The notion that it costs a lot of money to reduce your impact on the environment has worked its way into the public psyche, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yes, actions like buying a hybrid car, switching to organic food, or installing solar panels make a big difference—but they’re simply out of reach for most of us, and they are actually among the least cost-effective ways to reduce your footprint.
Reality check: with a minimum of effort, the average American can SHRINK their carbon footprint dramatically, and SAVE loads of money in the process.
Using energy costs money and also causes greenhouse gas emissions—so it makes sense that reducing your environmental footprint can easily leave you with more money in the bank. Shrink & Save is a straightforward plan that anybody can follow, outlining steps for simultaneously making a big positive impact on your budget and on climate change. Through a combination of cost-saving conservation tips and a credit card that earns free carbon offsets, you can reduce carbon dioxide (CO2e) emissions by half of your total footprint.
Here’s how it works. First, conserve what you can:
- Complete six of the following ten tips, and you could save $1,500, while eliminating 11,600 pounds of CO2e emissions, or 21 percent of your footprint.
- Or complete all ten of the following tips, and you could save $2,500, and reduce your footprint by 34 percent, eliminating 19,400 lbs of CO2e emissions.
Then offset the rest:
- Get yourself a shiny new Brighter Planet Visa Card for free, use it an average amount, and you’ll automatically fund enough renewable energy projects to eliminate 16,000 pounds of CO2e emissions per year, reducing your footprint by yet another 30 percent.
- You can also earn free offsets with the Brighter Planet Debit Card, or purchase them directly (for the monthly price of a few cups of coffee, you can fund enough renewable energy to reduce your footprint by 30 percent).
- A bright idea
- Work isn’t always fun, but getting there can be
- Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without
- Not all flights are created equal
- Intelligent heating and cooling
- Drive the car, don’t let the car drive you
- Get the dirt on clean laundry
- Eating meat should be a treat
- Go with the flow
- Power down