can prevent a lot of waste; the polystyrene cups that coffee shops give you don’t get recycled. Some shops like Starbucks will give you a discount on your coffee if you bring your own mug!

Other ideas such as buying local produce, not using as much disposable plastic and switching off our electricity sockets when they aren’t being used will all help as well – and again, are also great ways to save money.

Supporting the use of renewable energy resources such as solar lighting and wind energy is exactly what we all need to be doing in order to lessen pollution and the carbon footprint of the world. Do you have any tips on how to help the environment at the same time as saving money? Leave a comment below…