Three Easy Ways to Save Money and Trees!

Short on Cash? Three Ways to Trash Fewer Trees and Save Money!

Updated Feb.1,2024. 23 Shevat 5784

There is a First Nations saying that is very true- take care of the earth and it will take care of you. Last week was the 15th of Shevat also known as Tu BiShvat. TuBiShvat is known as the New Year for Trees, when many Torah observant families around the world plant trees and celebrate with gratitude the wonderful foods that come from trees. I had intended to try to plant some fruit trees from seeds I had saved, but I was under the weather.

So this is abit of a late Tu BiShvat post dedicated to trees.

 I have been through some pretty tough times, over the past few years, just like some of you, and I have discovered that there are all kinds of things that I previously bought that I thought were absolute necessities, but I was able to cut out. This post has three things I used to buy a lot more and had to stop buying out of necessity. Not buying these things may have cut down on the number of trees being forested too. Perhaps you will look at my list and think- oh, this is nothing new, I did that ages ago. On the other hand , you may think- man , I think she may have gone over the brink!

This post also has a bit of a bonus too - an online daily habit I've changed that has helped me easily plant a few trees. Now - THAT might be new to you! 

Note: This blog has referral links that help our writers eat when you make purchases through them. 

 

Save Money By Saving Trees These Three Ways

Here are three ways I have reduced the number of trees I used to throw out.

1. Use Fewer Commercially Made List Pads. Perhaps this is something you might not have ever bought, but  me? I was a sucker for those notepads with cute little sayings or pictures of  cuddly cats that you could put on your fridge with a magnet to make your grocery list. What I discovered accidentally was this- the labels from canned goods make excellent shopping lists! Do I really need to put it on the fridge? Not really. When I think back on it, those magnetic lists on my fridge door really were just a dust catcher for me, and I rarely actually used them for writing down grocery reminders. While I do still write lists, the labels from canned goods are the perfect size for this! I am grateful for having the blinders of my eyes removed!
2. Use Fewer Cardboard Grocery Boxes. When I first started shopping for groceries online they were delivered in cardboard boxes. When Metro started offering the option to get your groceries delivered sans boxes, I wasn't sure how well this would work. The delivery person brings your groceries in something resembling a bread tray. He holds the bread tray while you pick your grocerues out of it and transfer them to whatever you choose to use to put your groceries in. At first I just reused the delivery boxes from the previous delivery for my groceries, then I started keeping a few sturdy insulated bags that I picked up at Shopper's Drugmart by the door.
3. Use Less Toilet Paper! Okay, here you may think - ewww! Gross! However, when I was in a remote northern community the only brand of toilet paper they had was so rough, you could use it for sandpaper! At first I switched to using baby wipes, but those were quite pricey. Things started looking a bit dicey when my paycheck didn't arrive. What was I going to do? I was chatting with a neighbour about how I had used homemade cloth diapers for my baby when she was small and I had an epiphany! Switch to cloth! I tore one of my blankets into squares and put them in a bag beside the toilet. I used a closed container as a makeshift mini "diaper pail"  and presoaked them in bleach before laundering them. Hower, I offered visitors a small pack of tissues to use. Personally, if there is more than one person in a household, I would suggest that each person be given their own supply of soft cloths and use separate mini personal pails - but then I have been labelled a germ-a-phobe by some of my frenemies. When I think of all the money I could have saved by not purchasing toilet paper over the years!

How I Planted Trees Daily for Free Online This Past Year

I used to get rewarded for my searches using Bing. The cool thing about using Bing for your searches on Microsoft Edge you can choose a charity to donate your points to and save a few for yourself too. That is one way you can choose to plant trees virtually. There are numerous charities on there to choose to dedicate your search points to, and you can change them whenever you choose. Basically, if it's a non-profit, they've got it!

While I still use Microsoft Edge with Bing Search, Google Chrome is my first choice,web browser  because after I close the Chrome browser on my phone, I can reopen it and my previous search is still there. I was led to discover I could change my Chrome searches from Google to Ecosia and plant trees virtually.

 As you search through the day, you can see your contribution towards planting trees as a circle gradually lights up around a tree in the top -left corner.

Here is the latest report from Christian- the founder of Ecosia on YouTube.

How are you saving or planting trees these days?

About This Author

Sister Su is grateful to God for keeping her alive. She is a Trent/Queen's Concurrent Education graduate with over 20 years of teaching experience. She writes on several blogs, has a YouTube channel and is most easily reached through Twitter @Sister_Su See her link tree for more details:@Sister_Su | Linktree

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