Interesting stuff!I I've always known green living (and green parenting) can save money, but it's nice to have a dollar figure to strive towards!

This article actually inspires me to save! Although you have to factor in the inflation rate of about 10%. They say it's 2% but it's really upwards of 10%. Which means that by the time I've saved up $678,000 the value of the dollar won't be nearly as high as it is today... And it's already in free fall! Anyways this means that I will have to invest all of my savings in a high yield mutual fund that's comprised of green companies. If it's indexed for inflation then it sounds like a good idea to me.

Who spends $580 per year on cleaning products? They must be pretty dirty. I get by on about twenty bucks. Go to your nearest 99c store and get the cheap stuff. It works just as well.
But overall, you're right. Americans waste.

I bring my lunch to an office in which everyone else eats out (every day!). Each day, my boss stops in to see what I have because she thinks I eat so well. I do, and I save $$$!

I decided long ago to just say NO to buying crap. Crap hits your wallet, abuses the environment, and needles your health both mentally and physically. We vote with our dollars. The more we vote for quality and the less we vote for crap the better our health, our wealth, and our self.

what if I place a value on function, aesthetics and the time I save by not having to make my own cleaners that is greater than $10 a day?

This is hippie talk and it belongs in the '70's. The only chance our environment has is through the free market success of sustainable technology that is at minimum equally priced and equally functioning than existing non-green options. Putting the onus on the end user to make a evironmentally concious purchase decision and then make them regret it every time they use that product is foolish and a lot of the reason people hate tree hugging hippies, myself included.

In 30 years $678,146 will be the equivalent of what around $85,000 is now (estimated since we don't know how future inflation of the economy will be). With ANY investment, you have to factor in taxes and inflation, cause it means A LOT less over time.

Wouldn't it be better to spend that money on something fun, with good memories than whisk that minimal amount away for investing? If putting a measly $3,828 a year away will change your life, then God bless you... you need a better job.

This is what we should be teaching our kids...

A good friend of mine saved around $15,000 in two and a half years making a wage of $8-12 [he worked his way up] per hour. sound impossible?
he doesnt drive a car [he rents small places around his work/grocery store/bank, etc], he eats the same thing almost every day [cheap nutritious foods], he grows some edible plants to suppliment, and he rarely goes out to eat. he doesnt drink alcohol [mostly water] or smoke cigarettes, and rarely indulges in junk food. he has a short work out regimen he does every day to stay fit and healthy and occasionally takes supplements. he wore the same clothes every day for a long time, way before little brown dress girl did it. he takes care of the things he does have [which isnt much], and finds the simple things that make him happy and rinses, lathers, and repeats.

Maybe I am missing something. I understand how bringing lunch can save you money, but how is it better for the environment?

Okay, to be devil's advocate here... If we stop spending money then what happens to jobs and the economy? Maybe it's a better idea to spend money for lunch at places that buy local produce and employ local workers than it is to bring your own lunch that might include produce that's shipped a long distance. Isn't there an economy-of-scale in play at local restaurants? They feed more people, so they buy food in bulk, so they require less of a distribution network.

I mean, by similar logic you could say that we should all be eating at the same mega-cafeteria. That would be really green.

Three degrees doesn't seem like much, but it's something you can feel. It's a sacrifice that some people can make and others can not. To the elderly, it could mean the difference between staying healthy and comfortable and getting sick. If you're sick or miserable, or even a little annoyed because you're uncomfortable, then you're probably more likely to make poor decisions, be grumpy and translate your stress onto others.

If you're happy and comfortable then you're more likely to have time and energy to devote to being environmentally conscious. I don't have time to make my own cleaners. It would be a waste of my time. I can make a lot of money in the time that it takes for me to produce something like that. Specialization is the economically and environmentally sensible way to live. If everyone did everything for themselves we would still be living in caves. It makes more sense for me to do something that most other people can not do, and spend my money on things that I can't do for myself. Not everyone can be good at everything.

So what I should do is make sure I'm comfortable and not a burden on society, find a specialty that suits me, make the most money I can, and then invest it in people and companies who specialize in making the world a better place for everyone.

For the average middle class American homeowner, inflation plus tax on your investments averages just above %6. So everything above that on an investment is pure profit.

As for saving by going green the best way to do both is simply stop buying crap! Americans have been said to spend over %80 of their money on items which have no value, are temporary and brings no return, AKA: Crap (in the Wall Street Journal some years back). If you read pretty much any book about how millionaires became rich, almost all of them will tell you they started early, by investing every penny they could and they quit buying crap. I would suggest Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” book on this.

As for cleaning products that is a lot of $$$ a year to spend... We use Shaklee “Basic H,” it is environmentally safe, cleans just about everything you can think of. When my grandma sells it she will even show people it is safe by drinking some of it. A bottle of this stuff lasts us about 3 years and costs $10 at most.

Tony: if you are buying the cheap cleaners, watch the chemical labels carefully...you might be doing your family, not only your pocketbook, a favor by avoiding those chemical brews in your household.

Volksdaven: one short answer: reusable containers. Save all the waste packaging from a week' worth of fast food or even prepared meals from the supermarket. Then eat for a week by packing your own lunch in reusable containers, and your tea or water in your non-polycarbonate reusable bottle. If you are really into softdrinks, think about a system like Soda Club after you look at your week's worth of waste.

Buying cleaning products at the 99cent store? where were those made? and what's in them? certainly not env. friendly

volksdaven - unless you are walking to get your lunch that you are purchasing, and asking for it without that nice waxy wrapper and bag....you are burning fuel, wasting paper, plastic, etc. as well as pumping a whole bunch of crap into your body that you do not need.

I walk or bike myself to and from work every day (I made sure when I picked a place to rent this was possible), I shop at the farmers market down the road, drink my organic coffee out of a mug, compost, recycle and pretty much try to do any little thing I can that is not only going to be good for the environment, but also good for myself. Little things make a big difference.

Ok, so I guess there were a few assumptions made about what I am having for lunch. I eat in the cafeteria at work on real plates with real silverware and I don't need to drive anywhere. I see your point compared to a daily fast food option though.

hey, what happened to my intelligent and civil comment?
and why doesn't the subscribe button work?
treehugger is not on my spam list.

:/

"In 30 years $678,146 will be the equivalent of what around $85,000 is now (estimated since we don't know how future inflation of the economy will be). With ANY investment, you have to factor in taxes and inflation, cause it means A LOT less over time."

I would like to know where you got those numbers. If we assume inflation over the last 30 years will be the same as the next 30 years then we get 193338.30. If you were then to withdraw the money you would be subject to the 15% capital gains tax, leaving you with 164337.55. That is about twice your made up number.
The assumption of using the last 30 years is probably greater than inflation will be. This is because of the horrible stag-flation of the 80's. Just because you can write whatever you want, doesn't give you the right to not think about it.