A couple of weekends ago, I a good friend of mine invited me out on his boat. It was beautiful day, around 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We headed on up to McCovey Cove to sit outside the San Francisco Giants stadium and enjoy the day. There’s also the small chance that someone will hit a homerun into the boat. And as it turned out John Bowker of the home team delivered his first major league homerun into the water. We never had a chance to retrieve it as someone with a telescoping net from within the stadium scooped it up. Nonetheless, short of winning the lottery it was the perfect day.

Maybe it was the perfect day or maybe I got a little too much sun, but I found myself thinking about the future. How many days like today will I experience? If my wife and I have kids and grandkids, will they be able to enjoy the same fresh air? It was that thought that triggered my wife and me to finally recycle some old electronics that we had sitting around the house. Thought it was a shame that doing the right thing left our wallets $18 lighter (we had to pay to recycle the electronics), we realized that in the grand scheme it’s a small price to pay.

You don’t have to lighten your wallet to make a difference. Here are just a few tips to get you started:

• Use Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs - This is the definitive way to save money and the environment. They are a much more efficient than incandescent bulbs.
• Don’t Drink Bottled Water - Especially avoid imported bottle water. Instead, get a filtered water pitcher and a refillable bottle.
• Read The Good Human. It’s full of tips on how to do things in a more environmentally friendly way. The writer is modest, he’s a great human. I’m only an okay human.
• Recycle Aluminum Cans - The price of aluminum keeps rising. That means people will pay you for your efforts. Some states charge a deposit so by not recycling you are throwing money away.
• Donate Items You Don’t Use To Charity - You can earn yourself a nice tax break.
• Drive a Small Car - I’m not going to suggest you sell your current car and buy a small one, but consider a fuel-efficient car when you buy your next car. Better yet, carpool when you can.

I know you have a lot more tips. Submit your favorites in the comments. Remember, a lot of people doing a few little things can really make a difference.

Photo Credit: 1

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Lazy Man has been a lender at Prosper since February 2006. He is the author of the personal finance blog, Lazy Man and Money and the health and fitness blog, Lazy Man and Health.

In observance of Earth Day, Prosper surveyed US consumers last week to better understand their financial attitudes towards implementing eco-friendly home improvements.

The main finding is that although consumers have a strong desire to implement energy-saving home improvements, they are deterred by the high costs of these projects:

• 91% care about conserving natural resources
• While 60% of survey respondents listed ‘saving money on bills’ as an incentive to adopt a green lifestyle, 75% of respondents indicated that they are deterred from pursuing energy-saving home improvements due to high costs of implementation.

As a community for social lending, Prosper offers eco-conscious Americans with good credit histories a way to connect with their like-minded peers to fund green projects in an affordable way. A separate survey of Prosper lenders found that 25% of respondents have bid on borrowers’ loan listings to support green projects, and 93% of respondents would consider bidding on such listings.

1. Are you concerned with conserving natural resources?

2. Which of the following is the number one incentive for you to implement energy saving personal / home improvements? (please select only one)

3. What is the number one deterrent for you to implement energy-saving personal / home improvements? (please select only one)

4. What types of personal / home improvements have you invested in to save energy? (please select all that apply)

5. About how much did you spend in 2007 on energy saving personal / home improvements?

6. What types of personal / home improvements do you plan to implement in 2008 to save energy? (please select all that apply)

7. How much do you expect to spend on energy saving personal / home improvements in 2008?