Going Green is not only helping the environment, it can also help your wallet. By buying local foods, riding your bike, buying reused and recycled products, and using electricity wisely, you can save money -- and save the planet in the process.

Although filling our tires with air may help save on gas, itdoesn’t help with the higher prices of food, clothing, and othernecessities. It used to be quite expensive to do things “green”--for instance spending your whole paycheck at Whole Foods to buyeco-friendly household products and organic food. However, now thereare alternatives to spending a fortune on eco-friendly products, andnot only does it save you money.

There are green alternatives to everything: household cleaningproducts, hybrid cars, pet food, appliances, cosmetics, you name it.There are even greener alternatives to some of these green products:bicycles, home-grown food, re-used furniture, and local products. Notonly are some of these green alternatives eco-friendly, they are alsoexceptionally cheap.

Home-grown food for instance is becoming increasing popular. Foodprices increased 4% in 2007, the biggest annual increase since 1990,and prices are projected to rise 4.5% to 5.5% this year, according tothe U.S. Department of Agriculture. By spending about $10 this springon tomato plants I am going to have enough tomatoes to last for theentire month of August, and hopefully some of September. Plus, I havethe added benefit of getting outdoors to water them every day and watchthem grow. Buying local produce also helps reduce energy and shippingcosts.

Another eco-friendly trick to save money is to buy products fromlocal businesses. Instead of heading to the shopping mall where mostproducts are manufactured in another country and then shipped to a portand then shipped to the mall, save a little money by heading to thecity or town (on a bus or bike!) and shopping for hand-made, qualityproducts. Green gifts arebecoming increasingly popular to buy for people, especially during theholidays. If you hate going to the mall, try shopping for green giftsand eco-friendly home decor at Fresh Heirlooms.

And if you are a pack rat and have a ton of “junk” around yourhouse, hop on the creative reuse bandwagon. Creative Reuse is the newvogue. If you’re not familiar with creative reuse, the idea issimple: take reused or recycled items, and make something new out ofthem. If you’re not craft, don’t worry�"there are plenty ofplaces you can buy creatively reused stuff. Just Google “eco-friendlycreative reuse” and you’ll find a ton of sites which sellhand-crafted cute household items, furniture, jewelry and anything elseyou can think of out of recycled and reused products.Being green also saves on electricity. Just by turning my water heaterdown a notch, I’m saving $30 a month on my electric bill. Energy Starproducts and eco-friendly light bulbs also help cut down costs�"by asmuch as 75%, plus they last 10 times as long. And I despise changinglight bulbs, so that’s a three for one benefit�"time, money, andenergy.

Kermit was wrong�"It IS easy being green. And cheaper, too.