How to Completely Change Your TV Viewing: Part 1

The links in the post below may be affiliate links that support our current homesteading needs and the cost of building this business at no additional cost to you! We try to support small business owners on Etsy and Ebay sellers first, and then bigger companies that offer the most zero waste products. Read the full disclosure to learn more and find out what your purchases are supporting. 

Today we're talking about a both budget-friendly AND eco-friendly choice. Making the choice to get rid of cable will save you money, make your entertainment more mobile, and could positively impact the environment as well.

First let's talk about cable/satellite. As of December 2016, cable/satellite customers pay an average of $100 a month for their channels. I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend that on! Keep in mind that every time you move, you have to stop your service and have someone come over and install your service again. Depending on your situation, that can be a lot of carbon miles for every install in addition to your move. If you want to save your money and make your entertainment more mobile (you can take your service anywhere there's WiFi), then keep reading.

Here are the more affordable alternatives to cable and satellite from the least eco-friendly (Beginner) to more eco-friendly (Intermediate). Read 24 Life Changing Alternatives to Cable for the Advanced options to be even more eco-friendly and save even more money. If you would rank them differently, or if you have other options to add to the list, let us know how and why below in the comments.

Beginner:

Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime includes free shipping, movies and TV episodes, music streaming, unlimited reading for select magazines, ebooks and comics, unlimited listening to original audio books, free game content and a free Twitch channel subscription, and unlimited photo storage. While much of Amazon Prime's services are digital, their shipping service obviously is not. You can try their service for free for one month and then it's $10.99 a month.

Every time you order something online vs buying it local, your item's carbon footprint increases with both the driving and the packaging (which is very hard to work with sellers to reduce packaging. Listen/see how to reduce packaging when buying online). That being said, Amazon can sometimes be one of the only places you can find a particular product and the shipping is one of the biggest reasons to get a Prime account in the first place. Also, keep in mind that any product you buy in a store will have some kind of carbon footprint, whether from shipping it or manufacturing it, or both. All of Amazon's digital products, including the streaming service, will require electricity in some form and internet to run, which creates its own carbon footprint.

Netflix offers both TV shows and movies through streaming and a DVD subscription service. The DVD option isn't very eco-friendly with all of the shipping miles and packaging waste. I recommend just using the library for DVDs to keep it local, plus it's cheaper. You can sign up for streaming through here and receive a free month trial and then it's $7.99 a month (1 screen)-$13.99(4 screens). The DVD option is $7.99 a month (1 DVD at a time)-$11.99(2 DVDs at a time).  Or better yet, use your smartphone to earn points with Giftloop toward a Netflix subscription (or other giftcards/charity donations) by charging your phone, letting ads and videos run, answering surveys, and trying new apps.

Public library for movies ,older TV seasons, CDs, and unique streaming

This is a gold mine! Not only is this free, but then you don't have to bother owning, storing, and caring for all of the movies you don't watch that often. Skip all of the commercials and give yourself the option to watch old favorites, binge watch when you want to, and save money on cable/things you aren't seeing advertisements for. Most library systems allow you to request materials, even if they don't have them yet. They will often buy based on patron suggestions.

The only carbon footprint is from manufacturing the CDs/DVDS/Blu-rays, sending requested materials from library to library, the BPA-lined printed hold slips (similar to receipts) and any driving done to pick up the materials. You can lessen the impact by biking, walking, or taking public transportation to the library that has the materials you want, versus having everything held at the library of your choice.

We create a list of movies when they come out in theaters and get on hold lists as they come out on DVD. We save money on going out, we can usually add subtitles, pause for bathroom breaks, have whatever zero waste/plastic-free snacks we want, and watch on our own schedule. We also borrow CDs on occasion to for a change of pace.

Intermediate:

YouTube

Besides being able to learn new skills and information from free videos, YouTube can also offer full length movies, some are free, but some are digital rentals/purchases, starting at $1.99. Look for your favorites and enjoy the digital age. Pay only for what you want to watch, no subscription fee needed.

One of our favorite kinds of channels to watch are movie review channels, where they note all of the plot holes in movies. Since YouTube is all streaming, the carbon footprint comes from using the electricity and internet to stream.

Hulu lets you stream both TV and movies, including sports channels, kids channels, etc. Earn $15-$25 cashback when you sign up through Swagbucks. You can even stream live TV, as well as Hulu originals and exclusive TV and movies. These can be streamed to various devices. Comes with a first month free trial, and then starts at $5.99 a month. Since Hulu is all streaming, the carbon footprint comes from using the electricity and internet to stream.

SlingTV is an internet based pick-and-choose your live sports and TV channels.  It has no long term contracts either. This is the closest thing to cable, but with only the channels you want and none of the fluff. You can also use on phones, tablets, computers, or internet-connected TVs. Free 7 day trial and then starting at $20 a month. Since Sling is all streaming, the carbon footprint comes from using the electricity and internet to stream.

TV antenna for local channels

We've been using our antenna for about a year and it works great. Ours has about a 30 mile range, which is one of the lowest ranges available. You pay for it once, other than the electricity to run the TV and don't need to pay for any subscription service. You don't even need the internet! No repairman has to come and fix it or install it (Mr. Greenie installed it fairly easily), and nothing has to be shipped once it's installed, so there is a relatively small carbon footprint, from having it shipped and using the electricity. The antenna we use is easy to install indoors or out, some are for one or the other. We have the news channels and a few others, for a total of about 30 channels. This doesn't include any sports channels, which is problematic for major sports fans.

Listen to podcast/radio

By switching from viewing TV shows to listening to podcasts or radio shows, you can switch to more unique and sometimes educational entertainment.  Both podcasts and radio shows are free, unless you subscribe to an upgraded podcast experience. All you need is a way to listen to them. You can listen on a traditional radio station on your car radio, a radio, a computer, or a device, such as your phone (with a speaker or headphones in the headphone jack).

You can listen to a podcast directly on a website, on most devices with apps, on a podcast platform (such as I-Tunes, Google Play, etc.), or in some newer models of cars. I like listening to podcasts when I wash dishes, laundry, or other similar housework that I'm moving a lot in the same space, but not easily able to actively watch something. the carbon footprint comes from using the electricity and and internet to stream (for podcasts and listening to radio on the internet.

Shared at:
Share Your Style Link Party, Dream Create Inspire Party, Bloggers Dreamteam Linky, Diy Crafts More Link Party, Bloggers Spotlight, Aprons & Pearl Linkup, One Project At A Time, Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make Party, Home And Garden Thursday, Friday At The Fire Station Linkup Party, Motivational Monday Linkup, Party In Your Pjs, Handmade Hangout Party, allmumsaid.com.au, Sundays Best Linkup, Funtastic Friday, KCACOLS, anallievent.com, Dishing It & Digging It, Anna Nuttall Bloggers Linksup, Link your stuff, Pretty Pintastic Party, BFF Open House Link Party, Busy Monday, The Hearth And Soul Link Party, Turn It Up Tuesday, Encouraging Hearts Home Blog Hop, Artsyfartsy Link Party,  Inspire Me Tuesday, Bouquet of Talent Party,  Inspiration Galore Party Project, Nifty Thrifty Party, Inspiration Monday, Makers Make Party, Mix It Up Monday, Creative Corner, Over The Moon Link Party, Friday Favorites, Share the Wealth, Girl Chat Linkup, Traffic Jam, Happiness is Homemade, Simple Saturdays Bloghop, New Beginnings and Breakthrough Linkup, The Scoop, The Homemaking Party, Pretty Pintastic Party, Share It Tuesday, What to Do Weekends Party, Friendship Friday, Creative Corner Link Up Party, Dear Creatives Linkup, Wine'd Down Wednesdays, Creative Muster Party, Wow Me Wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday Blop Hop, A Round Tuit, Totally Terrific Tuesday Link Party, Home Matters Party, Bouquet of Talent Party, Lou Lou Girls' Fabulous Party, Creative Gallery, Love Learn Bloghop, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Simple Homestead Bloghop, Friday Feature Linky Party, This is How We Roll Thursday, Dare to Share Linkup, Home Away From Home Party, Think Tank Thursday Link Up, Wow Us Wednesdays, Sew It, Cook It, Craft It Link Party, Homestead Blog Hop, Waste Less Wednesday, Saturday Sharefest, Bloggers Pit Stop, Urban Naturale Blog Hop, The Scoop Link Party, Share One More Time Party, Project Inspire 

Thanks for reading through your alternatives to cable! Read 24 Life Changing Alternatives to Cable for the Advanced options to be even more eco-friendly and save even more money. If you would rank them differently, or if you have other options to add to the list, let us know how and why below in the comments.