Pramod

As for the other suggestions, you should absolutely take the advice that works for you and scrap what doesn’t. All I can say is what works for me. I don’t feel deprived if my book is secondhand – I feel deprived if I don’t have anything to read. And there are a wealth of holiday opportunities closer to home, wherever you live.

The point was how you can still be green even if money is a bit tight. I’m not advocating self deprivation if saving money is not a goal. You can support the green economy by choosing where to spend money instead. By visiting this island for example: http://ecosalon.com/glamping-on-wilson-island/

Don’t buy new clothes or books? Don’t go on vacation? The theme here seems to be that depriving yourself of things will mean you don’t spend money on those things.

I really don’t get the push for bartering. The most important role of currency is to normalize the relative values of goods. A monetary system allows you to sell your property for money, and use that money to acquire what you want. A barter system would mean that you’d have to find one individual selling what you want who is ALSO interested in the unique item you’re offering. That makes it much less likely for exchanges to take place. A common medium of exchange (money) allows more people to get rid of items they don’t want and acquire items they do want – they’re not limited to the inventory of one trade partner. Isn’t that a superior system?

The suggestions are all green for certain (except for the bartering one – not sure how that helps the planet?) – but as far as cost savings, they’re not terribly ground-breaking.

Good tips, too! We can also drive more motorcycles and Smart cars, like much of the world does.