Think helping the environment costs more money? This is simply not true in many cases. These tips together could save you hundreds of dollars each year. Remember that each time you buy or reuse a used item you are helping. By not buying new you prevent all the pollution associated with the manufacturing of a new product.

SAVE MONEY
AND HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
16 TIPS

#1. Keep your car tuned.
You will save on gas, engine wear and exhaust emissions.

#2. Keep your tires inflated to the right pressure.
You will save gas, tire wear, as well as wear and tear on the car. You'll help the environment by going through tires less often.

#3. Don't fill the tank of your car right up to the top.
Some gas will almost certainly spill out. This is because gas sloshes around as your car drives down the road and leaks out. In warm weather gas expands considerably when it goes from the cool storage tank to the hot summer temperatures. You'll help the environment by keeping all those fumes from escaping into the atmosphere.

#4. Use e-mail instead of regular mail.
E-mail is faster and cheaper and there is no paper to discard. If you get junk mail you can just erase it.

#5. Add insulation to your house.
Insulation will make your home much more comfortable, increase its resale value, and save energy.

#6. Lower the temperature setting of your hot water heater.
Many hot water heaters come preset to 140 degrees. Many people do not need such hot water.

#7. Raise the temperature setting on your air conditioner.
You will save 5% for every degree over 70 degrees that you raise the thermostat. That's a saving of 40% if your go from a setting of 70 degrees to 78 degrees.

#8. Buy some of your clothes at thrift stores.
You will save as much as 95%. Most towns of any size have dozens of thrift stores with a variety of choice. And most new clothes, once washed a few times, look just like the ones you got at the thrift store for a song.

#9. Waste less food.
Some estimates put food waste as high as 25%. Learn to label and date leftovers so that they don't go bad. Plan recipes with leftovers in mind so that you can plan meals that will use them up. And you'll have less garbage as a result.

#10. Use less soap.
Many experts believe that you can wash your clothes in less soap than manufacturer suggests or your hair with less shampoo. You'll save money and put less into the environment.

#11. Avoid highly packaged "convenience" foods.
Guess who pays for all that packaging? You do when you buy the product. We even found store-brand discount tea bags without the string and outside wrapper for a third of other tea bags and the quality was excellent. You are keeping all the packaging from going into the landfills.

#12. Recycle newspaper as wrapping paper.
Kids love presents wrapped in the comics. Sports fans like gifts wrapped in the sports section. Financial wizards would like a surprise wrapped with the pages from the stock exchange. You'll save the price of wrapping paper.

#13. Make household products yourself.
You can save $100s each year by making your own household cleaners, health and personal care items which are less toxic. Get a copy of Cheaper & Better, Nancy Birnes, Harper & Row, $15.00.

#14. Buy a late model used car.
Many cars loose 25%-50% of their value in the first two years. Buy a used car and get a much better deal. In addition you can make a better informed choice about which car to purchase. After two years you can read repair records and find out which cars perform the best.

#15. Buy Used furniture.
There is an abundance of used furniture. You can save as much as 80% over new.

#16. Buy used CDs.
A used CD will sound just as good as a new CD. There are many discount used CD stores today.