Earth Day

Earth Day 2011 Freebies

April 18, 2011
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It’s no surprise that with our current economy, people want something for nothing. And it’s no different when it comes to Earth Day. Perhaps that’s because a few years ago companies started the tradition of giving away Earth Day freebies, such as reusable shopping bags, and now everyone expects those freebies every time Earth Day comes around. (Earth Day this year, by the way, is April 22, 2011.)

Happily, companies, retailers, and organizations have gotten the memo, and are offering up plenty of Earth Day freebies in 2011. Here are those worth noting:

Free Food

  • Bring a reusable coffee cup with you when you visit Starbucks on Earth Day (April 22) and receive a free cup of Starbucks coffee.
  • Get a free milkshake and/or reusable bag on Earth Day at Elevation Burger restaurants in Falls Church, VA, Potomac, MD, Austin, TX, Dallas, TX and Wennewood, NJ. Customers who arrive to the restaurants on Earth day by bicycle will get a free milkshake. Additionally, the restaurants will be giving away reusable shopping bags to guests who purchase a burger, fries and drink.

Free Stuff

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7 Earth Day Freebies

April 21, 2010
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Who wants some free stuff for Earth Day? Here are 7 freebies for you to enjoy. Note: Unless I specify otherwise, these deals are good for Thursday, April 22nd (aka Earth Day) only!

  1. CafePress has partnered with iVillage for the “Picture Your World” online photo contest, where people can submit photos with captions that explain why they are committed to saving the planet and in return you will get a free, eco-friendly bag. (You can actually sign up to get your free bag even without uploading the photo; you’ll just pay $1.25 in shipping.)
  2. Bring your reusable coffee cup to Starbucks on Earth Day, and get a free cup of coffee. That’s pretty straightforward, huh? (I’ll make sure I stop by my local Starbucks while out walking the dog!)
  3. Want a free yoga mat? Collect five used (but clean) yoga mats, send them in to be recycled, and you’ll get a brand new yoga mat in return for nothing at all!
  4. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is giving customers who spend $20 or more in the store a free reusable bag, through April 22nd. (You’ll need to download, print out and bring in this coupon from the Fresh & Easy Facebook page to take advantage of this deal.)
  5. Get a free reusable Wegman’s bag when you bring in plastic bags to recycle.
  6. Kids get a free plant from Pottery Barn Kids when you visit the store between 11 a.m and 3 p.m.
  7. Download a free Jack Johnson song, courtesy of Stonyfield Farm–the folks that make that yummy yogurt.
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Green This, Not That

April 21, 2010
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I’m all about going green when it can save you some green. But sometimes it’s worth it to spend a little bit more on a green product that will benefit you–and Mother Earth–in the long run. Here are the my choices for “green this, not that” for Earth Day 2010, as I discussed on the 10! Show on NBC 10 in Philadelphia today.

Green in the kitchen

  • Choose organic strawberries but skip the organic oranges. Basic rule of thumb: fruits and vegetables that are on the ground and/or don’t have a thick outer skin absorb the most pesticides. If you want to feed them to your family, always spring for the organic version, even if it costs more.
  • Purchase paper towels and napkins made from recycled paper. OK, so you should really not be using paper towels anymore, but if you can’t kick your habit, at least choose paper towels made from recycled paper. Better yet: everyone has to buy toilet paper so go with TP from Marcal Small Steps, which is, in fact, made from recycled paper.
  • When having a picnic, use compostable plates and serving pieces. Again, ideally you’re going with reusable plates at this point but I know that if I’m packing a picnic for the park or even serving dinner out at the pool, I don’t want to deal with anything breakable. So if you have to go with disposable, at least choose serving pieces made from a renewable resource, such as the Core Bamboo Luxeware plates (which you can actually use a half dozen times before tossing them in the recycle bin) or Chinet’s recycled paper plates, which are compostable. (Bill Henley on the 10! Show loved the Core Bamboo plates and utensils so much that I ended up giving him my stash!)
  • Look for non-stick pans made without Teflon. I tried out pots and pans from Orgreenic (sorry for the obnoxious commercial that you’ll have to listen to on this website when you click the link) before bringing them on for my segment today. These pots are made with a ceramic lining that doesn’t give off the same kind of potentially harmful chemicals as studies show that Teflon may. I used the pots for cooking pasta, pancakes, soup and more, and they held up beautifully.

Green for your family

  • Find green dog toys. What I like about this new Naturals line from Petco is that all the dog toys are made without dyes or chemicals–good to know since dogs like mine spend hours chewing on them. Better yet when I was getting ready for my segment, my dog Buffy kept stealing one of the Petco toys (as I tweeted about yesterday), proving that these toys are dog approved!
  • Go with reusable ice and heat packs for treating injuries. I like these Moji packs, despite their price ($50), because of their reusability. While the disposable heat packs are great to stick on and they work well, you do end up throwing them out when they stop working and then you have to buy new. All in all that adds up to more money spent.
  • Try organic lip balm in recycled plastic containers. Sure, Burt’s Bees products cost a bit more than that brand of lip balm that Katy Perry gave new meaning to in her hit song, I Kissed a Girl, but if you’re looking for a lip balm that’s green and eco-friendly, this is the product for you. Not only are the plastic containers made from recycled plastic, but also the company has stopped shrinkwrapping the product–that had added up to 900 miles a year of shrinkwrap it had been using.

Green Around the house

  • Pick recycled floor coverings. If it’s important to you to have sustainable floors, then you’ll want to choose green floor coverings. I’m fond of the FLOR carpet tiles, because they are made from recycled fibers and they are recyclable as well. Best of all, if you ruin a portion of the carpet, you only need to pull up the wrecked tile and replace that one small section. Also, EcoDomo has flooring made from recycled cork and leather. Talk about rich-looking floors!
  • Try tools that let you clean your house without any chemicals. I tried out the Shark Steam Mop, which cleans your floors using steam only, and I was pretty impressed with the results. I like that the cleaning “head” is a reusable, washable pad and it has an attachment so that you can steam clean carpets as well as smooth surfaces. What I really like is that you no longer need to purchase cleaning chemicals or replacement pads, which add up over the long run. This one’s a keeper!
  • Choose organic plant food. My friends and I are planting our own vegetable garden this year, and our gardening guru advised us that it wasn’t worth the money to buy organic seeds but it was totally worth spending extra on organic plant food, such as the stuff I got from the Happy Gardener.
  • Find greener logs for the fire. Sure, the wood I can cut down from my forest is free, but logs made from recycled fibers actually burn greener–and longer and they’re easier to start (she says from experience, having used them over the winter). What’s even cooler about products such as the Enviro-Log is it’s made from recycled wax boxes, making it green through and through.

Disclosure: Many of these companies sent me products for free to try them out for my segment. I have only included those that I have either a) purchased before on my own or b) used ahead of time so that I can vouch for them. I will be returning these products to the companies that want them back. Otherwise, whenever possible, I give away these freebies so as not to present a conflict of interest.

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16 Things You Could Win in the Earth911 Earth Day Promotion

April 7, 2010
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I normally don’t cover contests, sweepstakes and giveaways but since I am participating in this promotion–a copy of Suddenly Frugal is one of the items people can win–I thought my readers might like knowing about it, in case they want to enter, too!

Earth911.com recently launched a special section of its Web site to mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The Earth Day channel not only features 40 tips about reducing, reusing and recycling, but also hosts a Twitter contest beginning March 29 and ending in a giveaway on Earth Day, April 22.

During the contest, two tips will be released each day on the Earth Day channel, counting down to Earth Day itself.

By simply tweeting the channel’s Web address (http://earth911.com/earthday/) each day a new set of tips is released, members of the Twitter audience will be entered into a drawing to receive eco-friendly prizes such as:

  • One home composting starter kit, courtesy of SunChips
  • Two copies of Disneynature’s EARTH, courtesy of Disneynature OCEANS
  • One historic tree sponsorship, courtesy of American Forests
  • One copy of “Ten Ways to Change the World in Your 20s,” courtesy of author Libuse Binder
  • One Interactive Boxed Set of stationery, courtesy of Ecosaurus
  • Two desk clocks and one photo frame, courtesy of Corrugated Art
  • One, certified CarbonFree Certified GoECOlife SOHO 8-Sheet ULTRA-QUIET Paper Shredder, courtesy of Carbonfund.org
  • One copy of the e-book “Small Spaces, Fast Paces: New York Organizing Secrets,” courtesy of author Sharon Lowenheim
  • Three pairs of Performance Toesocks in CoolMax EcoMade, courtesy of Injinji
  • One copy of “Celebrate Green!” courtesy of Celebrate Green!
  • One iPad sleeve, courtesy of First World Trash
  • One therm-o-tote, one acrylic cup, one stainless steel water bottle, and two reuseable grocery totes, courtesy of LittleFeet Big Feats
  • One copy of Suddenly Frugal: How to live Happier and Healthier for Less, courtesy of author Leah Ingram
  • Two copies of The Everything Green Wedding Book: Plan an Elegant, Affordable, Earth-Friendly Wedding, courtesy of author Wenona Napolitano
  • Eco-friendly T-shirts, courtesy of Earth911.com
  • 4 gift packs containing various combinations of eco-friendly T-shirts, stickers and reusable bags, courtesy of ecominders

The contest will culminate on April 22 when the winners from the giveaway will be selected. Want to join in the fun? Visit the channel for official rules, a list of prizes and daily tips to tweet – and don’t forget to follow Earth911 (@Earth911) to keep up on all the action.

SunChips will also sponsor tips about newly introduced compostable products, as the company recently launched the world’s first 100 percent compostable chip bag that decomposes in 14 weeks when placed in a hot active compost bin.

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More Free Stuff for Earth Day

April 21, 2009
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Turns out that plenty of people are interested in finding out about freebies for Earth Day. I know this from the search terms that people have been using lately to find my blog–and click on my recent “Free Stuff for Earth Day” post. In fact, it’s been the most popular post this past week.

Given that there is still a sustained interest in finding out about more free stuff on Earth Day (tomorrow), and many of the deals I’d highlighted previously were for this past Sunday only, I’ve decided to do this roundup of additional deals to be had for Earth Day. Enjoy.

Tote Bags for the Taking

  • Spend $30 or more on green and natural products on Drugstore.com, and you’ll get a free Seventh Generation tote bag that’s filled with $40 worth of samples.
  • Walgreens will be giving away a free tote bag, though I haven’t been able to confirm at this point what kind of purchase is necessary to receive the bag.
  • Puget Sound-area Metropolitan Market is celebrating Earth Day with a month-long special offer on its popular reusable shopping bag, the REbag: Buy one for $1 between April 22 and May 5, and get a second REbag free.
  • Bring in five plastic bags to any H.E.B. store in Texas April 22 from 3 p.m.-7 p.m. and receive a coupon for a free green reusable shopping bag (thanks to Houston on the Cheap for the heads up about this deal).
  • This Saturday, April 25th (a few days late for Earth Day but cool nonetheless), Wegman’s will take plastic shopping bags off your hands to be recycled and, in return, will give you a free Wegman’s reusable shopping tote.
  • Publix stores are giving away reusable bags if you buy certain GE CFLs. (Can’t confirm which ones, though.)

Gratis Grub

  • Lightbulb maker Sylvania is driving a branded Mister Softeee truck around New York City and giving out free soft serve ice cream and distributing product coupons for Sylvania CFLs. The truck stops first at 10 a.m. at the Lowe’s in Brooklyn, then heads into Manhattan to stop at Bryant Park around 12 p.m. and then Times Square at 1 p.m.
  • If you live in Seattle and can visit the Jones’ Soda headquarters, you’ll get free soda. If you don’t live nearby but pledge to recycle on Earth Day and everyday, you’ll get a coupon sent to you for free soda.
  • Bring a reusable mug with you to your local coffee house and you might just be able to fill up on some free java. Some Starbucks in the U.S. and Canada are participating, though I couldn’t confirm that it was an across-the-board promotion.

Miscellaneous Free Stuff

  • Get a free roll of Reynolds Wrap Foil from 100% Recycled Aluminum, with a mail-in rebate (up to $3.99). The rebate is available for download only on Earth Day (April 22nd, 2009) starting at 4:22 am EDT.
  • When you bring three plastic water bottles into a Disney Store on Earth Day, you’ll get a free gift from the Disney Store. Some blogs are reporting that this free gift is a reusable water bottle; others have said the free gift is a tote bag. I guess you’ll have to bring in your plastic bottles to find out for yourself.
  • Lighting retailer Rejuvenation is giving away free CF light bulbs with all purchases at our Portland and Seattle retail locations in celebration of Earth Day. Bulbs will be handed out at the stores, on Earth Day, and included in shipments on national orders.
  • Take a test drive of a Subaru as part of the carmaker’s Eco Tour, and you’ll get a $20 gift card to Whole Foods.
  • Rather than pay a local retailer to take outdated electronics off your hand, electronics recycler ViaTek Solutions is offering free, walk-in recycling services for consumer electronics at its Atlanta and Tampa locations all this week, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (Normally, the company works with consumers only via a manufacturer’s buy-back program.)
  • Pro Energy Consultants, the nation’s first home energy audit franchise, will offer free home energy audits on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. Homeowners who reside in its open markets of Evansville, Charlotte, Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Jacksonville can schedule their free home energy audit for Earth Day. Audits will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the Earth Day schedule is filled, others who call on or before Earth Day will receive a 50 percent discount on their audit.

I’m sure there are plenty of other Earth Day deals available, but I’ve just run out of time to research them all. If you know of additional freebies, please post that information with a comment.

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Sun Sentinel Plugs Suddenly Frugal

April 19, 2009
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Guess who is spreading the Suddenly Frugal gospel? The Sun Sentinel newspaper in Florida, which reaches millions of readers in South Florida. I was so pleased to discover this, via the incoming links on my blog stats, that the paper had picked up my Free Stuff for Earth Day post to share with its readers in Florida. I’m sure my mentioning the Miami on the Cheap blog helped in this respect, but I’ll take the plugs wherever I can get them. Thanks, Sun Sentinel.

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Free Stuff for Earth Day

April 16, 2009
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Want Earth Day freebies? This Sunday April 19 and next week, in time for Earth Day, a number of retailers are running promotions that can help shoppers like you and me go green and save green, too. Some stores are providing freebies; others are offering discounts or money off on eco-friendly products. Here are a few of those offerings, which I thought you might want to check out this weekend.

  • At Target this Sunday, the first 1 million guests at the checkout counter will received a $2.00 coupon on GE Energy Smart compact flourescent light bulbs (or CFLs) and they’ll get a free reusable tote bag in which to carry their purchase home.
  • Also jumping on the CFL bandwagon is Home Depot. Stores nationwide will be giving away 1 million free CFLs to shoppers at Home Depot. (Thanks to Miami on the Cheap, part of the Cities on the Cheap network, for the heads-up about this promotion.)
  • Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will be giving away free canvas bags to customers on Wednesday, April 22nd when they spend $10 or more. This special giveaway is part of an effort to encourage customers to reuse bags and lessen their impact on the environment.
  • Sears is offering its customers an additional 10% off Kenmore Elite ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances, on top of existing promotional prices, each Monday throughout the month of April.

If you’re aware of other freebies in time for Earth Day, please post a link in the comments section.

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10 Tips for Earth Day

April 8, 2009
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Hard to believe that the first Earth Day occurred 39 years ago, back in 1970. Truth is, I wasn’t even aware of Earth Day until 1989. That was the first time I’d heard about the event. Since I was living in New York City at the time, I spent the entire day with tens of thousands of other New Yorkers in an Earth Day celebration in Central Park. It was kind of groovy–you know, for the 80s.

With Earth Day right around the corner (it’s April 22nd, in case you don’t know), I thought I’d share these 10 tips on how you can make a difference today, tomorrow, and every day, courtesy of RecycleBank and Burt’s Bees. I realize that you’ve probably heard many, if not all, of these tips before, but they do bear repeating.

  1. Recycle: This Earth Day, take a good hard look at your trash, and make sure you’re recycling as much as possible. Don’t forget about e-Waste like cell phones, MP3’s and laptops–they can all be recycled and repurposed, via retailers or household hazardous waste collection events in your community. I happen to know that RecycleBank rewards people for recycling by giving them gift certificates to local businesses. If your trash carrier doesn’t currently work with RecycleBank, why not ask them to look into it?
  2. Freecycle (TM): I don’t have to tell you about my love for Freecycle or what I consider to be Freecycle etiquette. If you haven’t yet given Freecycle a try, why not do so in time for Earth Day?
  3. Reuse. Leave behind paper plates, plastic forks and any other disposables. Choose reusable serving pieces instead. Also, figure out ways you can reuse items around the house like toilet paper rolls or rubber bands so you can keep them out of the trash.
  4. Wallet Activism: Look for products made from recycled materials, natural ingredients, and minimal or biodegradable packaging. Burt’s Bees, for example, uses recyclable packaging. By supporting eco-friendly companies your green supports the greater green. (Checkout this story I wrote for Continental Magazine for more on what to look for in earth-friendly packaging.)
  5. Park It: Celebrate the beauty of spring with a walk when you could have driven. Carpool, take public transport, ride your bike. If you can’t do it every day, try once a week. When you do drive, make sure you pump up your tires so you can deflate your fill-ups.
  6. Junk It: Putting the kibosh on junk mail and catalogues will save you time, save landfill space and save millions of trees. Use services like Catalog Choice to opt out of receiving catalogs in the mail. For more advice on reducing unwanted mail, check out this article from Centsable Momma.
  7. Bills. Bills. Bills. Try to go paperless for your banking, bill paying and at the ATM.
  8. Live Life Locally: Support your local farmers while enjoying fresh produce and organically grown goodies. Visit a website like Local Harvest to find local farm stands and farmers’ markets near you.
  9. Say Y-E-S to CFL’s: You’ll save time, money and energy by swapping regular, incandescent light bulbs for the compact fluorescent kind.
  10. Spread the Word: Tell your friends how easy it is to shave off some carbon here, save some resources there and conserve a little energy here. And then they can tell their friends. And then they can tell their friends…

Look for me on television next Tuesday, April 14th. I’ll be doing an early Earth Day satellite media tour to discuss green-living tips. I’ll try to post the station lineup the day before.

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Putting the Plastic Bag Out to Pasture

January 24, 2008
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A collective “Hooray” went through the green community earlier this week, when Whole Foods proclaimed that it would getting rid of plastic bags at the checkout aisle by this Earth Day (which is April 22, 2008, in case you didn’t know). Of course, Whole Foods has been working up towards this day for some time now.

Like many supermarkets Whole Foods has been selling reusable bags for its customers to use at checkout and encouraging them to byob (bring your own bag), whether it came from Whole Foods or not. They even give customers a discount (a paltry discount of 5 cents per bag to be sure) for reusing bags at checkout, but a discount nonetheless. I wish my ShopRite did that!

The question that remains, though, is what will Whole Foods do about those ubiquitous plastic-bag rolls in the produce department? I went to the source and spoke with Ashley Hawkins, a Whole Foods’ spokesperson. Here’s what she told me in an email about potential changes in the produce department:

“We are considering several bio-based plastic alternatives, and we do currently have paper and reusable options in the stores in the smaller produce-friendly sizes.”

I wondered if Whole Foods would allow its customers to bring their own produce bags when shopping–either by reusing plastic they had from an earlier shopping trip, taking reusable plastic containers that you might use for leftovers or choosing those cotton mesh bags that you see Europeans carrying to and from the market. In fact, I used to own a couple of those bags when I lived in New York City a decade ago and wanted an eco-friendly way to schlep my groceries. Wow, I was ahead of my time. Anyway, here’s what Ashley had to say about this bring-you-own notion for holding produce:

“We absolutely welcome shoppers bringing in alternative containers to gather their produce items. Yes, they will need to be taken out of those containers when weighed, of course. Many of our shoppers simply don’t use bags to gather produce, preferring simply to place produce in their shopping carts.”

I’m so conditioned to take plastic when bagging my fruit, vegetables and even meat, but I’m sure I can changes my habits. Next time I hit the grocery store, I’m going to bring additional reusable bags, maybe my Lock & Lock containers from QVC or those long-lost mesh bags, if I can find them, to hold my produce and meat.

I’m sure there are many other clever ways to find reusable containers to hold fruits and vegetables while shopping. What do you think you might bring with you the next time you need to buy fruits, vegetables or meat, and don’t want to reach for the same-old plastic bag?

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Green TV

November 6, 2007
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What is it about November that has the media going green? I would have thought that broadcasters and websites would be rolling out the green carpet next April, when Earth Day is upon us (it falls on April 22, 2008, FYI). But instead, it’s all green, all the time on the various NBC networks (Bravo, MSNBC, etc) and over on the Microsoft Network (MSN).

For example, MSN has rebranded its website with the URL green.msn.com, which offers a homepage, if you will, to all things green–from current events to politics.

Over at the Peacock network, everyone is getting in on the green action. You can start your day by watching Today Show hosts reporting on green topics, watch green interstitials (short-form broadcast blips in between shows and/or commercials) that fall under the “Green is Universal” theme (you see, NBC is actually the NBC Universal company), and then get some green along with your comedy on shows like “30 Rock.”

My guess is that everyone is attempting to ride the green wagon that Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” started. Oh, and maybe because November 15 is America Recycles Day.

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