1. Cook at home often: If both partners work, this is likely to be very difficult. Even cooking at home a few more times a week than usual will have a positive impact on your pocketbook.
2. Make your own coffee: You'd be surprised how much you can spend on specialty coffees in the long run. You don’t have to entirely stop drinking coffee but making it at home is much cheaper.
3. Brown bag lunch at least a few days a week: People can typically spend $5 to $10 a day on lunching out.  Pack your lunch ahead of time and save a bundle.  Be sure to make the prospect more enjoyable by buying the things you actually want to eat.  You may also get into the habit more if you pack it the night before so you're not rushing around in the morning.
4. Make a list before going shopping: People have a very tough time resisting the temptation to purchase extras while shopping. Without a list you will buy items that you simply do not need. Even worse you may forget to purchase the actual item you came to the store for in the first place. If you plan on cooking at home, pre-plan a rough menu and make a list before you go grocery shopping. Getting all that you need in one trip can help avoid another unnecessary trip and temptation.
    
5. Go grocery shopping while you are in a hurry:Schedule your grocery shopping time inbetween your favorite shows or prior to an appointment so you are in and out and don't have time to look around and buy things you don't need.
6. Watch out for expiration dates on perishable goods: This one seems intuitive when you read it, but I am surprised at how many people do not pay attention to expiry dates. No point getting a gallon of milk if it is going to turn sour with a couple of days. Same goes for meat, eggs, yogurt, spreads, frozen items, deli/bakery items etc. Some people say you can use a few items a few days after expiry – but I personally value my health more than money and would rather avoid buying such items in the first place.
7. Buy in bulk whenever possible: When it comes to non-perishable items, buy in bulk whenever you find something on sale. Good items to stock up on are, cereals, tinned goods, rice, beans, pasta, coke, toothpaste, body wash, shampoo, toilet paper etc. For such items, shopping at warehouse stores like Costco, Sam’s Club etc can save you quite a bit of money. Be sure you stick strictly to your shopping list when you shop at these places.
8. Bottle your own water: Buy a water filter and fill up empty bottles from home.  It's quick, easy and can save a bundle.
9. Regulate your electric use: When not in use, unplug electric appliances. Unplugging the TV instead of just turning it off can save a lot of electricity! When not in a room, switch off the lights and the fan. Use a programmable thermostat to control your A/C and heater usage.
10. Be aware of your bank balance and avoid over draft fees: If you use your checking account often or have some bills that are paid automatically from your checking account, be aware of the balance and avoid overdraft fees. 
     

In the remanufacturing industry, toner cartridges are already recyclable, but what about toner itself?  Toner, the powdery substance used in laser printers is a petroleum based product.  However, research into bio-derived toner offers a sustainable option to the toner industry’s reliance on non renewable, oil based products.  Poised to hit markets within the year, soy-based toner offers an environmentally friendly alternative to its petroleum-based predecessor. 

In his article on bio-derived toners, author Michael Carlotta notes America’s dependency on an unsustainable resource: oil. As the cost of oil rises, consumers are looking for viable substitutes.  He claims that “Bio-derived toner has the potential to quickly become the toner of choice for “green” conscience consumers, industries, businesses and governments” (Carlotta, 2006).

The New Soy-sation

Battelle, an independent research firm, developed the bio-derived toner and is working with companies to create a marketable product (United, 2004).  Much of its soy-based research is funded by the Ohio Soy Bean Council, with Ohio being home to approximately 30000 soy bean farmers (Carlotta, 2006).  Initial research centered on producing black toner, but representatives from Batelle state their soy-based toner has the potential to translate successfully into color toner as well (Carlotta, 2006).

Carlotta also reveals in his article that many OEM printer manufacturing firms are researching soy-derived toner as well.  He states that unlike Battelle, these companies do not intend to market the environmentally friendly soy-based products, instead OEM manufacturers “focus […] along the lines of preventing market share loss rather than changing the way their business is run” (Carlotta, 2006).  This could mean that when soy-based products hit the market, OEM manufacturers may try to compete with their own soy-derived toner.  However, these OEM manufacturers are narrow in their scope because although they research and develop bio-derived toner, these companies have not initiated or marketed campaigns for use of this renewable toner (Carlotta, 2006).  Carlotta continues to state that it is the remanufacturing industry, with its efforts to reduce waste and recycle toner cartridges, that will most likely help market and produce a competitive and bio-based toner (Carlotta, 2006). 

Soy Many Benefits

Although soy-derived toner is currently in the final stages of development, soy-based ink for inkjet cartridges is not a new invention.  It has come into common use over the past 15 years, with 90% of newspapers switching to soy or vegetable-based inks (United, 2004).   Soy based ink increases the recyclability of paper, allowing for paper to be broken down into clean paper pulp more easily (United, 2004).   Research into soy-based toner has also established that the process of de-inking paper so that it can be recycled is much easier when the ink is soy-based instead of petroleum-based.  Lab results completed by Battelle reveal that paper pulp from de-inking soy-based paper “contained extremely low levels of ink residue, resulting in cleaner and brighter pulp” (United, 2004).  Less ink residue means easier and more effective recycling of paper. 

Studies have shown that if all oil-based inks were replaced by soy based ink, “457 million pounds of soybean oil, equivalent to 41.5 million bushels.  This represents only about 1.8% of U.S. Soybean production” (Weisenbach, 2000).  Thus, soy bean producers could easily supply the demand for soy-based inks and even toner, if soy-derived toner became the market standard.  Unlike oil, soy is a renewable product, and soy-based toner offers a cleaner and sustainable source of toner.