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It is often assumed that being environmentally friendly is more expensive, but you don't need to get caught up buying hefty priced eco friendly products. If you simply recycle you'll be going green and saving yourself money.

You can do the environment and your hip pocket a huge favor by simply getting back to basics. If you speak to people who lived through the depression or anyone who has ever had to seriously go without, you will find that they learnt to make use of everything at their disposal many times over. When you do this you will automatically generate far less waste.

Now if you aren't in a position where you are struggling to survive it's unlikely that you'll automatically be creatively recycling, so you'll probably need some form of guideline to help. If you try to abide by one simple rule you'll see your garbage pile go down and your money pile up. The simple rule is "recycle everything that you bring into your home at least once before you allow it to become landfill".

The following are some great examples and suggestions:

-Clothing-resell clothing that you no longer want, or cut it up to make cleaning rags out of. This way you will either get some money back in your pocket or you won't need to buy cloths to clean with. Old clothing rags are typically ideal for cleaning the car with.

-Toothbrushes-for dental hygiene and effective brushing a toothbrush should be replaced every three months. However, this doesn't mean you need to bin it at this point; they make great cleaning tools to get into all those nooks and crannies. For example, dip it in a little bi carbonate soda and go to work on the grout.

-Newspapers and catalogues-layers of newspaper are ideal for wrapping around fragile items to protect them during postage, moving or storage. These papers can also be used in the garden and composting or for a wide array of children's crafts.

-Fast food packaging- Plastic containers can be washed and reused which will save you from buying Tupperware and glad ware. Many fast food outlets stuff a wad of paper serviettes in with your order, if you keep the excess in a pile at home you will most likely find that you'll never need to buy paper towels again. Whenever possible wash up plastic knives and forks to create your own picnic kit. The aluminum cans and bottles you get may be able to be taken to a recycling facility where you will be paid a small fee for your efforts.

-Toilet paper rolls-children's crafts, Christmas cracker centers, use them to protect seedlings or stand several up in a box to neatly separate and organize pens from pencils, scissors and other stationary items.

-Egg cartons-are perfect for seedlings or storing away delicate Christmas decorations or other ornaments.

-Books and magazines-resell them on eBay or Amazon, swap them at a book exchange or second hand store or form your own swap club. You'll either get money back in your pocket or get to read much more widely for the one price.

If you really make the effort to follow this rule, you will also find that you're shopping habits will begin to change for the better. You will most likely start to buy things that aren't as throwaway. For example, when you buy fresh food there's no wasteful packaging, you can buy reusable cleaning and beauty cloths instead of the throwaway kind, or convert back over to handkerchiefs rather then tissues.

Learn more about this author, Kimberley Heit.
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