by Bridget N. Watts

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: October 19, 2008

Every day all of us produce a ridiculous amount of unnecessary waste. We tend to just throw things away as soon as we are done with them, without really giving it much thought. This is not only really bad for the environment, but it is also a big waste of money. There are many ways in which you can save money by recycling and here are some suggestions how you can do just that.

The number one thing people tend to waste is water. Just think about how much water you use per day by just flushing the toilet, taking showers, doing the dishes, using the washing machine or watering the garden. Not all of these activities require fresh water. You can save tens of dollars on your water bill if you get one of those rain-harvesting systems. A rain-harvesting system is a large water butt with a pump that catches all the rainwater that falls from the roof of your house, which you can then use to flush the toilet or sprinkle the lawn with.

A second thing you can do is get yourself a wormery. A wormery is a container in which you keep live tiger worms and add all of your daily kitchen waste, like food, tea bags or eggshells. The worms will then convert your waste into liquid feed and compost for your garden. A more profitable undertaking is to return all your empty plastic and glass bottles to your local recycling center. Depending on where you live, you can get a pretty penny for handing in those items. Some centers even give you money for recycling paper, as long as you bring it in huge amounts.

Instead of actually getting paid money for recycling, it is easier to just save money on it. There are so many products that we can easily reuse, even though we usually do not. Some examples of things we can use a number of times are plastic or paper bags we get at the grocery store, cardboard boxes you can use to store things in and even envelopes you can reuse by sticking a new label over the original address.

You can also save yourself some money by buying rechargeable items like batteries, instead of using disposable ones. They usually do cost a little more than regular batteries, but they can last you for years on end. Do not throw out wrongly printed paper or single printed advertisements, but use them as notepads instead.

Recycle your old clothes by either remaking them into new clothes or by turning them into something else. For example, old shirts can easily be made into pillowcases and old jeans can be turned into bags. If your clothes are really old and worn down you can also use them as rags to clean the house with.

Some people take the recycling thing a little too far and even reuse their tea bags and coffee filters a number of times. Of course, you are free to do so, but these items are so cheap that you are unlikely to save any money by reusing them. Plus I personally think it is a bit over the top and also kind of gross. You can save the most money by simply being more aware of what you are throwing away and looking carefully for ways in which you can recycle your stuff.

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