SAVE MONEY – AND THE PLANET!

Doing a good deed feels great, but it feels even better when it’s benefitting your bank account, too. Here are our purse-friendly tips for going green...

Usually when U you recycle, the main benefit is the feel-good factor. But now lots of brands are rewarding the good deed with discounts and freebies in a bid to encourage people to recycle more.

Here’s a list of retailers who can benefit your purse and reduce waste…

TAKE YOUR OWN MUG TO HIGH-STREET CAFÉS

Pret A Manger and French bakery Paul offer discounts if you take your own coffee cup, instead of using their paper ones. Starbucks and Costa also drop prices by 25p, and your drink will cost 10p less at Paul, where you can buy a reusable branded mug for £3.50 as well. At Pret, they’re doubling the discount from 25p to 50p off this month after customer feedback.

RETURN YOUR LUSH CONTAINERS

Lush cosmetics will give you one of their gorgeous fresh face masks (worth £6.95) for free when you return your old Lush pots for recycling. All you need to do is bring back five empty and washed pots to claim your freebie face mask.

SWAP CLOTHES FOR VOUCHERS AT H&M

Next time you have a bag of charity shop clothes, take them to H&M and you’ll receive £5 off a £30 voucher to spend in the store. The items can be any brand and any condition, but you must bring at least an average-sized supermarket carrier bag full of clothing to claim your voucher.

COLLECT EMPTIES FOR KIEHL’S FREEBIES

Return any empty Kiehl’s full or travel-sized product to a standalone store and collect one stamp per empty. Once you’ve collected ten stamps, you’ll receive a free product worth up to £9.

STASH MAC POTS

We all love a MAC lippie, and you can get one for free if you save your old make-up containers. The cosmetics giant is asking customers to return their empty MAC containers – foundation bottles, lipstick tubes, blusher pots, eye shadows, anything – and in return, they’ll give you a free lipstick. Ask in-store for more details.

DONATE YOUR OLD M&S CLOBBER

When you give any M&S clothing or soft furnishings to your local Oxfam store, they’ll give you a voucher for £5 off when you spend £35 in participating M&S stores.

TRADE IN INK FOR CASH

Don’t chuck away old printer ink cartridges. Websites like the Recycling Factory will give you cash when you send them your old cartridges (you don’t even have to pay postage). The value varies depending on the brand, but some cartridges will nab you up to £3. Check out the Therecyclingfactory.com for more information.