Are You a Green Bargain Shopper?

Yesterday, Mark and I needed sunscreen and dashed into our local Target (www.target.com) to pick up a fresh supply. While there, we couldn’t resist participating in what we call “perimeter patrol.” Any of you who regularly shop at Target know all the sale items are generally displayed at the end of each aisle, around the perimeter of the store.

During our hunt for green bargains, we found lots of Method (www.method.com) products on sale. We’ve been using Method’s eco-conscious soaps and lotions for some time now and we’re always happy to see its products on sale. We were even happier, however, to find another product on sale: Flor (www.flor.com) carpet tiles. Flor is a great product that lets you be creative with carpet tiles you can mix and match and use in any pattern you desire.

And here’s the green part: Flor tiles are made in the USA, most face constructions are nylon or natural fibers like hemp or wool, and backings are a composite, made up of some recycled materials. They also have the lowest VOC (new carpet smell) in the industry . . . and they are recyclable.

All this and they were on sale at Target. Actually, they were on super clearance. Each box of six tiles normally retails for $59.99 and we bought four boxes for $7.49 each. So much for green costing lots of green.

I’ll end this with a shopping tip from me to you. The Flor boxes were actually marked $41.95, but one box had a sticker that said $7.49. Since Target has all those scanners around that tell you the price of an object when you scan its barcode, we took all the boxes over and found they were all $7.49. Not wanting to be greedy, we put half the boxes back on the shelf--even though we really wanted them all (hey, I believe in Karma!). Before we walked away, I noticed a woman came over, looked at the tiles, saw the $41.95 price tag, and put a box in her cart. “You know,” I said to her, “They actually ring up for $7.49. You should get all of them.” And she did.

Question of the blog: What’s your favorite green bargain shopping story?