The Budget Ecoist- Eco Living on a Budget

The environment and China are locked in a symbiotic relationship, one we will all be involved in and be accountable for, to generations to come.

The Olympics (way to go, Michael Phelps!) have highlighted something most people already know: the development of China in such a short period of time is having a profound effect on the environment. Could it be that this is the beginning of seeing Olympians walking around with masks to protect them from bad air? And if so, what to do . . . ask China to stop developing, stop progressing? Ask people who have clearly sacrificed and lived more simply than most Westerners to "just stop" for the good of us all?

Well that wouldn't be very fair, now would it? Clearly China will have to do their part in terms of creating cleaner manufacturing methods. Certainly there are steps the rest of us can take to work to decrease the necessary manufacturing in China, in the meantime. Let us propose the simplest, most effective, budget-saving method we can all do -- beginning today -- to help decrease the environmental wear-and-tear being inflicted by increases in manufacturing: restraint.

Sara Bongiorni's book, A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy highlights the sheer volume of what we purchase every year from China, as well as the increasing cost of purchasing from anywhere else. This should bother all of us, but let's set that aside for now.

What we are suggesting is not to stop purchasing anything "Made in China", (which is a very difficult thing to do) we're suggesting to show restraint in purchases. Anyone who is a parent can easily look around their house and gasp at the amount of plastic unnecessaries. Tons of toys, more clothes than drawer space. And if you don't have children, it's not difficult to relate. Most of us have far more than we need. Heck, most of us buy things without ever questioning whether the purchase is really necessary, whether the amount of time worked for that amount of money is worth the sheer joy you will receive from that sweater, that Wii, that twenty-sixth shade of pink lipstick.

China is manufacturing for the Western world, they are not manufacturing plastic tchochkies for themselves. Not for their Happy Meals. Not for their nineteenth necklace. But for ours. And while it wouldn't be fair to ask a developing country to stop developing, it is simple supply and demand economics that will necessitate them to slow down when we stop purchasing things we don't really need.

Save money. Save the environment. Save space in your drawers. It's that simple.

For all those Eco Brides out there . . . learn how to make unique earth-friendly wedding invitations that only look expensive.

Be the envy of your friends at the party, and deliver your gift with presentation! Don't let fancy stores have all the fun packing your gift for you; you can do it yourself with minimal effort and recyclable materials from around the house.

This past weekend, we were preparing for a party. We had purchased the bride-to-be some natural products to soothe her tired tootsies; now all we had left to do was put the gift together.

Leftover box from a package previously delivered to us - CHECK!
Arts and crafts paper lying around the house - CHECK!

We shredded the paper and added it to the box, then gently tucked each of the pedicure items into the shredded paper and VOILA! You've got a perfect presentation. Use pages from a wedding magazine to wrap the gift and you are ready to go.

The Budget Ecoist links you to the best back-to-school eco buzz from around the web:

The Penguin and the Rooster - Recycled Plastic Laptop Bag via Great Green Goods - Keep twenty plastic bottles out of the landfill, and fulfill your lifetime fantasy of having a penguin and rooster lapop bag...all this with one purchase.

New Tool Helps Offices and Parents Buy Green via The Daily Green - The "Green Your Office Checkout" shopping widget is billed as a first-of-its-kind tool to provide shoppers with an easy way to find alternatives to traditional office supplies.

Back to School - School Supplies Free of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride Plastic) via The Smart Mama - Why go PVC-less? Read more in our post on demystifying the plastic number system.

Green Backpacks for Kids via Non-Toxic Kids - Since a backpack is a solid back-to-school item that must be purchased each year, if you can invest in a more sustainable backpack, that's one great move.

Win a Green Back-to-School Kit via Green & Clean Mom - Deadline to enter is August 19!

Buy and swap designer, vintage and fashionable clothing at whatsmineisyours.com

Ever get fully bummed out to realize you no longer fit into (or the piece no longer fits your style) one of your favorite pieces of clothing? Adding salt to the wound, it was an expensive piece of clothing, and simply donating it feels like a waste of the hard-earned cash you saved to purchase it in the first place. Selling it to most used clothing stores will....

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Sometimes the little things get overlooked in your daily recycling sort. Plastic bottles? Check. Coffee lids? Eh, maybe. While we would all love to be uber-green and create our own textile piles from unraveled sweater threads, the reality is some things get left behind. Like say, your used up Bic. And while you can take your plastic ballpoint pens apart and recycle every last bit (here’s how), you may want to preemptively buy pens that are Continue reading

Everybody's saying the environment is going down the toilet. But simple fixes around the house can help prevent it. With one easy adjustment, you'll save money, water and the environment... one flush at a time.

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