Origins: Free full-size moisturizer when you bring in an empty bottle, April 22.

Here's another Earth Day freebie, and a really good one: once again, Origins is offering a free full-size moisturizer when you bring in an empty bottle of your current skincare product (or other cosmetic packaging). Find a store near you and start emptying out your old lotions...

Target: Free reusable tote on April 22.

If you're addicted to reusable totes and/or Target, like me, you'll like this Earth Day freebie that gives you an excuse to go to Target this weekend. On Sunday, April 22, stop in for a free reusable tote bag (scroll down until you see the picture of the tote bags). One bag per person, no pushing or shoving.

Those bags look pretty cute, so I might just see you there!

Get free magazines, beauty products, gift cards & more with Recyclebank.

The freebies are a bit slow today, so instead I'm going to talk about a freebie site that I belong to, but haven't really mentioned here before. It's called Recyclebank, and it's a free, points-based rewards site with an environmental twist. You can earn points by taking quizzes, watching videos, playing games, and taking pledges to reduce your impact on the environment.

The average activity earns 5-25 points and takes a couple of minutes; today, I earned 30 points by taking a short quiz and watching a slideshow about water conservation. To give you an idea of what that buys, 115 points gets you a magazine subscription to Everyday Food, Harper's Bazaar, Popular Mechanics, or Whole Living (among others); 180 points gets you a subscription to Martha Stewart Weddings; and 230 points gives you a subscription to Martha Stewart Living. I've also gotten free full-size Aveeno beauty products, coupons for free smoothies and oatmeal at McDonalds, and more.

Recyclebank was originally created to reward people for recycling, so your community had to have signed up for you to be eligible, which is why I didn't post about this site in the past. But it now seems like it's pretty much open to anyone, and there are many online point-earning opportunities even if you're not enrolled in the recycling program (which I'm not). Full disclosure: if you use my referral link to sign up, I get a teensy wee point bonus, but mainly I'm mentioning it because it's one of the few freebie sites out there that was designed around a cause. So you can get freebies and feel good about doing it!

Earth Day roundup.

Since tomorrow is Earth Day, I thought I'd do a little roundup of eco-freebies so you can plan your day accordingly. Looks like it will be full of free coffee, face wash, tote bags, and more!

• Origins: Swap your old facial-product bottle for a new full-size face wash
• Lowe's: Giving away 1 million free trees for Earth Day. No purchase required.
• Disney Store: Free reusable tote when you bring in 5 plastic shopping bags.
• Caribou Coffee: Free coffee when you bring in your own reusable vessel.
• Starbucks: Free coffee or tea when you bring in your own reusable container.

I'm sure there's more out there, so if you hear of a good earth-lovin' deal, let us know!

Origins: Swap your facial cleanser for theirs FREE, April 22.

Just a reminder about this Earth Day freebie coming up from Origins. On April 22, bring in your full-size facial product (full or empty) and trade it in free for a 5-oz Origins face wash! You do have to fill out the form and bring it in with you. Find a store near you.

Seattle, we have plenty of options, including the Origins counter inside the downtown Macy's, the Macy's at Northgate, the Macy's at Southcenter, and the Bellevue Square store. Supplies are limited, but remember, you can always bring your empty cosmetic packaging to Origins for recycling, and they'll usually give you free samples in return.

Happy Earth Day, hippies!

Free admission on National Public Gardens Day, May 6.

May 6 is National Public Gardens Day, and Better Homes & Gardens wants to help you score free admission to a public garden in your area! Fill out the form and choose your garden from the drop-down menu. Each coupon is good for 2 people, so print out 1 coupon for every 2 people in your group.

Seattle, we get something called "Powell's Wood" in Federal Way. Never heard of it, but free is free, I suppose...

Origins: Free 5-oz samples when you bring in your empty old cosmetic packaging.

I always wonder what to do with those spent lip balm tubes, deodorant dispensers, and all the other personal-hygiene packaging that goes in the trash. If it doesn't have a recycling code on it, you're not supposed to put it in your recycling, lest it taint the entire batch... but throwing it out just feels bad. Well, Origins is here to help with their year-round packaging recycling program.

"As part of Origins' ongoing initiative to protect the environment, the skin care company will take your empty cosmetic packaging –everything from bottles, tubes, jars, deodorant sticks and compacts regardless of the brand- to be recycled, when possible, or responsibly converted to energy. As a thank you for supporting the Return to Origins Recycling Program, the company will gift you with free Origins samples."


I have a feeling it'll really make their day if you start hoarding your shampoo bottles and Chapstick tubes now, so as to present them with a bulging, smelly sackful of plastic by the time Earth Day rolls around. Try it and see!

Free CFL bulb.

Rodney Strong Vineyards is apparently the first "carbon-neutral winery" in California's boozy Sonoma County, and they're spreading the planet-friendly vibe with free CFL bulbs. Just fill out the form and you'll receive a free CFL bulb of your very own!

Note: for some reason (I guess because this is a winery?), you have to be 21 or over to receive the free sample. So just, uh, make sure that your information on the online form matches up with that.

April 22: Free coffee or tea at Starbucks for Earth Day.

No, you didn't read that date wrong... I just really, really like super-advance warning! On April 22, aka Earth Day, you can get a free coffee or tea at Starbucks when you bring in your own travel mug. Reduce, reuse, recaffeinate!

(The blurb is about halfway down on the right side, FYI)

 

Groupon: Donate $15 to Greenpeace, get $15 in Groupon Bucks.

Groupon has been running some interesting offers lately, like this one, which allows you to donate to a nonprofit AND get something for yourself. When you donate $15 to Greenpeace through today's deal, you'll get $15 in Groupon Bucks back! Or rather, the first 6,667 will (says the fine print). The Groupon Bucks won't be available till April 15, so you have to have a little patience on this one, but think of the karma! And the whales!

Here's what Groupon says about why they're doing this: "While Groupon would love to match contributions for this campaign, we can’t because Greenpeace does not accept corporate donations of any kind, we’re counting on you to donate twice as much to make up the difference."

Upcycle those Halloween candy wrappers, donate to charity.

What to do with all the trick-or-treat flotsam and jetsam drifting around your house after each candy binge? Why not save those wrappers and donate them to a good cause? TerraCycle wants your candy wrappers and will give $0.02 per wrapper to the cause of your choice. Just sign up and you'll receive pre-paid postage labels; fill a box with wrappers and send it off when it's full.

You can also do the same with Aveeno cosmetic bottles, baggies, Caprisun drink pouches, and more.  TerraCycle uses those items to make recycled bags, office supplies, and gifts, which you can purchase at their online store. Who couldn't use a Clif bar messenger bag?

Free Annie's cotton eco-lunch bag.

You know Annie's, right? The hippie-foods company that makes the mac 'n' cheese shaped like little rabbits? Well, they want to give you (or rather, your kid) an eco-friendly cotton lunch sack for free with 2 UPCs. It's made with 100% recycled cotton and printed with vegetable-based inks, and it even has a friendly "rabbit of approval" to guard your Caprisun and peanut butter crackers.

Gather your UPC codes and fill out the online form to receive your free "eco-chic" bag.

Information: Recycle those used-up gift cards!

In our modern lives, we acquire lots and lots of plastic cards: not just gift cards (which the issuing stores don't want back and will only pitch into the trash), but bus passes, membership cards, shopper loyalty cards, and so on. Just this week, I saw a coworker give another coworker a $5 Starbucks card as a thank-you for a work project - a nice gesture, but pretty wasteful from an environmental standpoint, since very few people bother to save and reload spent cards.

Good news - those cards can be recycled! Not by putting them in your recycle bin, because they're PVC and not coded for regular recycling - but you can send your dead cards to Earthworks, where they melt them down into plastic slurry and remake sheets of plastic that can be turned into new cards with minimal waste. What Earthworks really wants is to partner with companies that can send them bulk quantities of used cards, but they'll also accept donations from individuals.

So the next time you use up a gift card or renew your AAA membership, don't just toss the old card - keep them until you have a stash, join up with friends, and send off a batch to Earthworks. Now that's the gift that keeps on giving.

****

You can mail plastic cards to:

Earthworks c/o Halprin Ind.
25840 Miles Rd.
Bedford, Oh 44146

• Please just send plastic cards - no rubber bands, paper clips, or paper.
• Please put a label or hand-write the name of your organization on the package so we can track it.
  
  

Free Earthbound Farms shopping tote.

This one looks like it's going right now, and it's only for the first 4,000 people, so if you want a free reusable shopping bag, jump on it! Click on the "win a free bag" link in the upper right-hand corner.

The answers are: 1-4th choice; 2-1st; 3-2nd; 4-3rd; 5-3rd; 6-1st; 7-3rd; 8-1st; 9-4th; 10-2nd.

(Courtesy of Free Stuff Times)

Trade 5 plastic bags for a free reusable tote at Target.

Target wants you to recycle, and to use reusable shopping bags instead of an endless stream of disposable plastic ones. Send five of your plastic bags to this address and get a coupon for $1 off a reusable bag at Target.

Terracycle121
New York Avenue
Trenton, NJ08638

Target has plenty of reusable bags to choose from, and the basic model is 99 cents, so you're essentially trading in 5 plastic bags for a nice, new, sturdy, reusable one that will last for years. Plus, Target - and many other stores - give you $0.05 off your purchase every time you use a reusable bag. Every little bit helps!

Origins: Swap your cleansing product for theirs, free, April 22.

Here's an Earth Day freebie offer that comes with a caveat... Origins posted on their Facebook page that if you bring in your current facial cleanser product, they'll trade you for either an Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash or an Origins Perfect World Antioxidant Cleanser with White Tea.

HOWEVER, some FB users have reported that individual stores aren't participating, demand two of your products for one of theirs, or refuse to honor the offer if you've tried their facial cleansers before, so if you try this one, keep your expectations low. And pretend you ain't never heard of no fancy frothin' Or-y-gins face warsh before.

(Thanks, Mary!)

Starbucks gives 10-cent discount for BYOM (bring your own mug).

Sure, Starbucks celebrated Tax Day by offering a free coffee to anyone who brought in their own reusable mug or go-cup. But did you know they always offer a 10-cent discount for customers who bring their own vessels?

Their goal is to serve 25% of the beverages made in their stores in reusable serveware or tumblers by 2015. Judging by the number of people I see in my building stopping at the lobby's Starbucks and bringing paper/plastic cups directly upstairs to their desks, that seems rather optimistic, but good luck with that!

Anyway, save the planet, save a dime. Then donate that dime to Greenpeace.

Free reusable tote from Nursery Water.

I was torn about whether to post this one because it just sounds like the odds of being able to get it are slim, but I'll let you make the call. Every day at noon Eastern time (thus, 9:00 am here on the West Coast), Nursery Water gives away 100 free reusable folding totes. They do it every day, so if you miss it today, you can always try again until the offer expires.

I've put myself on a reusable-tote moratorium at the moment, because I really kind of have a lot. They're a very popular giveaway item these days, and while I do seem to have hundreds of uses for bags to put crap in, it's not all that earth-friendly to amass a mountain of these plastic bags. So get one if you need one, and think of the planet!

(Thanks, Freebies4Mom!)

iTunes: Free "Planet Earth" episode 1 download.

I love "Planet Earth"! Even if you're not super-into nature shows, this groundbreaking documentary series about our environment is one beautifully filmed how-did-they-get-that-shot moment after another... and Oprah's "Life" just pales by comparison to Sir David Attenborough's buttered-crumpet voice. Download the first episode for free at iTunes and see if you don't agree. (You have to have iTunes installed, but it's free.)

I actually own the series, which is available for a pretty good price over at Amazon, and if you really agree with me on the Oprah thing, you can pre-order the David Attenborough version of "Life," without her cornball script that tries to turn animals into courageous single moms. Bleh.

Reminder: Free Target reusable bag on April 18.

I'm sure you've got this one marked on your freebie calendar, but just in case it slipped your mind, Target is giving out 1.5 million reusable shopping bags on Sunday, April 18 to kick off Earth Week. The bags are pretty cute - bright green with a fun eco-design - and they look pretty spacious and sturdy. I use Target's regular reusable 99-cent shopping bags, have had mine for several years, and regularly get compliments from checkers at other stores on the cute design.

I'll take any excuse to go to Target, really, so the greenwashing of my rationalizations is just eco-icing on the shoppers' cake.