Every so often as I listen to the Dave Ramsey Show, he will paraphrase a quote from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones: you will be the same person you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read. Ever since I heard this quote, I have forced myself to read more. I try to reach a goal of 12 books a year. Part of the search for books is my annual pilgrimage to the Kentucky Book Fair, which was held recently (November 7, 2009) at the Civic Center in Frankfort, Kentucky. This particular year was very pleasing, as I got to meet a local author of a book titled, Go Green, Save Green.
Nancy Sleeth, author of the book, is the program director for Blessed Earth (www.blessedearth.org), a non-profit organization based out of Wilmore, Kentucky. The subtitles basic premise is a simple guide to saving time, money, and God’s green earth. Just the book I have been looking for; something that aligns to my principles on personal finance via managing time & money from a biblical perspective.
I have only started reading the book. As a teaser, let me show part of what Nancy suggests from page 4: “Do your laundry in cold water." I absolutely agree on that one. You might think whites will not clean as well in cold and only hot will do. Well, how about a compromise? Let’s go with medium. See how your whites do under this condition. I have been doing this for years. Whites still come out white, not to mention the cost savings of not going all out using hot water. Maybe I should give cold water a try for whites and see if I get the same results with added savings. If you read my article, “Research, negotiation, and patience pay dividends,” I talked about a washer & dryer my wife and I purchased. There is a cold water and tap water settings on our particular washer. I have been using the tap water setting lately and have noticed my water bill went down a bit. Typically, tap water is already cold. No need to make something cold that already is. Just a little “icing on the cake” from me that Nancy prescribes.
Continuing with laundry, Nancy suggests only doing full loads for washing and drying. One piece extra that I will provide is adding a dry towel to your load when drying. I have noticed that drying laundry gets done quicker. Not sure of the scientific reason for this or who gave me this suggestion. I suspect that the dampness from the wet laundry gets spread over a wider area, thus making it quicker to dry.
I can continue further, but I really need to read the book in its entirety before elaborating. In any event, you might want to take a look at this book. It has great potential to help you save money while saving the planet at the same time. Finally, we have a book that proposes environmentalism in a cost & time effective manner. And guess what … it didn’t come from Washington. It came from one of Kentucky’s finest. Thank you, Nancy.
For more information:
Blessed Earth
Go Green The Book
Kentucky Book Fair
Interview of Charlie "Tremendous" Jones.gif)
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