10-dollar-billThat’s right! The trifecta.  Frugally Green is here to bring you squarely into 3-dimensional sustainability.  Seriously, when was the last time you read a blog post that spoke directly to 3 different facets of your life?  You can actually answer that question if you want; I’m looking for some new, amazing material to read after doing some thorough scrubbing of my RSS reader.  It’s looking a little sparse.

Anyway, it’s been a little while since I wrote a real, down and dirty, dollars and cents post.  It seems like you guys have enjoyed the personal development articles I’ve been writing lately (I’ll be conducting a survey soon to actually confirm that), but I know you secretly yearn for more ways to green it up for less, so I shan’t withhold that from you any longer.

One of the first things I learned while studying construction management in college was how to draw a triangle.  Then I was taught how to write ‘time,’ ‘cost,’ and ‘quality’ at each point and told how to interpret this funny diagram.  You see, the theory was that, when you’re putting a building together, you must always sacrifice one of these aspects in order to maximize the other two.  In other words, you can build quickly and cheaply, but you’ll end up with an inferior product. You can build cheaply and maximize quality, but it’s going to take a long time.  Or, if you wish, you may assemble an amazing building rather quickly, but you better believe it’s going to cost a hell of a lot of money.

I stared at this diagram for a few minutes, tilted my head sideways, squinted a little, and then quickly decided that it was complete garbage and quit listening. This model functions quite beautifully, you know, if you’re trying to describe how the vast majority of companies or people work.  You can profile the average company or project quite accurately.  This is also where the model becomes completely useless because, well, who cares about being average?  The best and most innovative builders out there are constantly finding new ways to do what they do better, faster, and cheaper.

Anyway, before I head too far down that road again with my hippie-psycho-babble, let’s get to:

The part you actually care about

All you skimmers (I know you’re there!) will love this part.  Here’s a list of 10 things you can do to kick ass at all 3 corners of the triangle and prove my old professor wrong.  Maybe she’ll even see this post some day and offer me my tuition back.  A guy can dream can’t he?

Don’t flush your toilet: At least not until you start to wonder what might be living in there.  I grant you permission to flush every time you poo, but just know that if you choose not to, you are a remarkable person.  And I never want to meet you.

Turn off your lights: How many rooms have you ever been able to occupy at the same time? I’ve maxed out at 1.  I’d like to know any tricks you have for increasing this number (and no, having an open kitchen/dining area does not count as 2 rooms!). If you’re like me and lacking superhuman powers, you don’t need light in a room you’re not in, so take a second to flip the switch when you exit.

Play a board game instead of a video game: After about 6th grade I was unable to find any interest in video games. Really, what could possibly come next once you’ve beat Super Mario World? But, you know what?  I still love Scrabble and Risk like nobody’s business.  And I don’t need a TV, a console, or face full of pimples to play scrabble.  All I need is a friend.  If you know where I could find one of these, I’d appreciate an email.

Turn off your computer: If you leave it on all night or while you’re gone to work, it gets really lonely. When a computer gets lonely, it acts out just like your puppy that ate your couch when you left it alone for an hour to go shopping.  Also, I am a total hypocrite.  I’m writing this post from my new laptop while my old desktop is buzzing idly across the room.  I am ashamed.  I will now turn it off and go sit in the corner.

Hypermile: Read this post and start doing it.  It’s awesome, it’s addicting, and it’s a fantastic conversation starter as your friends will undoubtedly ask you why you’re driving 45 mph on the freeway.  Don’t be ashamed to tell them.

Kill the sink while brushing your teeth: Yeah I know, you’re mom already told you this one. Where do you think I got it? Anyway, if your mom already schooled you on this, why are you still doing it?  I know, I know, it’s habit.  If you can force yourself to do it 20 times though, you’ll never have to think about it again.

Take shorter showers: How much time do you really need in there?  I’ve developed ninja-like quickness in the shower and still lead a perfectly enjoyable life.  I understand those early mornings, though. If my body begs me for a few more seconds under the hot water, I oblige, but I don’t need that every day.  Life’s too short to dilly dally!

Buy some green investments: Ok, ok.  If you really do your research on this, it might take you a bit longer than 20 minutes, but you’ll sure save yourself a lot of time in the long run.  If you’re not sure where to start, just start at the beginning.  I wrote a little series a while back about what I did when I bought my first green investment. Hopefully it’s of value to you if you’re interested in investing.  I trade on Tradeking, which charges $4.95 per trade and account set up only takes a few minutes.  I’ve had a good experience so far so I am happy to recommend them to you at no benefit to me.

Buy some white vinegar: And clean your whole damn house with it!  Seriously, this stuff is amazing.  White distilled vinegar is what you want.  I use it to mop floors, clean countertops, bathtubs, sinks, and toilets.  I’ve also been told that it works great as a fabric softener.  Once I run out, I’ll be giving that a whirl too.  Oh yeah, this stuff is crazy cheap, also.

Tell someone about Frugally Green: What kind of post would this be if I didn’t do some shameless self promotion?  Honestly though, the reason I write this blog is to help people out. I sure get a lot out of it, too, but I like it more when you get something out of it.  The more people that read Frugally Green and get something worthwhile out of it, the better I feel about myself.  You wan’t me to feel good about myself, don’t you?  Don’t you!?!

Well, looking back, perhaps a more appropriate title for this post would have been 1o Green Changes in Less than 5 Minutes that Will Save or Make You Tons of Money, but I think we all know that’s too long and, really, there’s something to be said for consistency.

Are you doing any of this?  What else do you have going on?

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