Earth Day the Nouveau Cheap Way!

[UPDATE: How could I forget THIS?? Search "Zoya" on this blog for some swatches if you need some ideas!]

There was a time when going green meant spending a lot of money. Boy am I glad those days are behind us! Now that going green has evolved into something that ALL of us can do with very little effort (or money), there's absolutely no excuse to not play a role in saving our planet. So I'd like to share with you some earth-friendly, beauty-related tips, deals and steals that I've been gathering just for Earth Day. Let's make Mother Earth happy today (and every day!), and remember: no matter how small it may seem, even small gestures can have a huge impact if we all do them together.

1) CVS shoppers: Do you have your GreenBagTag yet? If you haven't heard of the GreenBagTag, it's simple! Just buy this little leaf-shaped tag for 99-cents (either online or at the check-out stand at your local CVS store), loop it around the handle of your reusable shopping bag (and no, you don't have to use the CVS reusable shopping bags, you can use your own cute reusable shopping bag--more on that later) and have the cashier scan your tag every single time you make a purchase. For using your reusable shopping bag every time you shop at CVS, CVS will credit you ONE EXTRA BUCK ON EVERY FOURTH RECEIPT! That might not sound like a lot, but it adds up quicker than you think!

2) Support businesses that are doing their part for the environment, such as Fresh & Easy. If you have a Fresh & Easy in your town, try to stop in today and, while you're there, pick up something from their wonderful, and affordable, natural bath and body collection. These products are fantastic, and you'll be doing your part to support a company that does amazing things like this.

3) Do you know how hard it has been to keep this one from you? On Monday, my girl Amber at Beauty Junkies Unite told me about THIS, and I've been wanting to blab it to you ever since. Today only, go to your nearest Origins store, give them ANY empty cosmetics container (any brand!) and they will gladly give you a FULL-SIZE Origins cleanser in exchange for your empty container! No strings, no questions asked. Now that is my kind of deal, since you know that Origins cleansers retail for around $20 a pop! And as if that weren't enough, Amber has sweetened the deal, so definitely click here to check out how you can score even more free Origins goodies!

4) Look for beauty products that come in earth-friendly, biodegradable packaging, and buy one today! Not sure what's biodegradable? Well there's always the fab, plastic-free products over at One (available at your local Target!), and how about this little gem:


What is this, you ask? Try the only lip balm tube (to my knowledge) that is NOT made of plastic! Organic Essence has made a lip balm that is packaged in recycled paper (it's safe for home composting!) instead of the usual plastic tubes that we see from every other brand out there today. Genius! I've actually seen these at my local natural foods store and they're pretty darn amazing in person. How does it work? Well, when you need more balm, you simply squeeze the bottom of the tube to push the balm up. When you're done, the balm just slides back down into the tube until you need it again. Simple, yet brilliant! And if that's not enough, every ingredient in this balm is certified organic! These come in flavors such as Grapefruit (pictured above), Almond, Mint, Natural and Vanilla, and retail for around $4.99.

5) Shop with reusable bags, not just today, but every day. And ESPECIALLY when you're buying beauty products! Why? Because beauty products are small and they fit so easily into a reusable bag. There's no excuse for why we should be hauling our latest Rite Aid or Walgreens purchase out of the store in a plastic bag. So let's either skip the bag completely and put that new lipstick straight into our purses (after we've paid for it, of course) or bring our reusable bag with us each and every time we plan to buy some beauty products at our local drugstore, Target, wherever (oh, and remember, Target gives you 5-cents back for every total purchase you make when you use a reusable bag).

To avoid forgetting your reusable bag, try to develop a system and stick with it until it becomes a habit. Once you get your system down, it's a total no-brainer, trust me. I do my grocery shopping with reusable bags and it took A LOT of effort to get that system down, but now I don't even have to think about it.

Heck, it's Earth Day so I'll share my system with you, if you're curious! Here's what I do: I take my reusable bags to the grocery store and do my shopping (it takes some time to figure out how many reusable bags you'll need for an average shopping trip, but once you get that number down, you will see that you usually never waiver from that magic number--and if your grocery store assistants are anything like mine, they'll cram as many items as possible into each of your bags for you!). When I get home from shopping, I unload my groceries and IMMEDIATELY take my reusable bags and put them right near the front door. I used to actually hang them from the doorknob of my front door, which is a GREAT reminder if you're just starting out. You can't ignore six or seven reusable bags hanging from your front doorknob.

And that's it! Just remember to put your empty bags near your front door (or whatever door you'll be exiting the next time you leave your house) so that they will be ready to grab the next time you head out the door. And when you grab your empty bags, put them in your car (if you drive a car--if you take public transportation, then just take the bags off your doorknob when you're heading out to do some shopping). But if you drive a car, the goal is to get your bags BACK into your car as quickly as possible. That's the only way to ensure you will never be without them when you need them. So remember: unload your groceries and stick your reusable bags right next to the door you will exit the next time you leave the house. Simple!

6) Make using reusable bags fun! Go to your local dollar store and find a cute canvas tote bag that you can use especially for your beauty hauls. Think of all the times you've seen a super cute tote bag but thought to yourself, "I can't really use that as my purse and it's probably not sturdy enough for books or anything heavy, but man it's cute!" Finally, that in-between bag has a purpose! Use it exclusively for your beauty purchases! And who knows...you may already have a few of those in-between bags already lurking in your closet. Take one out, dust if off and put it in your car today. :)

Note: You probably want to stick to the sturdier reusable bags for grocery shopping though, just to avoid damaging your groceries. But not to worry, every grocery chain now offers reusable bags for about $1 each (Walgreens has a coupon this week for 3/$1) and those bags are designed to withstand the weight of groceries (if you've never used a reusable grocery bag before, you're going to be surprised at how many more groceries will fit into one of these bags compared to a standard plastic bag!).

7) And of course, if you want to skip bags altogether, you can always shop online and take advantage of this fantastic Earth Day deal over at my favorite place to get high-end beauty products (at drugstore prices), BeautyTicket.com! Enter code EARTHDAY15 and receive 15% off storewide!

That's it for my Earth Day deals, tips and tricks. I hope you enjoyed this post, and PLEASE, if you have any other great Earth Day deals, tips or tricks of your own, share them with all of us in the comments!