What are some things that reduce people's carbon footprint that are more convenient, fun, easy, or cheaper than the alternative?

Three simple things: 1) Don't have more than two children. Each child is a new consumer and there is already a population problem. Kids also cost money, so having fewer will save money and/or allow purchase of higher quality things for the ones you have. 2) Live in town. You can ditch the car, which will save loads, and quality of life will improve by not having to commute. This may increase property costs but overall savings are clear. 3) Don't fly for holidays if less than 6 weeks away from home. Flying can be the biggest part of many (middle class family) footprints, especially if they have already reduced their household energy footprint and regularly fly for holidays. This must be reduced and having a reasonable limit means that flying is discouraged whilst still recognising the benefits of travel (cultural and historical knowledge, love miles). These three things will do more for the environment and your wallet than any other 'green' thing out there. Far more.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as cheaper but I would say a good idea is to plant your own . If you consider everything it takes to put a on your table, the has to be significantly larger than a plot of dirt in your back yard or . Note: Aside from the farming and shipping there's also the super market's electricity, etc. <added> And when you have your own garden you can do too. I can't remember the last time I put coffee gains, banana peals, egg shells, etc. in the trash. </added>

Well, I can give 18-35 year-old men a guaranteed way to get women into their homes and into their beds that also happens to be much less expensive and much better for the environment: Exchange this: For this: In other words:              Learn to cook well. Learn to buy and cook your own food well. Experiment with food.  Learn to pair food with wine or beer.  Learn a little about plating and presentation of food. Be playful and sensual with it. Result:  more and better sex (because of the link to the sensuality of food), less overall expense and great meals. Oh yeah, carbon footprint reductions too due to less overall food wastage, less food packaging and less overall travel. Oh, and if you are doing it right, sex provides hours of carbon-free entertainment. Be warned, however, this can lead to a lifetime of happy relationships. If you aspire to be a tortured, starving artist, ignore this advice.

If you have the option switch your power to renewable energy sources - my energy comes from wind power and renewables. It's a penny per kWh more but it is encouraging a market for renewable energy. If more of us do that it should drive the cost of renewables down - driving the cost down will get more people to do that. This is a good, passive way to reduce your carbon footprint as it literally only takes one step and all of your homes energy comes from a good source.

Do not cycle when you can walk. Do not drive when you can cycle. Do not fly when you can drive. Switch off those lights. Separate waste. Recycle. At the next exchange of a large domestic appliance ask about energy consumption and buy more expensive, often European brands. They generally last longer and consume way less electricity and, where applicable, water. Don't buy a new car every two years. You catch my drift. Use applied common sense. Turn it into a game. Frugality and sustainability go hand in hand. Look where it got Warren Buffett.

Since price is a proxy for the resource requirements of a finished good, being green and being cheap usually go hand-in-hand. Buy your vegetables at the store and buy whatever's cheapest.  Growing them yourself is more expensive and produces more carbon.  Large farms realize economies of scale that are impossible to duplicate in your backyard.  Fuel is expensive and commercial growers have every incentive to reduce costs wherever possible.  Mechanized farming has reduced labor costs to a small fraction of the total cost of a crop, so imported food is generally only cheaper because of favorable growing conditions.  If these conditions require less resources than those needed to ship the product around the world, it's probably greener. I'm sure there are many instances where goods are made cheaper by externalizing costs onto society, but this is a good rule of thumb. Other ways to go green: Move to the city!  If you think it's too expensive, petition the city to eliminate the ordinances that make building new housing onerous and restrict supply.  Population density creates economies of scale that conserve resources. Fly less!  If it's business travel, teleconference - save money and save yourself from jet lag. Drive less!  Maybe by telecommuting?  It's becoming more viable, particularly for knowledge workers. Shop online!  It's cheaper and the resource costs of shipping are usually less than those of carrying a good in a brick-and-mortar store. Eat less meat!  And while we're at it, let's eliminate the corn subsidies that artificially reduce the cost of meat.

So many things that will reduce your carbon footprint are cheaper. 1) Eat less meat. Not only do studies suggest that any amount of meat will shorten your life, but meat is expensive. So decrease your carbon footprint, save money in the short term, save money in medical bills in the long term, and enjoy a longer more healthy life- all by eschewing meat! I found it difficult at first to stop eating meat because I was raised in a family where meat was the central part of every meal, but I got used to it after only a few months. It's important that your diet is diverse with plenty of vegetables if you are going to enjoy the healthful part of this- if you are just going to eat cheese pizzas and PBJs it's not gonna work. 2) Walk or ride your bike to work or wherever. This is cheaper- way cheaper- for obvious reasons: no gasoline! However, I want to highlight two other great reasons to do this- it's healthy and it will make you happy. Exercise is important- it will help you live a longer life with less medical bills. It also gets your blood flowing and mind working. When you get home after a brisk couple mile walk or bike ride, you feel like you are king of the world! Also, life is full of opportunities that you might miss out on sitting behind your steering wheel. A while back I found a giant wheel of baby swiss sitting on the sidewalk (all sealed in plastic and sanitary-like). Once I put a baby bird back in its nest. Of course I only live a mile from where I work; not everybody has the luxury of walking to work, but you can bike every day a lot further than some people think you can. When I lived ten miles from work, I biked there every day. Sure there were some days I really just wanted to hop into the car, but think how much money you could save (about $1000 a year!), and how much exercise you could get biking twenty miles five days a week! While I'm thinking about it, let me talk about one last way you can drastically lower your carbon footprint: 3) Use cloth diapers and baby wipes. Now I know that this is neither fun, nor convenient, but it can be cheaper. Using cloth diapers is a hard sell because after doing the math, you find that they aren't even really much cheaper after calculating the initial investment and add in the cost of washing them over the period that your child will use them. Where the real savings kick in is during their second tour of duty with a second child. If you are using an older drier that breaks down the fibers faster, the diapers won't last long enough to serve a second tour, so a better drier- or better yet, line drying- is important. The best way to save money and reduce waste in this category is using cloth baby wipes. The savings are almost immediate because you can just use rags, and the wipe formula will be homemade from ingredients that you know are good for your baby's bottom. I just whip up a batch of chamomile tea and drop a little baby soap, tea tree oil, lavender oil, and olive oil. Those baby wipes from the store are EXPENSIVE over the long run for your pocketbook and the earth. Generally I find that lowering one's carbon footprint is a little less convenient, but it's almost always cheaper. I don't make a lot of money, but I went from never having enough money to always having more than enough when I decided to stop spending money on unnecessary conveniences. You get used to it to the point where you kind of prefer it too.

Go Vegan! It is pretty simple and you will end up saving a lot of forest land which will be used for agriculture to get fodder to feed animals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism There are a plenty of Indian, Mexican, Italian vegan dishes that you can adopt. Reduce consumption - Shop only what you need and try green alternatives like ebooks on Kindle for books. Solar Power - power your house using solar energy, a one time investment. Cut down transportation - avoid flights for the holidays on long trips, try to take a train instead of a flight (might be worse in some cases but usually has a lower footprint) Spread the word. One person can't do much but lots of people changing their lifestyle can cut down emissions by a significant amount.