I just found out about a clever green marketing strategy that Saks Fifth Avenue has adopted. They've made an enticing offer to their customers—bring in your used bottle of perfume (regardless of brand), purchase a new bottle of perfume and they'll give you a refillable pocket spray free. In addition, all Bond No. 9 brand bottles will be sanitized, refurbished, refilled and decorated to indicate they've been reused, and all other bottles will be inspected, sorted and sent to the appropriate facilities for glass, plastic and metal recycling. No materials are sent to a landfill.

How does this relate to you as a gift shop or cart owner? Perhaps you too can offer some kind of reward to your customers for recycling, perhaps bags from your store, product packaging, cards or gift wrap. Not only is it a great thing to do for the environment, but it also gives your customers a reason to come back to your store—for a fun discount toward the purchase of another product.

Check out more ideas for greening your store in the premiere issue of GREEN Retailer today.