Free $25 Kiva microloan to someone in a developing country.

Here's a freebie that's also a good deed: you can sign up with Kiva.org and loan out $25 to an entrepreneur in a developing country at no cost to you! Kiva connects people who want to lend relatively small sums of money with small-business owners who need short-term loans to help their business. So, for example, a dozen people lend $25 each, and a woman in the Philippines now has the $400 she needs to buy fish for her farmer's market stall. The lenders pay you back over time, and then the money is in your account for withdrawal or re-depositing.

I'm a Kiva lender and I really enjoy it - rarely, if ever, have I been defaulted on, and helping people to become independent and support themselves is a good feeling. If you're new to Kiva, check it out and lend someone $25 at no cost to you!

Seattle: Adopt an animal for free at the Animal Shelter.

This might be the first time we've had a pet freebie — as in, free pets, not freebies for pets. The Seattle Animal Shelter is apparently way over capacity right now, so they're encouraging people to adopt by waiving their usual $130-200 fees. All you pay is a 2-year pet license, about $27.

"The free adoption package includes initial vaccinations, deworming, feline leukemia testing for cats, a certificate for a free health exam by a local veterinarian, the spaying or neutering, and a microchip."


This offer is good through July 3, so if you're looking to add a furry friend to your life and do a good deed, head on over!

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!

Lowe's: 1 million free trees on April 23.

Free tree. Free tree! FREE TREE!! That's what you'll be saying on April 23 at Lowe's when you celebrate Earth Day by picking up your free tree. They're giving away a million of them - literally - and it doesn't say any purchase, coupon, etc. is required to get one.

Happy early Earth Day!

Disney Store: Free reusable tote on Apr. 22 when you bring in 5 plastic shopping bags.

The Disney Store is joining in the Earth Day festivities this year and offering a free reusable shopping tote when you bring in 5 plastic shopping bags to recycle. The bag is actually pretty cute - green with a topiary tree shaped like Mickey's iconic head - but there are limited quantities, so if you want to snag one, you'd better eco-hurry in there on April 22.

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."

Nov. 27 is Small Business Saturday; get $25 credit from American Express!

I just heard about Small Business Saturday, which is sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It's an alternative to doorbusting super-sale madness, with an emphasis on supporting your local community by choosing to shop at small businesses in your area.

Join the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook and you can get a $25 credit on your American Express card! Register your card before Nov. 27, then spend $25 or more at a participating small-business store (i.e., one that accepts American Express) and you'll receive a $25 credit on your statement. Pretty sweet, huh?

Also, American Express will donate $1 to Girls, Inc., for every person who "likes" the Small Business Saturday page on Facebook, so you can do good even if you don't do any shopping over Thanksgiving weekend.

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 hippie lunch bag.

Back when I was in school, this organic cotton lunch sack would totally have marked you as a social-outcast child of hippies, but I guess times have changed. Now it's cool to reuse, and Annie's does have that cute bunny-shaped mac 'n' cheese... or you could just type in the numbers 013562300983 and 013562302109 if that's how you roll. It's your karma, man.

Free reusable tote from A Little Bit of Philly.

Everyone can use another reusable tote bag, can't they?  I mean, you ARE using these for your groceries and other shopping, rather than strangling the earth with hundreds of plastic bags... right?

Of course you are.  But you can always use another one!

Virgin America/Twitter fare sale, $39 and up.

Virgin America and Twitter are doing some sort of social media networking web 2.0 thing blah blah, but the POINT is, you can get fares for as little as $39 one-way! The sale is today only, so don't delay.

Plus, it's a do-gooder charity thing: "For 24 hours, Virgin America will donate five dollars for every direct booking made to educational nonprofits. Virgin America will donate up to $50,000 – and 100% of the donation will go to KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Classroom Projects on DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students. Virgin America is an ongoing supporter of the KIPP Program, which operates a network of free, open-enrollment, college-prep public schools in under-resourced communities."

Now doesn't that make you feel good about your cheap tickets?

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.
  
  

Facebook: Free Emergen-C Blue samples.

I've posted lots of Emergen-C samples on this blog because they're pretty generous with handing out the freebies to get you hooked. Their latest freebie offer is for Emergen-C Blue, for which they've teamed up with an environmental nonprofit called Surfrider Foundation. A portion of proceeds from each box of Emergen-C Blue sold goes to the Surfrider Foundation, which "supports the world's oceans, waves, and beaches." Become a fan, get a sample.

I'm guessing Emergen-C Blue is blue in color, but hopefully it doesn't have that "blue raspberry" taste to go along with it. Could anything be less natural than blue raspberry?

USPS Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is May 8!

The USPS "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive is this Saturday, May 8. Over the last 17 years, they've collected nearly a BILLION pounds of non-perishable food to donate to food banks across America, and they're hoping to pass the billion-pound mark this year.

While this may not be a freebie per se, it is a good thing to do, and you could consider it a free clutter-removal service. Just because you got eight cans of kidney beans on sale a year ago doesn't mean you're ever going to use them, and a streamlined pantry is a happy pantry. Take a look at your cabinets and see if you can't fill up a bag or two - then, just leave it next to your mailbox, and your postal worker will collect the food and take it back to the post office, where it will be sorted and delivered to a local food bank.

Remember, though, if you want to donate money to a food bank, it's better to give them cash directly than to buy food yourself at retail prices - they can get more for the $$$ buying in bulk than you can at the store. This is a great opportunity to unload food you already have and won't use, though!

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!

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!)

Starbucks: Free coffee April 15 when you bring your reusable cup.

Help save the earth and get a free coffee! Bring your reusable go-cup to Starbucks on April 15, and they'll fill it with piping-hot, planet-loving brew for free. Starbucks goes through 3 billion paper cups and 1 billion plastic cups a year - not including all those bottled and canned drinks they sell.

I bet that would be 0.5 billion if they didn't always double-up on the paper cups to provide insulation and a heat buffer between your delicate hand and the scalding-hot coffee. Maybe I'll put that in the suggestion box while I'm enjoying my free coffee on Thursday.

Seattle: Free gardening classes, composting kits.

The City of Seattle wants you to go green, and they will accept no excuses!

• Free "Green Kitchen" Kit - Evidently you'll be receiving coupons for free Green Kitchen Kits are in your CurbWaste & Conserve newsletter, which arrives in mailboxes this week! (This may be more for homeowners - I live in an apartment building and don't recall ever getting one of these.) Starting April 15, you can redeem your coupons for free Green Kitchen Kits, including an EcoSafe Kitchen Collector, compostable bags for storing food scraps, a food scraper, a CFL light bulb, and a reusable shopping bag, at various neighborhood service centers.
• Free Gardening Classes - Starting April 3, the City of Seattle will be offering free gardening classes. Savvy Gardener classes will focus on native plants and food gardening, encouraging gardeners to make choices this spring that will help them save water during Seattle’s typical dry summers. Check out the class schedule here.

(Thanks, Laura P.!)