Good deals in green

From www.MediaPost.com comes this not-shocking news via a recent survey: Moms feel a sense of accomplishment when they get a good deal. To get those deals, 65% of moms surveyed preferred to shop regular retail, but on sale. A total of 88% described their preferred method of shopping as rational-spending—a little money for a lot of product.

We love the “rational” part since we all know it’s crazy to think that we’re going to spend our way to a sustainable future.

So although we personally are not big on shopping, even we purchase things occasionally and when we do, we like a deal as much as anyone. What could be better than saving green when shopping green?

By now, everyone knows about daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social. Sometimes these companies offer deals on sustainable goods. But you may not be aware that there are a bunch of deal sites that promote only deals on products we can feel better about purchasing. Plus, some of them also support non-profits.

Here are some I’ve tried:

Neerg.com That would be “green” spelled backward. Even if you cringe at the name, the deals, with up to 75% off on food, skincare, clothing and more, can be worth checking out.

Pure Citizen “Hand-picked items from companies that are changing our world. These companies have heart—they are providing employment and job training for the underprivileged, building wells, reducing global pesticide use, saving children from slavery, rescuing women from prostitution, creating healthier products, and are overall committed to making the world a better place.” And eco-friendly too! They seem to have it all.

Roozst Bills itself as “the home for socially responsible shoppers. We give consumers up to 80% off retail price of our featured products, exclusively socially responsible companies that have been thoroughly vetted by our experienced research team and certified ‘Roozt Approved.’”

Ecomom Deal a Day can be any one of the online store’s large selection of eco-centric items at a large discount.

Green Deals is owned by Green America, a well-known force for good in the world of sustainability. Among other things, they promote green fair trade practices and help build sustainable communities around the world.

Social Goodies “It’s shopping made worthwhile and giving back made easy! Social Goodies offers you unbeatable daily deals from national and emerging brands at up to 70% off. We donate 20% of every purchase directly to charity.” Social Goodies isn’t alone in their give back philosophy, but if that’s important to you, be sure to check out the other deal sites to see how they compare.

Heartsy If you love handmade, then Heartsy is for you. While not all their items are sustainably made, many are. And for the ones that are not, at least you know they’re not made abroad by sweatshop labor. The deals are great.

Green Baby Bargains Just as it sounds, this one is specific to kids.

You also might want to Google “green daily deal+Name of Your City), as local sites are springing up quickly too.

A couple of caveats before you sign up for any deal-a-day sites.

Once you sign up and see all the great deals, you may be very tempted to overbuy and become something of a deal-a-day addict. (Seriously, this does happen.) Know in advance the kinds of things you want to purchase for birthday gifts, for instance, so you can take advantage of sales on these specific items without “falling for” everything that finds its way into your in-box.
If a deal has an expiration date, be sure to mark it down on your calendar so you don’t forget. Understandably merchants hope you’ll remember their name but forget to cash in.