Saving money while helping the planet: 8 new habits to adopt

With prices rising for such things as groceries, gas and recreation, our wallets could use a break. So here’s some good news: you can save money without doing the planet any harm!

These changes will benefit your budget, yes, but even better, they will benefit our environment as well. We know that learning new habits can seem difficult, especially when our busy lives leave us so little time. And some of our suggestions might not fit seamlessly into your daily routine. But it is important to note that it’s not up to the public to bear the entire burden: the government has an essential role to play to help us adopt environmentally friendly habits while mitigating the costs of the climate crisis. Équiterre is fighting for these policies.

Take your time and explore these eight habits that you can easily incorporate into your daily life, little by little.

1. Gradually reduce your car trips

Potential savings: $10,000 a year (yes, you read that correctly!)

One of the things we spend the most money on is our cars. Between the financing costs, gas, insurance, repairs and parking, the expenses add up quickly: according to the CAA, the average driver spends over $10,000 a year on their car!

If you live in a city or in a community well served by public transit, it will cost you way less to take the bus or the subway. On the Island of Montreal, for example, a monthly transit pass will set you back $100. For Greater Montreal (Zone A to D), it will cost you a maximum of $271 – which is still way less than a car!

In areas where public transit is scarcer, or if you can’t limit your car trips, try carpooling, which will save you money by letting you share your transportation costs. You can also use a car sharing service, such as Communauto (available in 10 Quebec cities), which lets you use a car when you need one. The cost is less, plus you won’t have to pay for gas.

During the non-winter months, a subscription to Bixi in Montreal costs $23, or $112 for an April-November subscription (a savings of $49!). Bixi even has electric bikes.

Environmental impact: transportation is responsible for 43% of Quebec’s greenhouse gas emissions. Using your car less is good not only for your wallet but for the planet as well!

2. Making travel plans? Consider Quebec!

Instead of jetting off to some distant land, why not opt instead for weekend trips to Quebec attractions? Our province offers magnificent landscapes that are second to none in the world! Travelling through Quebec beats flying south, especially today when economic relations between Canada and the United States are so fraught and the exchange rate is so poor.

Air travel is increasingly expensive, not to mention very polluting. Until 2020, flying to Europe cost $1,000 on average. Today, tickets can go for as much as $2,000.

If instead of flying you opt to travel by car (or even by bus or train) to a Quebec region, you will be saving several hundred dollars. There are many destinations accessible by train or bus. For example, taking the bus from Quebec City to the Gaspé costs about $150 in the summer.
Or you can opt for a road trip in an electric vehicle and not have to pay for gas!

Visit Quebec’s national parks, go camping or choose a nature destination. If you don’t have the necessary equipment, you can rent it, or buy it used. Even better, ask your friends or neighbours if they can loan you what you need. If you prefer a more turn-key experience, consider an affordable ready-to-camp option from Sépaq ($109/night).

3. Reduce food waste

Potential savings: $1,300 a year

Each year the average Quebec household throws 140 kg of still-edible food worth $1,300 straight in the garbage can! To minimize this waste and save money, there are several easy habits you can adopt:

• Plan your meals: make up a weekly menu and a grocery list so you’ll buy only essential items.
• Reuse your leftovers before they go bad (transform them into soups or salads, for instance)
• Organize your fridge and shelves in such a way that foods nearing their expiration date are stored in front for easy access. Use hermetically sealed containers (such as Mason jars) to extend the life of your dry goods (flour, pasta, cereal…)
• Portion out and freeze ingredients for later use (very handy for busy weekday evenings and for single people who can’t always take advantage of bulk discounts)
• Use anti-waste apps like FoodHero that offer perishable items at a discount.

4. Buy fewer new clothes

Potential savings: $1 600 a year

Buying clothes is expensive, especially with the surge in textile prices. Did you know that the average Canadian household spends $2,300 a year on new clothes? And that each Quebecer buys about 40 kg of textiles a year? And yet nearly half of these textiles end up in the trash, and only 6% are recycled.

By shopping for second-hand clothes at vintage stores, thrift shops or online platforms, you can reduce your clothing expenses by 50-70%. A new winter coat can set you back as much as $500, but you can find a second-hand one for a fraction of the price. If you opt for quality pieces that never go out of style, you can avoid having to refresh your wardrobe too often.

Quebec thrift shops are about more than just clothes. You can also find books, games, furniture and home décor items.
And if an article of clothing or footwear is damaged, why not get it repaired instead of buying a new replacement?

5. Incorporate more vegetable protein into your diet

Potential savings: $650 a year

If you’re a meat-eater, you’ve surely noticed that prices have gone through the roof! The price of beef in particular has reached new heights: in less than a year, the price of ground beef has gone from $11.16 to $14.25/kg – an increase of 28%, according to Statistics Canada.

Good news, though: there’s a much cheaper (and every bit as nourishing) alternative. Plant-based proteins like lentils, chickpeas, beans and tofu cost a fraction of the price of meat. For example, a 900 g bag of lentils costs about $4, or some three times less than ground beef.

Why not phase in these ingredients little by little? Replace one or two meals a week with plant-based proteins, or start by mixing lentils into your spaghetti meat sauce.

You can save hundreds of dollars a year and reduce your carbon footprint – remember, meat is one of the most polluting foods in terms of GHG emissions.

6. Reduce your hydro bill

Potential savings: $300 a year per household

A few simple changes will allow you to significantly reduce your energy consumption and costs:

• Unplug unused devices. Even when not in use, they account for 5-10% of your electricity consumption.
• Optimize your heating: heat only rooms you use and keep the thermostat at 19-20 °C. Just a single degree lower in winter can save you 5-7% on your bill!
• Sign up for Hydro-Québec’s Hilo program: take Hilo challenges and earn cash rewards while saving energy.
• Don’t let heat escape: caulk around doors and windows and keep your blinds closed at night to keep out the cold.
• Replace your lightbulbs with LEDs: they consume 75% less energy and last much longer.
• Take showers instead of baths and make your showers quicker to save the energy needed to heat the water.
• Wash your clothes with cold water and avoid using the dryer: 80-90% of the energy used by a washing machine goes to heating the water. Hang up your clothes to dry, especially in summer.
• Use appliances optimally: turn off your water heater in summer, and regularly defrost your refrigerator and freezer to keep them efficient.

7. Choose a bidet over toilet paper

8. Share your services and your equipment like good neighbours do

Why buy a jigsaw that you’ll maybe use two or three times when you can borrow one? Platforms like Partage Club or neighbourhood groups like Buy Nothing or As-tu ça-Veux-tu ça? make it easy to loan or donate items among neighbours, saving you the expense of costly purchases.

Tool libraries, like the ones in Montreal and Quebec City, also let you take out equipment rather than buying the item new.

Start your own neighbourhood chat group on Whatsapp, Signal or Messenger to share tools and important information, and to organize such things as snow removal or gardening services so you can all share the load.

Everyone wins: your wallet, the planet and your relations with neighbours!