Part 14 (2/2)

Test after test shows that bottled water does not taste better than tap water, nor is it safer from contaminants Tap water in h quality In fact,from brands Aquafina and Dasani, colaciers or whatever else is pictured on the bottle's label

If your home tap water has an off taste, filter it A cheap pitcher-style filter works great

If you want to spend money to drink water andtap water or filtered tap water from a fancy water bottle A quick Internet search finds several water-bottle retailers including Mysiggcom and kleankanteencom Bottles frorade in 80 days Bottles froeeksco for bottled water hard on your pocketbook-some households spend more than 1,000 a year-it's hard on the environ the bottle in the first place, which requires oil Then there's emissions and fuel consumption by trucks that transport the bottled water And then there's disposing of the bottle, many of which are not recycled

QUICK TIP

Part of the hazard of bottled water is throwing the disposable bottle ”away” The problem is: There is no ”away” That points to a broader issue about usable stuff ending up in landfills Profit froslistcoet a tax deduction by donating to local charities or thrift shops

Really, this advice about bottled water is aon disposable products-plates, cups, napkins, paper towels, and a wide host of other products

Choose to reuse You wallet and Mother Earth will thank you

For o online to the Alliance to Save Energy, aseorg; the US energy departov/consuy-Efficient Econoov

Should You Buy Carbon Offsets?

A popular exercise nowadays is to measure your carbon footprint That esti your ho on airplanes, for example

The antidote, some say, is to buy carbon offsets A carbon offset is essentially a proreenhouse gases

The average person who puts 10 tons of carbon dioxide into the at 150 worth of carbon credits Prices vary widely Thewind-power projects, and capturing and destroying methane from landfills and dairy fare you cause so your existence on the planet is carbon neutral

But as a consu sht to fear that souilt without changing their behaviors-write a check and hop in the Huood ways to be sure yourused wisely

Faryour personal consu so Smart Yesterday

Chapter 6

Credit When Credit's Due

Credit is an increasingly iement nowadays, whether you borrow money or not That's why it's important to care about your credit reports, your credit scores, and your credit cards, if you use them

This has never been truer since the whole financial world started to reexa standards that led to tumult in the financial iven to anybody who can fog a one

Credit scores are intended to define how creditworthy you are Can lenders trust you to pay back borrowed money on time? That's all creditworthiness is Theforet a loan in the first place and the et a lower interest rate than less trustworthy people

Your Credit

Unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard about credit reports and credit scores They're not particularly new But in recent years, the companies you do business with use reports and scores a lot h credit reports were once-secret dossiers about your athered and stored about them than ever before

Your Credit, 1-2-3

1 Get your credit reports Go online to AnnualCreditReportcom and retrieve your free credit reports Dispute errors

2 Get your credit scores (optional) If you'll be applying for an iet your ”FICO” credit scores at MyFicocooes into a credit rating and take steps to i?