You may not realize it, but organizing your home can be a great way to go green with very little effort, and without the need for higher-priced “eco”; products. Pro organizer and friend Nonnahs Driskill shares her environmentally friendly tips to actually save you money along the way, just in time for Earth Day, April 22!

Shift Everyday Habits to Make an Impact

Try some simple changes to your daily routine to make a big impact, suggest Nonnahs of Get Organized Already. For example, eliminate the clutter of empty water bottles at home and in landfills by drinking directly from your tap or using a water filter.

“Using filtered tap water instead of buying bottled water is one of the greenest things you can do with very minimal effort,”; she said.

Invest in a few reusable water bottles to take with you around town and some pretty, tall water glasses for around the house.

Also shop with reusable bags more often to cut down on paper and plastic coming into your home and creating waste. You’ll also save money this way if you live in a city that requires supermarkets to charge for their bags.

Recycle More

While you may already recycle, you can divert more stuff from landfills by adding more recycling bins in your home. Depending on how your waste-management company has you sort, consider adding glass and plastic bins in the kitchen for food packaging. Add a bin in the bathroom for plastic and cardboard, to dispose of personal-care packaging, and add a bin in the office for papers and junk mail packaging from online purchases.

Go Paperless

Managing paperwork is one of the biggest challenges for Nonnahs’ clients. To simplify and help the environment, she suggests going paperless whenever possible. A good scanner and digital filing system can do wonders. Nonnahs also suggests cancelling catalogs and excess magazine subscriptions, getting off of junk mail lists, and signing up for paperless billing to reduce the volume coming in through the mail.

Clean Out and Repurpose

Rather than throwing unwanted items in the garbage, which creates waste, Nonnahs suggests, “take your un-used household items to a re-sale store. Then, another person can use your old items instead of buying new ones!”; Plus, you can count donated items as a tax deduction for another win.

Many unwanted items can also be repurposed. Pinterest is filled with ideas for finding new uses for old household items, such an old shutter turned mail sorter, a suitcase turned into a pet bed, or these food packaging boxes turned office drawer organizers

For items that can’t be reused, such as outdated electronics or hazardous materials such as cans of paint, a quick Google search can reveal your local hazardous waste drop-off location or pickup schedule.

Going green with your home organization by putting a few systems in place to reuse, repurpose and recycle will save you time and money and help the planet we all share!