It does add “one more thing to remember” when you are shopping. Grab that shopping list, the coupon box or binder, the grocery or drugstore flier, and then the returnable bottles and cans when it’s time to do the recycling … and planning for a shopping trip can get overwhelming.

A trick that is working for me is that I keep the empty shopping bags in the trunk of my car. The shopping fliers and coupon box stay in the house until I am ready to run errands, although some people also leave those items in the car.

I do have another bag that was designed as a zip-up bag so one could place it in a purse, but it’s not very big. I’m using that bag more as a tote bag / bookbag than a shopping bag.

Now, one of the things that irked me to no end when cloth bags started becoming part of the shopping environment is that I had to PAY for a bag that HAD A STORE LOGO. I’m sorry, but if your store will use shopping bags as an advertising gimmick, you’d better give them away. The KeyBank bag I have was a freebie at a promotion booth, and I am OK with that. Another bag was an Earth Day festival giveaway bag and the other two were recycling campaign bags that my mom gave me.

Now, if you haven’t been in the habit of using shopping bags for at least some of your purchases, this might get your attention:

Some stores offer financial incentives for customers to use cloth bags.

• Kroger has incentives on a per-district basis, but the Kroger store in Monroe, Mich., will give a 5 cent credit if you bring your own bags.
• Aldi stores have long had a policy of charging customers for bags, so you learn quickly to bring your own bags if you shop there.
• USA Today is reporting that Target and CVS are getting ready to launch promotions encouraging re-usable bags. If the news reports are accurate, I’m not thrilled about CVS charging 99 cents for customers who sign up for the program … but frequent visitors to CVS will come out ahead fairly quickly.

What on earth does frugal living have to do with climate change?

If you are already a frugal person or working toward such a lifestyle, many of the money-saving tactics you choose also happen to be good for the environment. Here are 10 things frugal people do, that those who are studying the climate change issue would certainly approve of:

1. Frugal people are interested in home economics, self-sufficiency and survival skills. Gardening, canning, hunting, fishing, sewing, basic carpentry, or making your own bread or beer or jelly are hobbies for many frugal people. When you have your own DIY skills, you have less need for commercially made products. That means less need for plastic or paper or cardboard, and less need for trucking and shipping. Bottom line: less of an impact on the environment.

2. Frugal families can, and do, live in smaller homes. A frugal family doesn’t want to pay the utility bill to heat and cool a larger home; or pay for the watering, gas and expense required to maintain a larger yard. Frugal families don’t need as much storage space because they don’t acquire as much stuff such as clothes and shoes. It also doesn’t take as much furniture, or as many curtains, or as much cabinetry, or as much carpet, or as many electronics to create a cozy environment in a small house.

3. Frugal families love recycling. Frugal families tend to recycle no-longer needed things out of the house because they know someone else might still use it / want it. Why do they know that? Because frugal families are quite willing to acquire items second-hand themselves.  Since some families pay for trash on a per-bag basis, recycling is a great way to limit the trash bills. If your trash collection is paid for by your city budget, like my trash collections are, city council can use the money saved from recycling efforts for another expense. But the eco-friendly friends remind us that recycling helps keep items out of a landfill for as long as possible.

4. Frugal families can’t stand high electric bills. Frugal families run the dishwasher on the most efficient cycle. They’ve started to phase in or have already converted their light bulbs to the newer technology. Some frugal families hang-dry their clothes to save using the clothes dryer. When possible, frugal families landscape their properties so the homes can be shaded from the hot sun. Frugal people shop for energy-efficient appliances when it is time to replace an item. When they use air conditioning, frugal families use ceiling fans and programmable thermostats to get the most use out of that feature for the least amount of money. Frugal families unplug phones and other gadgets when they are not in use. The smaller electricity bills that frugal families aim for has the side effect of less impact on the environment.

5. Frugal families can’t stand high water bills. Some frugal families have installed rain barrels to collect rainwater for watering their yards and gardens. Some of them have low-flow shower heads or set timers on the kids’ showers. They fix the faucet leaks and running toilets as soon as problems are noticed. Frugal families give consideration to planting native plants that do well in the existing local environment with minimal upkeep. Frugal families who rely on well water have been known to work  with their neighbors and local governments to help keep that resource clean and clear. Frugal families are more likely to use tap water rather than rely on bottled water as a beverage choice.

6. Frugal families sometimes eat meatless meals. There has been a growing trend in frugal circles towards serving one meatless dinner a week to the family. Depending on what you serve for dinner, this may or may not result in noticeable savings at the grocery bill. There are nutritional details to consider when planning meatless meals, and you might want to branch out your menus to foods traditionally served in other cultures. But it is certainly an eco-friendly choice because it takes more energy to produce meat than it does to produce plants.

7. Frugal families use less paper products. There are some families who take paper-free lifestyles to extremes that we have no interest in. But it is increasingly common to hear of young parents using cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers, and increasingly common to see shoppers bring cloth bags to the supermarket. And while we still use paper napkins at the table and put the occasional plastic spoon in a lunch box, a roll of paper towels lasts a long time in our house because we use washable rags for most cleaning tasks.

8. Frugal families like smaller, fuel-efficient cars. Frugal families are often DIY people and therefore need cargo space on occasion. But they plan their vehicle purchases around what is needed on a daily basis. If the family can get by with two smaller vehicles and borrow a larger vehicle only when needed, or choose one larger vehicle and one smaller vehicle for the family fleet, they use less gas on a monthly basis. In the long run, the fuel-efficient vehicle choice is cheaper for those families – and less of an impact on the environment.

9. Frugal families don’t like to spend a lot of money on cleaning supplies and chemicals. Frugal families save money by changing over some, and sometimes, all of the products in their cleaning closet to “old school” techniques such as vinegar and baking soda or to refillable bottle systems. The less expensive methods also involve less plastic, less packaging and therefore less shipping than a collection of commonly used chemicals.

10. Frugal families appreciate free fun. Frugal families enjoy the natural beauty of their national, state, city and township parks … and they clean up their campsite and picnic sites so the next family can enjoy their visit. The correlation for climate change is that frugal families have an interest in what’s being done on a wider scale to preserve and protect natural places.

Where did I get the inspiration for this post? The Together.com and U.S. EPA sites gave me some good insights.

You go to the trade-in page on the Wal-Mart site, look up your unwanted (unloved, unused, sniff!) digital camera, cell phone, whatever, answer a few questions and you’ll get a quote.

You’ll get money if your stuff still has “market value.” The trade-in money you get back is a Wal-Mart Visa gift card. If there is no resale value, the items get recycled at no cost to you.

Is this worth your trouble? Well, it’s good for the environment to recycle such things rather than throw them out. It’s also good for your home to declutter by getting rid of things you aren’t using any more.

And while my local readers in Monroe County, Mich., have access to a free electronics recycling program and a charity cell phone recycling program, those services do vary across the country. If you are one of my local readers, I have used the local recycling programs. They’re easy to participate in, but you will be doing your own dropoffs at the designated times / dates / location.

So weigh the Wal-Mart program against other options you might have available, and you’ll figure out pretty quick whether it works for you or not.

Unfortunately, those rates are going to go up anyway. Do you want to get stuck with an even higher bill?

That’s why it’s in your best frugal interest to pick projects with a good return on investment – and buy the supplies and equipment when they are discounted or on sale.

Now is a good time to research and follow up on often-recommended energy-saving steps. Depending on what you are doing, there are possible tax credits involved. And there’s a big push right now for sales and promotions on a variety of products.

Lowe’s has on its site a nifty resource called Build Your Savings. This page includes an interactive home audit tool and how-to videos for a variety of projects.

The lights that we left on the old-fashioned technology were the applications where the standard CFL bulb just wasn’t going to be the right product: such as ceiling fans, stove fan and bathroom fixtures.

This summer, several stores in Michigan have been advertising sales on CFL light bulbs in conjunction with a statewide campaign to encourage energy savings. It’s easy to find the single and multi-pack standard bulbs on really cheap prices right now, and some of the specialty bulbs also can be found on discounts.

Meijer in Monroe, Mich., has a sale until Aug. 1 on ceiling fan CFL bulbs: half off the usual price for the two-pack of 40-watt equivalents.

I bought six of those light bulbs last night to outfit our two ceiling fans in the two bedrooms at our home.

Hmm. ….

The lights didn’t seem as bright as we were used to.

We looked at the wattage. We took 60-watt bulbs out of the fixtures and replaced them with 40-watt equivalents. That was part of the problem.

How much of a difficulty will the wattage be? Well, there are lamps in each of those rooms that can be turned on for task lighting. So while we weren’t impressed, we think in the long run it won’t matter much.

The other part of the problem, as I have since discovered, is that these particular light bulbs seem to have had a break-in period. When I turned on the lights this morning, they were brighter this morning than they were last night. The lower wattage will always be a factor, but it is better.

Because of this situation, my husband warned me not to get CFL bathroom fixture lights until I can find a product that really will be the equivalent of the original light bulbs. He wants the bathroom lights to be as bright as possible – and, that makes sense since the bathroom is where he shaves and I put on makeup.

But I will tell you that we are pleased with the standard CFL bulbs we installed awhile ago in our overhead lights and lamps in the living room, dining room and kitchen.

If you’ve been wondering about CFL bulbs, go to GE’s information page to read about details such as ceiling fan issues and proper disposal of these products. Then, if you live in Michigan, take advantage of these special sales this summer.

To get the most out of your investment, use the light bulbs you purchased to convert over your most frequently-used fixtures. You can save the older bulbs for replacements in the fixtures you haven’t yet converted, or donate the older bulbs you no longer need to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Whether or not you get a tax break, there are people in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio who might appreciate your stuff. And it’s good for the environment to keep still useful items out of the landfills.

Freecycle is the darling of many a frugalite, but here are some other options specifically for my local readers in Monroe County, Mich.:

• Go to my thrift shop sidebar for a list of second-hand stores in the Monroe County, Mich., area. Some of them accept goods via charity donation or a consignment sale.
• Donate your stuff to a charity or non-profit group’s garage sale. Examples: Monroe Center for Healthy Aging’s rummage sale Thursday and Friday this week; and Frenchtown Senior Center’s rummage sale Wednesday and Thursday this week.
• Boy Scout Derek Lyp of Lambertville, Mich., is hosting a “Helping Horns” donation drive of gently used band instruments to help music students in Bedford and other area schools.
• The Memorial Weekend clothing drive for the St. Vincent de Paul Society has announced this year’s details. You can also make donations of household items during this drive to benefit The Spirit of Giving project for families who are moving out of homeless shelters into apartments.
• Local Friends of the Library clubs take donations of used books for their book sales. Example: Ida Branch Library’s book sale this  Saturday.
• The local food pantries also welcome donations of unopened cans and boxes of food (maybe there was a cereal flavor you didn’t like?).

I like the plant food idea.

I am working this weekend, covering various assignments for The Monroe Evening News. One of the reports I will have for tomorrow’s newspaper was the Monroe County Earth Day Fair held today in downtown Monroe, Mich.

I would have stopped by even if I wasn’t on duty as a reporter today. I picked up a stack of handouts and some freebies, bought two used books, bought a hot dog and some water, and told a vendor that I had used her products and liked them.

But this table particularly got my attention – and I think it will be of interest to my frugal living readers as well. “Save the Earth: One Juice Pouch at a Time” is recycling more than 15,000 juice pouches that elementary students in the Airport School District in Carleton, Mich., drink up during a school year. The volunteers at One Juice Pouch had information on how to prepare the empty pouches for re-use … with the examples of several very colorful totes and purses available for purchase or as show-and-tell displays.

Now while re-using something is of value in itself, here is the other piece of interesting information: your school or non-profit organization can earn a bit of cash by doing this.

Go to www.terracycle.net/brigades and learn how to ship empty juice pouches to a recycling center and earn a bit of cash. There are other “brigades” you can sign up for with snack foods such as potato chip bags and cookie bags.

Mellissa Morse-Dickinson, who is founder and president of One Juice Pouch, reports that Airport School District has been able to raise $1,800 this year through the juice pouch recycling program.

Now, I ask those of you who have been involved in school, sports or youth club fundraisers:  how many candy bars in the “fundraiser kits” would you have to sell (or, um, “eat”) to earn that much profit? How many cars would you have to wash? How many magazine subscriptions would you have to recruit?

A fundraiser like this doesn’t ask for any money out of pocket from its participants, parents and patrons. It just asks for time and effort.

I don’t have young children at home, so I have no juice pouches to contribute to this cause.

I do, however, purchase a lot of General Mills food and personal care products. I cut out and save the “Box Tops for Education” labels throughout the year and split up the stash between my sisters’ young children so their schools can benefit.

And some of you have been involved in the Campbell’s Soup or Yoplait Lids campaigns.

If it doesn’t cost you any money to participate in a fundraiser, why not do it and help a good cause?

This post is for my readers in Monroe, Mich.:

Dorsch Memorial Branch Library, 18 W. First St., Monroe, has a standing book sale at the front porch as you enter the library. The books are available by donation.

Today, the book selections included romance novels, children’s books, cookbooks and history books. I didn’t find anything I wanted today, but I do check this sale every couple of weeks to see what might be new.

Dorsch Library also will host a special book sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday April 25 as part of the Monroe County Earth Day celebration at Loranger Square. Yes, it is both frugal and eco-friendly to purchase things second-hand. (sorry, I had April 28 originally!!