Your investment in cutting energy costs is also an investment in slowing global warming. Start with a home energy audit.
By Christian Science Monitor / published on MSN News

Consumers eager to slow global warming increasingly have a financial incentive to think close to home when making choices about where to invest.

Efficiency-enhancing systems, from triple-paned windows to water-saving washers offer more than a boost to a home's long-term value, experts say. They also immediately slash onerous energy bills and shrink a household's "carbon footprint" -- the emissions that contribute to global warming.

"The good thing about the recent run-up in energy prices, which is overall tough on a lot of people," says Judi Greenwald, director of innovative solutions at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Va., "is that it makes the payback for investing in efficiency much quicker,"

Example: Natural gas prices were 50% higher this past winter than five years ago. At these new prices, homeowners who pony up an extra $500 to get a high-efficiency feature on a new furnace are likely to see their investment recouped in savings in just two or three years, rather than four or five.

Such demonstrable synergies in the home between what's good both for the planet and the bankbook come at a time when critics are lamenting trade-offs associated with other ethically minded investments. Socially responsible mutual funds, for instance, have in recent years underperformed their unscreened rivals who have invested without hesitation in highly profitable oil companies and weapons makers.