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Planting a tree will help the environment. And, as a [positive] side effect, you will have a nice decoration in your backyard.

Is there a word I can use to describe a side effect that is also positive?

I considered bonus, like:

Planting a tree will help the environment. And, as a bonus, you will have a nice decoration in your backyard.

Is there something else I can use?

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    When you already have a perfectly good word that works for your purpose, but you want more, you can use a thesaurus to come up with a huge number of possibilities. In print (Roget's Thesaurus being the most famous book of its kind), or online at thesaurus.com, you can find just about all the alternatives and synonyms you would ever want.
    – John M. Landsberg
    Sep 28, 2013 at 19:25
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    What about benefit?
    – Jocelyn H
    Sep 28, 2013 at 19:33
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    You could simply just say, "Planting a tree will help the environment. Plus, you will have a nice decoration in your backyard."
    – Jim
    Sep 28, 2013 at 23:20
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    your original choice of bonus is likely the most popular term.
    – KnightHawk
    Jul 15, 2014 at 18:16
  • I'm surprised no-one has mentioned spinoff - a by-product or incidental result of a larger project. Not that it would really apply in OP's example, but I agree with @Jim that such a trivial context hardly seems to justify talking up the "fringe benefit". It's not like the person planting a tree in his backyard for environmental reasons would need reminding that it could also be seen as an ornamental "enhancement" - after all, that's the normal reason people plant trees in their backyards.
    – FumbleFingers
    Jul 15, 2014 at 18:25

7 Answers 7

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You can use the words : Benefit, advantage, feature, plus point and more..

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    I think these words by themselves aren't perfect substitutes in OP's usage. It needs to be an added benefit, added advantage
    – Jim
    Sep 28, 2013 at 23:18
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    @Jim I've also heard "side benefit."
    – user867
    Jul 16, 2014 at 1:11
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I suggest you get rid of the "positive side effect" verbiage and replace it with one word: moreover.

Planting a tree will help the environment; moreover, you will have a nice decoration in your backyard.

Or, with a few more words:

By planting a tree you will not only help the environment, but you will also have a nice decoration in your backyard.

Or, simpler yet:

Planting a tree helps the environment and adds value to your backyard.

I like this one. It has good balance. You've got one action with two results. Planting does two things: it helps and it adds value.

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May I suggest "to boot"? I.e.:

Planting a tree will help the environment. And you will have a nice decoration in your backyard to boot.

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I like the phrase: positive externality.

"A positive externality (also called "external benefit" or "external economy") is an action of a product on consumers that imposes a positive effect on a third party."

From Wikipedia

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    Positive externality is borrowed from economics jargon. Could you provide an explanation as to what it means, why you propose it, and perhaps examples of its use elsewhere?
    – choster
    Jul 15, 2014 at 18:03
  • As a positive externality, you’ll have some nice decoration in your back yard? That sounds utterly bizarre to me.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Jul 15, 2014 at 18:25
  • Might be a little technical, but it's accurate. "A positive externality (also called "external benefit" or "external economy") is an action of a product on consumers that imposes a positive effect on a third party." - Wikipedia
    – strongriley
    Aug 25, 2014 at 21:58
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How about synergistically:

in a synergistic or interactive manner

derived from synergy:

  1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

  2. Cooperative interaction among groups, especially among the acquired subsidiaries or merged parts of a corporation, that creates an enhanced combined effect.

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I would suggest "furthermore" as an equally good substitute for "moreover" in the stated context.

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I know you asked for a single word but I feel these get the point across much better than a single word can:

icing on the cake

American heritage dictionary

An additional benefit to something already good.

cherry on top

Oxford dictionaries

A desirable feature perceived as the finishing touch to something that is already very good: the car is faster than a Ferrari, but the cherry on the cake is the price

In your example:

Planting a tree will help the environment. And, as icing on the cake/the cherry on top, you will have a nice decoration in your backyard.

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