Redeem for Sustainable Rewards

To save money and be green at the same time, use your AIR MILES Reward Miles for sustainable rewards. The new My Planet program from Air Miles in Canada features over 100 rewards that have passed the scrutiny of a TerraChoice accreditation process, and can save you money by using less energy in some cases, but also because you don't have to use CA$H to buy a similar item.

As a Toronto resident, I'm excited about redeeming for a TTC Metropass and saving myself the $100+ a month for transit. [My Planet by AIR MILES]

Hang your clothes to dry on a line or rack

We all know that if we don’t dry our clothes in the dryer we save on electricity, but many of us don’t think about how the dryer reduces the life of our clothes. The physicality of the tumble dry actually wears out clothes faster, and requires you to replace clothes much more frequently. [Further Reading]

Use Public Transportation

One of the simple ways to save money is to not spend money. The cost of a transit pass compared to that of owning a car is drastically smaller. When you include gas, insurance, the car itself (lease or finance), maintenance, car washes, (drive thru) -- it's a lot of money to own a car. Some don't have the luxury of a great public transit system, but for those that do, this is a big one. You could also be elegible for tax rebates for the purchase of transit passes. Look into it. [Ride the Rocket]

Install solar panels

Solar panels are a great way to save money. Yes there is an upfront cost, and a small amount of regular maintenance that is required, but beyond that, the energy flows freely. Depending on your usage levels, you can actually sell power back into the grid and MAKE money by having solar panels. [Save More with Solar]

Use less paper napkins when eating out AND at home

There’s no need to grab a huge stack of napkins from the concession stand when you know you’ll only use one or two. Each North American consumes an average of 2,200 standard two-ply napkins per year, or the equivalent of just over six of these napkins per day. If everyone used an average of one fewer napkin per day, more than a billion pounds of napkins could be saved from landfills each year. A stack of napkins this size could fill the entire Empire State Building. Use this philosophy for your home and use cloth over paper to save money.[Reuse to save]

Read your magazines and newspapers online

Every day in the United States, about 65 million newspapers are printed. Of the newspapers printed and distributed (trucked, shipped, etc), 45 million, or about 70%, of them will be thrown in teh garbage instead of the recycling bin. Recycling just the Sunday papers would save more than half a million trees every week. Also-- all of the best papers have an online edition that is more current, and less 'made of trees'. Plus, much of the content is FREE![Read online]

Wrap your gifts without using paper

You can reuse gift bags, bows and event paper, but you can also make something unique by using old maps, cloth or even a newspaper. Flip a paper grocery bag inside out and give your child stamps or markers to create their own wrapping paper that's environmentally friendly and extra special for the recipient. Admit it- we mostly just rip it off and throw it away anyway? [Find an alternative]

Don't waste money on Bottled Water

Nearly 90% of plastic water bottles are not recycled, instead taking thousands of years to decompose. Buy a reusable container and fill it with tap water, a great choice for the environment, your wallet, and possibly your health. The EPA and other international governments' standards for tap water are always more stringent than the FDA's standards for bottled water. hard to believe, but Water is still more expensive that gasoline when bought by the litre. Go jump in the lake. [More in the tap]

Install a digital programmable Thermostat

Saving energy means saving money. In addition to adjusting your thermostat a little cooler in the winter and a little warmer in the summer, consider installing a digital thermostat with timers and time-of-day functionality. You can drop the temperature of the house a few degrees while nobody is home, and bring it back up right before everyone gets back.
[Update your thermostat]

Use energy-efficient web hosting services

This one is pretty 'nerdy' but for those looking for an affordable AND green host for their domains, check out ThinkHost. "All our hosting plans are 100% wind/solar powered. Added to that, most of our team members "telecommute" - saving thousands of gallons of fuel annually that would have otherwise been consumed in commuting to a traditional work environment." [Green Hosting Services]

Recycle or Reuse all your glass bottles and jars

The average household is estimated to use around 330 glass bottles and jars annually but only around 30% of these are currently recycled. Collecting and recycling all your bottles and jars used around the home can make a big impact on reducing this huge volume of waste. Make sure all your bottles and jars are empty, have their tops removed and are washed, sorted and sent to the curb. To save money, try saving the 'good' jars for stuff like soups, left-overs and other things that you would use plastic for. [What to do]

Try to be a vegetarian once a week

Staples such as rice, corn and beans can make trips to a grocery store less expensive. But the biggest savings may come in health-care costs years later. In a world of $1 double cheeseburgers, it's no wonder that many people suspect that a vegetarian diet is more expensive than one that includes meat. But that's generally not true. And though it's difficult to tally the savings of illnesses or diseases avoided with a plant-based diet, the financial worth of good health is unquestionable.[Further Reading]