Paperless Coupons
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
After I reviewed the staggering impact my paper bills have on the environment I started wondering about the impact of the countless coupons I receive in the mail everyday.
I did a rough estimate of the amount of coupons and fliers I receive and here are the results from the pay it green calculator.
Paper 20.2 pounds of paper wasted
Water 192 gallons of wastewater
Gasoline 6.5 gallons of gas
Greenhouse Gases 360 pounds of greenhouse gases
This amount of greenhouse gas is the equivalent of: 354 miles driven in your car
50 square feet of forest deforestation
I did not input any return mail so the numbers are very real. WOW
There are some alternatives to paper coupons.
1) Cell Fire
Cellfire delivers paperless coupons to your mobile phone so you’ll never have to clip coupons again. Cellfire is a download to your mobile phone and the catch, if there is one, is the company has to list their deals thru Cellfire. The benefit if you just pulled up to Ben & Jerry’s and want a coupon for your RockyRoad cone you can simply check on cellfire for any Ben & Jerry’s coupon codes.
I haven’t tried this service yet myself, if you have please tell me about it in the comments below.
2) Wifi On-line Codes
I really like the idea of giving of getting a coupon code right when I need it.
If you use a service like Brad’s Deals and have WiFi on your phone that’s all you need. If you are at BestBuy and decide to make a purchase you can go to Brad Deals and find the best coupon and then show the clerk the screen, with the coupon code at check out. It’s as simple as that.
3) Store Coupon Codes in your cell phone
If you don’t have Wi-Fi on your phone, you need to plan ahead a little to use your cell phone in lieu of paper coupons. Look up the coupon codes on line and store them in your phone contacts before you leave home.
I suggest using a contact name like X- Best Buy, to make it easy to find and delete when you are finished. Once you are at the check out simply provide the cashier with the applicable code number for your purchase.
Do you have other suggestions for paperless coupons?