Amazon Prime Day 2021: How to Save on Eco-Friendly Products

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Amazon Prime Day is around the corner at the end of this month, and if you're planning to shop, it's smart to go in with a plan. Prime Day can be a great opportunity to find green products, whether you're looking to swap more into your life, or are just looking to save a bit of money. It also means those products are more accessible to consumers who won’t have to travel to specialty stores for their products.

We'd be remiss not to mention that Amazon doesn’t have the best environmental track record. These huge shopping days mean copious amounts of orders, which can lead to more trucks on roads, more traffic congestion, more carbon emissions, and more wasteful packaging with endless numbers of boxes, packing peanuts, and plastic air bubbles. We understand that some Treehugger readers prefer to avoid Amazon entirely. If you do choose to shop the sale, select a slower shipping option (no-rush), or consider using online shopping as a way to cut down on your own driving. Be sure to reusing and recycle packaging materials whenever possible.

A budget-friendly price point can mean the difference between using a green product or not, so to help you weigh the pros and cons of Prime Day, we’ve answered some of the most common Prime Day questions and recommended some great eco-friendly deals.

When is Amazon Prime Day 2021?

Amazon Prime Day starts on Monday, June 21, and ends at the end of the day on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Prime day sales start at midnight Pacific Time on the selected start day (Monday) and run until 11:59 Pacific Time on the second day (Tuesday).

What is Amazon Prime Day?

Prime Day is an annual deal event available for Amazon Prime members. The event is two days long, and prices on products from top brands and small businesses are slashed, giving consumers one of the biggest online sales events of the year. According to Amazon’s website, in 2020, Prime Day shoppers saved $1.4 billion on products across the site. Third-party sellers made over $3.5 billion on Prime Day, and the fastest Prime Day delivery was less than 30 minutes.

You do have to be a Prime Day member to participate in the two days of sales, but you can sign up for a free 30-day membership—just be sure to cancel before those days are up.

What Type of Discounts Do You See?

Previous eco-friendly Prime Day deals have included organic clothing, reusable sandwich bags, sustainable shampoo, conditioner, and body wash; dental care, reusable utensils, and earth-friendly children’s toys—just to name a few. Try and get your hands on kitchen and healthy living products like cooking utensils, sustainable sunscreen and bug spray, essential oils, and cleaning supplies. Discounts vary per brand, so check out the Climate Pledge Friendly products on Amazon to shop by category.

Are There Other Brands That Also Have Sales Around Prime Day?

Last year, Walmart, Target, Nordstrom, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Old Navy were all among brands having sales to compete with Prime Day. Deals included tech, home, toys, appliances, and clothing.

Madewell, a retailer using responsible and sustainable material sourcing, held a sale to compete with Prime Day last year, as did numerous other eco-friendly retailers like Frank and Oak and Urban Outfitters.

Can You Shop Small During Prime Day?

According to Amazon, last year’s Prime Day highlighted small businesses and resulted in record-setting sales by independent sellers. Usually, small retailers on Etsy push their own Prime Day-adjacent deals, with markdowns on personalized items and eco-friendly items.

What Can I Shop For On Sale Now?

While the sale date and items hasn't been announced yet, we pulled some popular green products sold on Amazon. Some items are already on sale.

We'll update this story as soon as we have more details, so be sure to bookmark and come back.

Solar Power Bank Portable 32800mAh Charger

Solar Power Bank 32800mAh — Courtesy of Amazon

Normally $60, Now $47

This large-capacity power bank with a solar panel charges up to three devices at once, and is also equipped with a strong LED flashlight. It’s great for on-the-go charging, and the handy flashlight proves useful in emergencies. Take it camping, hiking, road tripping, or leave it in your car for roadside emergencies.

Solar Power Bank with 4 Solar Panels

Normally $54, Now $44

This solar power bank, with 25000mAh capacity, has charges for iPhone 8, S6, and tablets. Ideal for long trips, the charger includes four foldable solar panels that use solar energy to charge your devices. This unit can charge two devices simultaneously, and is waterproof with a built-in LED light.

Treebird Biodegradable Dental Floss

Normally $13, Now $10

TreeBird’s biodegradable dental floss comes with a glass bottle floss holder and a spool of 100 percent silk floss measuring 33 yards long. Simply refill the glass container when it’s empty and worry less about single-use plastic floss containers. After using the floss, toss it in your compost pile where it will naturally biodegrade.

Solar Power Bank 30000mAh Charger

Normally $50, Now $47

This 30000mAh, large-capacity power bank comes equipped with an LED flashlight and can charge up to three devices simultaneously. The flashlight can be switched to a strong light, flash, or SOS setting for emergency use, and the unit is dustproof, shockproof, and waterproof. Equipped with slings and carabiners, it’s great to bring along for camping or stowing away for emergencies.

OXO Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin

Ideal for daily countertop use, this .75-gallon compost bin makes composting a breeze. The lid flips up and down for easy use, and locks to trap in odors. The rotating handle is also great for transporting waste to your outdoor composter.

Bamboo Utensils Cutlery Set

Made from 100 percent bamboo fiber, this reusable cutlery set is perfect to stow in your bag for picnics, plane meals, office lunches, festivals, and gatherings. The set comes with a spoon, fork, knife, chopsticks, straw, straw cleaner, and even a bamboo toothbrush. The roll-up design means it’s easy to store as well.

Anker Rechargeable LC90 LED Flashlight

This pocket-sized flashlight has a 900-lumen LED light that shines across the length of about two football fields and reaches almost 1,000 feet. It can shift from a wide to narrow beam and has five different settings (high, medium, low, strobe, SOS). The water-resistant flashlight recharges in 6 hours and designed for use in heavy rain.

REPEL Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent

Keep the bugs at bay the eco-friendly way with bug repellent made from lemon eucalyptus oil instead of DEET. The bug spray keeps mosquitoes away for up to 6 hours, and doesn’t have the traditional (read: awful) bug-spray smell.

Earthwise Reusable Produce Bags

Earthwise Reusable Mesh Produce Bags — Courtesy of Amazon

Made from recycled plastic bottles, these reusable produce bags should be a staple for grocery shopping. The set comes with three different sizes, and all bags are transparent, so you can see what’s in each bag. To wash, throw the bags in the washing machine on a gentle cycle and hang dry.