You might find yourself more conscious of the environment today, yet even more aware of the recession’s stress on your wallet.

But just because you can’t afford a Prius does not mean that living “green” and saving money are mutually exclusive pursuits.

In fact, the recession might just be an opportunity to reconsider your lifestyle choices, Hall County Extension Agent Debbie Wilburn said.

And in most cases, making environmentally-sound choices can save money, said Cindy Reed, director of Keep Hall Beautiful.

Keep Hall Beautiful holds to the old adage of reduce, reuse and recycle, but Wilburn calls it getting back to the basics.

In a nutshell, if you want to save the environment, buy less and think like your grandmother, Wilburn said.

“My grandmother didn’t generate nearly the trash that most people do now,” Wilburn said.

First, Wilburn said, consumers seeking to live green and save money must remember they don’t need a separate cleaner for every fixture in their homes.

“If you look at your cleaning products your grandmother (used) ... she probably had one-10th of the cleaning supplies that the average household has now,” she said.

But using cleaning products that are not harmful to your health or the environment does not mean that they have to be more expensive. Wilburn advises walking right past the pricey products promising a “green” clean and picking up some borax, vinegar and baking soda instead.

There is a list of recipes for nontoxic household cleaners on the University of Georgia’s extension office Web site, www.caes.uga.edu/extension. Most of the recipes require nothing more than common, inexpensive items such as vinegar, lemon juice or corn starch.

“It’s something people know that their grandmothers did or their mothers, but they can’t remember how much of what,” Wilburn said.

Most of the recipes require is a little more elbow grease, and they might require cleaning on a more regular basis, Wilburn said.

“But it’s going to save you quite a bit of money and you don’t have all these toxic chemicals,” she said.

Wilburn also suggests that people consider dining on the “new American plate,” a meal plan that makes meat secondary and vegetables the main course.

“It’s going to save you money, and it’s going to be much healthier for you,” she said.

Reports now show that producing and eating less meat might reduce carbon emissions. And eating vegetables that are locally grown and sold at the Hall County Farmers Market can reduce the number of miles that food has to travel to your plate.

“When you buy local, you’re helping to save the environment, because these things aren’t being shipped from halfway across the United States,” Wilburn said.

And while you are packing those locally grown vegetables in your lunch box, go ahead and put them in a reusable container instead of a disposable sandwich bag, Reed said.

“If you use reusable products, you are saving yourself money and you’re helping the environment,” Reed said.

There are other, more obvious ways to reduce your carbon footprint and keep costs down like recycling and wisely using energy and water.

Recycling is fairly easy in Hall County. Gainesville residents already pay for the service in their water bills and county residents can drop off recyclables at every trash compactor site. Recycling slows the need for the county to have to pay for new landfill sites and reduces the need to search for “virgin” products, Reed said.

Utility companies serving the area offer multiple methods and incentives for customers to save energy and the costs associated with energy use.

Of course, there is the run-of-the mill advice to only turn lights on where they are needed, wash clothes in cold water and turn off the water while brushing your teeth. But Bonnie Jones, director of public relations for Jackson EMC, said the utility company has a “world of material” on its Web site, www.jacksonemc.com, to help customers save on their utility bills and use less energy.

The Web site offers incentives for building energy efficient homes. For existing homes, Jackson EMC provides free do-it-yourself energy audit kits plus other, high-tech audits for a fee.

Jones said one of the biggest problems with energy efficiency is air leakage. Either the ducts not working properly or there are places in the home that let air escape, resulting in higher energy bills. Audits can help people find out where they are wasting energy; most problems can be fixed inexpensively with a can of caulk, Jones said.

Jones said she recently had her own home audited.

“I saw probably a $40 drop in my electric bill,” she said.

The biggest energy users in the home are heating, air conditioning and water heating, but there are other things — Jones calls them energy vampires — that have a smaller impact on energy bills. Anything from an idle microwave to a plugged in cell phone charger can be pulling energy even if not in use.

“If there’s light on it, it’s using energy,” Jones said.