Every year for Earth Day, the New England News Collaborative stations produce a series of stories about climate change in our region.
Some of the things we do to save money - like repairing broken appliances or mending clothing - are actually among the best ways to protect the environment and cut back on our use of fossil fuels. For our 2026 NENC Earth Day series, our journalists looked into the many ways people in New England are using thrift and resourcefulness to help their wallets and the planet.
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Raquel C. Zaldívar/NENC, Mara Hoplamazian/NHPR, Elizabeth Román/NEPM, Miriam Wasser/WBURAcross New England, people are finding that alternatives to fossil fuels, changing their shopping habits and buying local can help lower their bills. Here are some tips to save money while helping the planet. -
Amy Kolb NoyesRepair cafes, fixit clinics, restart parties – while there’s no standardized term, there’s probably a pop-up volunteer event near you.
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New England utilities and grid operators are working to reduce demand on the grid during times of peak use. In the long run, those efforts could help mitigate how much more infrastructure New England needs to build. -
![Soon-to-be mother, Keishalee Torres [left], and Caring Health Center's Women, Infants, and Children's (WIC) program nutritionist, Caroline Seymour, comparing whole wheat pasta to white flour pasta at Food Zone International Supermarket in Springfield, Massachusetts.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d18e4b9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1176x655+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa1%2Fbf%2Fb25134794d159389648123abaceb%2Fimage.png)
The price of kitchen staples like eggs, milk and cheese as well as prices for meats have soared since the pandemic. So is it possible to eat affordable, healthy food that’s also good for the climate? -
New England has some of the highest energy costs in the country. Cold winters, along with other rising expenses, have rural towns looking for ways to save money. Many have embraced a switch to electric appliances, powered by home-grown renewable energy as a strategy to spare pocketbooks and help the planet. -
The idea behind the trend is simple: save some cash, and reduce the use of fossil fuels. -
New England has some of the highest electricity prices in the country. But this past winter, 140,000 households in Massachusetts got a break on their bills because they have a heat pump. -
Across New England, farmers are finding that switching to renewable energy isn’t just a nice thing to have, it’s becoming a necessary part of their economic survival. -
These small panels can be plugged into a regular wall outlet, and when paired with a battery, they generate enough electricity to keep a refrigerator running through a power outage.
![Soon-to-be mother, Keishalee Torres [left], and Caring Health Center's Women, Infants, and Children's (WIC) program nutritionist, Caroline Seymour, comparing whole wheat pasta to white flour pasta at Food Zone International Supermarket in Springfield, Massachusetts.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/999df45/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1176x655+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa1%2Fbf%2Fb25134794d159389648123abaceb%2Fimage.png)
