Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how a greener lifestyle can help your back pocket. Hosted by Frances Cook.

We all know we should be doing more to save the planet.

Landfills are piling up, climate change is getting started, and it seems like a new species becomes endangered or extinct every day.

The problem is we're can be a selfish bunch sometimes, and it can be hard to persuade people to look after the planet purely out of the goodness of their hearts.

Isn't it lucky, then, that things like reducing waste can also save you money?

Cutting down on the mindless consumption means you can keep your money for the things you actually want to do, while also stopping factories churning out rubbish that will be in a landfill within weeks.

Those who've already made the change in their own lives say it's easier than you'd think, and the personal benefits are enormous.

I called up zero waste blogger Amanda Chapman from wastefreeland.nz, for the latest episode of the Cooking the Books podcast.

We talked about the areas where most people can cut down on waste, what it's like living in a tiny house, and whether it's possible to have kids while being zero waste.

For the interview, listen to the podcast.

If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram  here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook​