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If you think it will cost you lots of green to go green, financial expert David Bach not only disagrees, but reports just the opposite in his new book, Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying).
by Rebecca Klein
Bach, a bestselling author known for his FinishRich series, offers steps we can take to help protect both the planet and our pocketbooks.
Here are five of his tips.
- Strip your utility bills by up to 30 percent by getting a home energy audit and acting on suggestions made. This can result in a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 10,000 pounds yearly.
- Cut costs by up to a third on many groceries by buying the largest available amount of products you regularly use, such as opting for the 64 ounce bottle of laundry detergent. You can also save by purchasing items like pasta and cereal from bulk bins. At the same time, you’ll reduce the amount of packaging sent to landfills.
- Bring your own lunch to work instead of buying takeout. If you save $45 a week, you’ll pocket $2250 a year and waste less packaging.
- Maintain your car so that it is as efficient as possible and save up to $798 in gas a year. If you switch from driving a car with 20 mpg to 35 mpg, keep another $884 in your wallet annually. If you save the full amounts listed, you’ll reduce your carbon footprint by more than 12,000 pounds a year.
- Instead of spending what you save by going green, invest in a green fund and make your savings multiply.
“Investing green will be to the twenty-first century what investing in technology was to the twentieth century. From a financial point of view, you simply cannot afford to ignore it,” writes Bach.
He points out that if you invest $3,758 per year, which amounts to about $10 a day in “green savings,” you’ll have close to $700,000 after 30 years. A section of the book is devoted to how to make your first “green million.”
A portion of the book’s proceeds will support the WaterKeeper Alliance, an organization that works to preserve and protect waterways.
Broadway Books, 2008
