Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22 as an event that stresses the importance of keeping the planet clean. For the past 46 years this celebration has illustrated why we should protect the planet but did you know that doing your part to live a greener life can benefit your wallet as well? Recycling is the act of converting waste materials into something else to avoid unwanted landfill growth. To celebrate Earth Day we have compiled a list of four different ways recycling can save you money!

1. Use Your Own Coffee Mug– Did you know that Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam cups every year? If you grab a cup of joe everyday on your way to work your cup could be one of those if you’re not careful which bin it’s placed into! To avoid disposable cups in general, bring your own traveling coffee mug. Places like Starbucks will discount your drink by $0.10 if you bring your own cup! Save money and avoid being a part of the styrofoam cup problem!
2. Use LED Light Bulbs– Although LED light bulbs are more expensive to buy than incandescent light bulbs, LED light bulbs save energy and thus, money down the road. A LED light bulb can last up to 22 years or up to 25,000 hours, while an incandescent bulb can only last up to 1,200 hours. In other words, you’ll have to replace that hard to reach ceiling light fewer times when you switch to LED light bulbs. If every home in America replaced just one light bulb with an energy efficient bulb we would save enough energy to light two million homes for the entire year! Over a 15 year span using LED light bulbs costs roughly three and a half times less than using incandescent bulbs. You’ll save money from being so energy efficient!
3. Refill Empty Ink Cartridges– Shockingly, 375 million empty ink cartridges are thrown away every year! That’s one million cartridges per day. Buying ink is expensive and the cartridges add to a huge amount of waste! Did you know that you can refill empty ink cartridges at places like Costco for up to 70% savings? The colored HP 934 cartridge costs $71.99 from Staples, if you refill this cartridge at Costco it could cost as little as $7.49!
4. Use a Refillable Water Bottle– More than 60 million plastic bottles end up in landfills and incinerators every day in America. If you drink a case of water every week that could easily be $400 worth of water every year. When you make a onetime purchase of a reusable water bottle like Nalgene or CamelBak you are saving money and helping the environment at the same time!

It may seem like your actions won’t make a difference, but remember it’s up to all of us to create a more sustainable planet! The added bonus is that you can save money too!

Happy Earth Day Earthlings!