One of the longest running TV shows is The Nature of Things by David Suzuki and besides great pictures the message is somehow we must learn to live with nature. From the TV show, Mr. Suzuki also discusses how to be green or environmentally friendly and that is the context of his book David Suzuki’s Green Guide written by David Suzuki & David R Boyd published by Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, 2008.

If you think about North America prior to the World War, it was countries dominated by rural living, after the war came the suburbs and opportunities in the cities. With the suburbs came driving to work (and soon everyone else) as opposed to the majority coming in by commuter train. It was not wrong, but it used lots of resources and the prevailing government encouraged the expansion of the road system to make it even easier.

Now days we live with climate change, something is happening so what can a citizen do. Most of us are not going back to rural living (although it was environmentally friendly it was a tougher life) but we can do things to make life better. If you own a house, many were not built well (if you live in  the part of North America where the writer lives, it seems many were built for southern California living or they get cold in the winter). To save money, it makes sense to insulate your home to use less energy. Is that green or being prudent? Studies show the most important financial impact you have in terms of your home is where it is. Eventually, neighbors begin to look like other neighbors and tend to do what your neighbors do. Depending on your income that can be expensive. If your neighbors are more likely to stay at home and sit on the porch in the evenings, the cost can be less.

As consumers, we all make choices and retailers will cater their offerings to what they believe our choices will be. We all make small choices, but they have larger effects.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, one of the reasons why they become wealth creators is there is little reason to trade them, you can buy and hold and have few expenses or lower fees. Index funds work the same fashion, lower fees means you keep more. If you focus on cost savings or being green, you will keep more of your money. If you invest in profitable companies, they will trade at higher multiples and you will be wealthier. It is easily possible to be green to make or save money.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.