If you’re like me then you care a lot about saving money and maintaining a comfortable lifestyle. If you’re even more like me, you will only begrudgingly and occasionally sacrifice your bank account and lifestyle for Global Warming’s sake.

Not surprisingly, essays on how to be more ‘Green’ do little to alter my habits. I probably won’t sacrifice the length of my shower and will never substantially limit the amount of toilet paper I use. I’m also unlikely to venture around Boston in search for a patch of grass to plant a tree or replace all of my light bulbs with expensive eco-friendly bulbs. Below are a few easy tips to help others like me go green while saving money in the meantime.

1. Brita Bottle
This water bottle, created by the makers of Brita Water Filters, is designed to reduce water bottle waste. According to Brita, every year Americans use enough water bottles to wrap around the globe 100x. The Brita Bottle a squeezable and reusable water bottle with a filter built inside making it convenient for students on the go.

2. Amtrak
Amtrak is more efficient and uses less fuel than cars and airplanes. The US dept of energy data estimates that Amtrak is 20% more efficient than airline travel and 28% more efficient than auto travel.
More info on saving on Amtrak here .

3. Hanging clothes instead of drying
We all know the amount of water that a washer uses is bad for the environment, but the energy drying your clothes is, too. As a poor college student, learning that hanging instead of drying saves an estimate of $165 a year was enough to convince me to abandon my dryer (that and it meant no more trips to the Laundromat and shrinking tops). In fact, this blogger has dedicated his or her blogging career solely to advocate hanging laundry.

4. Buy in Bulk
The EPA reported that Americans generate about $80 million tons of waste from packaging and containers a year. This is a no-brainer for me. Grab your roommates and head to your local Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, ect. and get more food for much less money.

5. Join Blog Action Day
Oct. 15th is the official Join Blog Action Day. So don’t worry if you’re a few days shy like I am (about 150). Write and talk about your easiest and favorite ways to help make your footprint a little smaller.