GiftZip's Movement to Greener Gift Giving {$25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, wigget!}

Last month I was introduced to GiftZip, the easiest and most efficient way to purchase online gift cards, and was really pleased to be able to include them as a part of my Anniversary Bash.

If you need a refresher, the whole concept of GiftZip is simple: browse through hundreds of great sites (or, if you already have one in mind, just go directly the listing), see the various denominations available and click to GiftZip/purchase your gift card.

There is no account to sign up for, no hidden fees or credit card information given, no wasted time searching through excess pages or leaving the house to go to the store. It's all right there and purchasing from the sites you want for family, apparel, entertainment and much more couldn't be easier.

While in the process of learning about GiftZip, the concept also really made me think.

My wallet is filled with cheap, plastic gift cards from stores all over town. Whether they have $3 or $30 on them, I don't even know anymore. They just take up room in there, tucked on top of each other and never getting used, only to eventually be dragged out and (hopefully) put to use.

And then where do they go? Straight into the garbage. According to Plenty Magazine, each year 75 million pounds of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) ends up in landfills due to plastic gift card waste. Just think about that: 75 millions pounds. Yikes!

As well as being bad for the environment, just type PVC into any search engine and you'll find tens of millions of issues why it is known as the most toxic plastic for our health as well. No other plastic contains or releases as many dangerous chemicals and exposure to them puts people at an increased risk for liver damage, reproductive and developmental health issues and even cancer.

All of a sudden giving a gift card as a present doesn't sound like such a great idea anymore.

The eco-friendly and non-harmful alternative, of course, are virtual gift cards and that is where GiftZip comes in. Right now they are running a Movement to Greener Gift Giving and working to educate people on the harmful effects of plastic gift cards and what we all can do to reduce our gift card waste. All they are asking is that you help them spread the word... but that's not all, GiftZip wants to make it fun by offering a giveaway to go along with it.

Yes, that does say Pick Your Own Prize. The lucky winner of their great giveaway will be able to choose between a Kindle, iPod nano, iPod touch, Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS, how cool is that? You'll find the list of many ways that you can enter and the official rules over on GiftZip's Facebook page.

But, wait! Before you head over there, GiftZip has extended their generosity here as well. To celebrate their Movement to Greener Gift Giving, GiftZip wants to get one person off on the right foot with an online gift certificate to the biggest name of them all...

One lucky person will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate from GiftZip!

To enter to win: Visit GiftZip's FAQ page and tell me something that you learned there.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

3 Extra Entries if you enter to win your choice of Kindle, iPod nano, iPod touch, Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS in GiftZip's Movement to Greener Gift Giving! Simply visit their Facebook page to find out the details and rules and be sure to comment that Thanks, Mail Carrier sent you!
1 Extra Entry (per method) if you follow GiftZip on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook. 1 more Extra Entry if you leave the following message on their wall: I'm celebrating GiftZip's Movement to Greener Gift Giving by entering to win a $25 Amazon gift card at Thanks, Mail Carrier! http://bit.ly/bcIFVr
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

#Win a $25 Amazon gift card from @giftzip to celebrate a Movement to Greener Gift Giving! @thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/bcIFVr #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email or become a fan on Facebook.
3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier and GiftZip. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on September 24th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.

A big thank you to GiftZip for providing a $25 Amazon.com gift card for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.