How to chase deals while being environmentally friendly

This is first of the Savvy Shoppers series.

BYOB (bring your own bag)

• Safeway, Target and your local food co-op offer $0.05 to $0.01 bag credit.
• CVS has a $1 “green tag“. Scan the tag and get $1 ECB every forth time you shop.
• I also take this shopping basket (Container Store) to stores, farmers market and thrift stores – easy to load/unload, and double up as toy storage, laundry, etc

Group your shopping together

• Save gas and time – take advantage of the proximity of stores. We’re lucky here where some of these stores are grouped together. Safeway & CVS (W. Davis), Rite Aid & Safeway (S. Davis)
• For CVS shoppers – take advantage of double tipping Saturday afternoons. Some stores allows you to do both week’s deal on Saturday PM, prior to when the new weekly deal cycle start the following day (Sunday). Staff will be tagging the deals, and sometimes they’ll let you take a peek of the new ads to be out the next day. Call your store to confirm.
• Bike (especially in Davis-one of the most bike friendly city)

Shop Locally for produce (as a matter of fact, for other products too):

• Shop local ethic stores, farmers market and fruit stands – often cheaper or comparable to the grocery stores.
• The shorter distance produce have to travel, the less carbon footprint.

Save printer paper and ink

• Print coupons, rebate forms, etc., on your printer’s “fast” or “economy” mode. They scan well (except some of the RA video values- I’ve to print “normal” mode).
• If you’re only printing one coupon, cut out the coupon and save the rest of the paper to print another one later.
• Use printer preview -  to gauge the size of “left over” paper you need to insert into your printer.

Recycle

• Recycle all your inserts, ads, etc that you collected – never throw papers into the trash!
• Join Recyclebank and earn points for use at retailers.

Reuse

• Shop thrift store, your local nursery or grade school rummage sale. Help a good cause, while getting great deals and keep things out of landfills.
• Reuse discarded or unwanted Sunday Coupon inserts from family, friends, anyone you know, even from coffee shops.

Freecycle

• Give out what you don’t need, and ask for what you need!
  

What are other ways to chase deals/be frugal while being environmentally friendly?

Related posts:

1. Friday Finals: Best Coupons, Deals, Freebies
2. Week in Review: Best Coupons, Local Deals, Free Food
3. Why I don’t shop at Costco

Tagged as: advice, Reviews, series