These next seven days are going to be easy ways to go green and save money. So if that’s what you’re looking to do, not change your lifestyle or remodel you house or spend lots of dough or hire a contractor, this is the series for you.

To start off the week, I’m going to give you something easy easy simple to do.

>> Remember, these are the easy of the simple of the things you can do. Passing these next seven days will put you well on your way to a greener, healthier home and way of life. But it’s by far only a start.

Total cost: $0

Ok, let’s get started! Today, I want you to start by taking a shorter shower. The average home uses 15% of it’s energy in heating water. Taking a 5-minute shower instead of lolli-gagging and taking a 20-minute shower will improve your power bill big time, and the amount of water you use, which is another benefit for the environment. Seen the droughts on the news lately???

Now, you could go all out and take a cold shower, but the title is Simple 7 days, and taking a cold shower isn’t very simple.

The other way to save water heating energy is to only turn on the dishwasher when it’s full. Tonight, instead of turning on that dishwasher right away, peek in there and see if you could add some items before turning it on. Again, you’re saving water on top of your water heating bill.

Same goes for washing clothes. Only here, you can cut out hot water all together. Using cold water for laundry saves on average $63 a year. And there are detergents specially formulated for cold water that get your clothes the same amount of clean.

While you’re over switching your washer to cold/cold, turn that hot water heater down some. What do you have it on now, hot? It should be set to warm, which is somewhere between 120-140 degrees. Can’t tell? Hold a thermometer under your sink and see what it reads– anywhere over 120 degrees is too hot.

That’s all for day one! See– simple, quick, and didn’t cost you a penny. Let’s recap:

  • Take a shorter shower
  • Turn on the dishwasher only when full
  • Wash clothes in cold water instead of hot
  • Turn the temp on your hot water heater down

Do this, and I guarantee you’ll see the results on next month’s power bill, and water bill. Keep it tuned here tomorrow for Simple Day 2 to a Greener Lifestyle.

Day One’s Cost: $0
Time: saved 15 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Super-Easy