Dear Ida B. Green,
In these hard times, it seems we should be taking more time thinking about how to make ends meet than being all granola and green about everything.
Signed, Counting Dollars
Dear Counting,
I've always felt that if you scratch the skin of any environmentalist, you're going to find a penny-pincher pretty darn close to the surface.
A small sampling of these two sides of the same coin:
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Action
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Bottom-Line Guru
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Granola-Green Guru
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Energy audit and retrofit of home or business.
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Saves money annually on heating/cooling bills and could allow you to get a smaller replacement furnace.
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Saves the environment by reducing the need to dig for oil or coal and the environmental hazards of moving it from underground (or underwater) to distant power plants. Reduces pollution at plant caused by fossil fuel combustion.
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Reusable water bottle.
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Fill a good water bottle with good-tasting, filtered tap water. Save about $365 a year, every year.
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Saves fossil fuel used in plastic bottle production and transportation. Reduces litter and solid waste problems.
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Shopping at farmers market.
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One dollar spent locally equals $10 for the community. Health benefits could save money in the long run.
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Allows organic producers to build a more sustainable local agriculture and cuts down on fossil fuel used in transportation.
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Homemade granola.
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Less expensive than store-bought and tastes better.
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Well, yeah!
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Keep it Green,
Ida
—Elizabeth Jeffrey
