SAVE MONEY BY GOING GREEN

It takes about 2,500 litres of water to make one cotton T-shirt. One pair of jeans uses about 8,000 litres of water. Secondhand purchases save huge volumes of water and fossil fuels from transportation, keep clothes out of landfills and are much cheaper than buying new.

SHIFT TO THRIFT

A leaky faucet that  drips 1 drop per  second can waste  up to 10,000 litres of water per year, which amounts to 105  10-minute showers,  625 toilet flushes or 58 full baths.   Average utilities are  $4 per cubic metre  (or 1,000 litres),  so you’d save $40  per year on that  drippy tap alone.

FIX LEAKY TAPS

Being environmentally friendly doesn’t have to cost extra money. Sometimes it can even be cheaper. It’s all about making wiser choices when it comes to everyday living. Here are some budget-friendly tips to make your life just a little bit greener:

SWAP COFFEE FOR TEA

One cup of coffee uses 132 litres of water to grow, process and transport the beans. A cup of tea needs just one quarter of the water needed to produce a cup of coffee.

Carry your own reusable container when you’re out or at work, and fill up with tap water. Canadians consume two billion water bottles per year, or 5.3 million a day and not all of it gets recycled, with 22 million pounds of plastic going to the Great Lakes every year.

DITCH BOTTLED WATER