We all want to do our bit for the environment and we all want to save a bit of cash along the way. In recent years it has become increasingly easier to achieve both objectives at the same time, so below we complied what we believe to be eight of the best and simplest ways to save money and the environment.

Swap to a green energy tariff

Most, if not all the major energy suppliers will have green tariff option available which all help environmental sustainability in different ways. How they help depends on the company, for instance, on a green tariff your energy might come exclusively from renewable sources, such as solar or wind power. Another way the contribution could be worked is some of your energy bill goes towards research into renewable energy.

Green tariffs are also very competitive, saving you money due to the competition between energy suppliers. They won’t any more than a duel fuel tariff, with this in mind, if you’re looking to switch to a green tariff, shop around and use this as a valid excuse to change to a cheaper energy supplier at the same time.

Be more careful driving

Not many people realise how the little things in driving can soon add up to using more petrol than you actually need. Making adjustments to your driving style can really help, for instance accelerating and braking hard require more fuel than a slow and steady increase, stay in the speed limit to keep fuel consumption at a steady rate and preferably don’t have a roof rack, as the drag can use up 2-3% of the fuel every time you fill up. To round off, it’s not just the engine that needs fuel, electronics in the car can take up a fair amount of juice, such as having the air conditioning on regularly at full blast.

Energy saving at work and home

This one couldn’t be simpler or more obvious really. Simple but effective energy saving tips around the house include all the classics, turn the lights off when not in the room, turn on the heating as and when you need it and to round off, make sure all appliances are switched off and not just on standby.

Use your library

Why spend a small fortune on entertainment such as books, music and DVD’s when you can rent a large selection from your local library? Libraries have gone out of their way to expand into CD’s and DVD’s in recent years, also making it cheaper than going to Blockbusters. As for the environment, well, you’re saving more paper and plastic finding its way to landfill sites for starters.

Alter and readjust your computer settings

The standard settings of your Laptop or PC are not set for energy efficiency. With this in mind tweaking and then using the ‘sleep’ and ‘hibernate’ options for maximum energy savings, also turn off your PC if it is not going to be used for an hour at least.

Grow your own

Growing your own doesn’t have to be a hassle, special gardening equipment does not have to brought, nor does much precious garden space have to be sacrificed to make room. Ask other growers, such as friends or neighbours for cuttings or seeds to plant instead of buying packets and by summertime you’ll be shaving costs off your food bill and saving environmentally on the ‘food miles’ and packaging of supermarket bought produce.

Save paper

Common sense rules supreme here, there’s no great secret or revelation to be found. Use both sides of the paper always, don’t discard scrap paper, keep it in one spot for use for notes, shopping lists etc. Printers default settings will need to be altered to energy efficient parameters (like discussed above on PC’s) and last but not least, start recycling used paper, magazines and newspapers whether by a trip to the paper bank or in separating your rubbish for the dustmen.

Use rechargeable batteries

Batteries can be quite expensive, so buying them over and over can cost a pretty penny, so the long term savings rechargeable batteries can give make them a worthwhile investment. The purchase price is going to be higher than for normal batteries, but that is easily offset by the large savings to be made by using them. Used batteries are one of the worst pollutions on the environment, so the less they are the used is always a good thing.

Well, that’s all we have time for I’m afraid! Many of the money and environment saving tips we listed above are just a few of the hundreds of ways that are available online; we strongly suggest having a rummage through internet to find the rest if you liked what you saw in this article.

James writes for Just Remortgages one of the UK’s top sites for the latest remortgage rates and best remortgage deals.