Chipotle Earth Day Promotion Will Pair Free Burritos With Reusable Lunch Bags

The following is a list of ways to celebrate Earth Day:

1. Plant some trees
2. Go for a hike in the Great Outdoors
3. Swim in the ocean to appreciate the miracle of salt water
4. Get a free Chipotle burrito

It's clear which of these HuffPost Food is most interested in doing. (A hint: It's not one, two or three.)

Luckily for us, Chipotle is commemorating Earth Day, which falls on April 22nd, with a special free burrito promotion. Of course, there's a catch.

To qualify for a free meal, you have to have purchased a limited edition reusable lunch bag from Chipotle. They're made of old Chipotle billboards, so each one is apparently unique. To be honest, they aren't attractive, but the recycled element is nice. And when you consider the fact that a Chipotle burrito with guacamole can run upwards of $11, the lunch bag's $18 price tag sounds almost like a bargain.

Of course, ocean-swimming and outdoor-hiking don't cost a cent, so if you have to pick just one of the four, those start to seem more appealing. Then again, hiking into the wilderness can make you very hungry -- in which case it wouldn't hurt to have a 1000-calorie burrito waiting stashed in your reusable lunch bag made from recycled materials.

Comments

[daigz]

12:31 PM on 04/01/2012

A Chipotle just opened up near me a few weeks ago, and I decided to give it a try the other day. I thought the stereotypes would have been blown out of proportion, but no, my stomach said otherwise.

[Francois G]

08:46 AM on 03/29/2012

Do you think they'll open one in time in France ?

[Realistic Thinker]

02:52 AM on 04/02/2012

They're opening one up in Montparnasse this spring :D

[Francois G]

06:37 AM on 04/02/2012

Seems that it would rather be Boulevard Montmartre. Thanks anyway.

[JD Salinger]

01:46 PM on 03/28/2012

So they make you pay to recycle their garbage, so they can feel good about themselves, and tell you it's a "free" burrito?

[Harold Saxon]

12:38 PM on 03/28/2012

That'd be like McDonald's saying "We're giving away free Big Macs with the purchase of a Big Mac wrapper !"*

*Wrapper not sold separately.

[Anarcho-Capitalist]

11:51 AM on 03/28/2012

Maybe if they threw in a free margarita too, I would be game.

[plasmaorb]

10:50 AM on 03/28/2012

I would rather go down the road to get a burrito from the Mexican place that puts in better tasting meat for $5. This is a authentic place, they dont fill it up with cheese and sour cream like the gringos like it at Chipotle. Heck, I would rather get a torta or a cemita and it would taste so much better and for less money. I dont like the owner/CEO of Chipotle, he seems a little too full of himself just like Bobby Flay does... you cant be cocky like that when you are running a fast food chain, you can when you are running a 3 star Michelin restaurant.

[biodieselvw]

11:46 AM on 03/28/2012

What's funny is most of the food trucks/stands that serve authentic food usually use really low quality produce and meat.

[plasmaorb]

12:05 PM on 03/28/2012

What do you consider low quality meat?

True authentic Mexican food doesnt put a bunch of stuff on tacos... just cilantro and onion, not sure how you can consider those low quality, unless you think they are low cause they arent "organic"

[lightbreeze]

09:50 PM on 03/30/2012

Same here re: local Mexican places. Fortunately, I live in a city with a fairly vibrant Hispanic community. Lots of small, local taquerias serving excellent, authentic fare. In many communities, most folks have no idea these places even exist. You just have to go where Hispanics live/eat and start driving around, many inside their grocery stores, too.

[frank day]

10:50 AM on 03/28/2012

How nice. Now if they would just pay their tomato pickers 1 penny more per hour.

[ontariogirl]

10:31 AM on 03/28/2012

Bite me.

[Francois G]

08:47 AM on 03/29/2012

Yummy !!

[Christine Casabar]

10:41 PM on 03/27/2012

I have a soft spot for Chipotle...even though they're owned by McDonalds. They are interested in sourcing food locally...big in my world -- and in Virginia, they actually sourced their meat from Joel Saladin(sp?), the sustainable guru. Pretty cool! Added to that, they make great burrito w/whole pinto beans on a cheese laden softened flour tortilla California style :-)!

[luckylily88]

11:15 AM on 03/28/2012

They aren't owned by McDonalds. They fully divested themselves of the company in 2006.

[Christine Casabar]

12:36 PM on 03/28/2012

Really? Are they stand alone or owned by another corporation?

[DeHeSe]

01:12 PM on 03/28/2012

Marked Favorite for Joel Saladin, not for incorrect McDonald's reference :)

[jstew52]

08:49 PM on 03/31/2012

It's Salatin. Do your research.

[ninjacb]

06:58 PM on 03/27/2012

$18 = free? not according to my calculations. but that is what is so wonderful about america - the right to choose not to eat at a place that is trying to scam patrons by professing to be altruistic but is really looking for free walking advertising.

[crimminy]

06:54 PM on 03/27/2012

For a minute there I thought this was too good to be true. Then I read the whole article and realized it was too good to be true. 18 dollars for a bag to get your "free" burrito.....what a scam....

[MagicalPossibilities]

12:07 AM on 03/28/2012

I know, right? I have plenty of reusable bags, and I'm certainly not going to spend $18 on another one so I can get a "free" $5 burrito. I like Chipotle's food, but do they think we are stupid?

[Yam716]

11:26 AM on 03/28/2012

I agree! I thought I could bring in my own reusable bag and get it for free! Oh well!

[plantbasedpunk]

06:45 PM on 03/27/2012

I'd be all for this if each of the bags didn't say Chipotle on them. Not gonna pay $18 to be a walking billboard. Besides, seeing as how Earth Day is on a Sunday this year it sounds like the perfect opportunity to pack a picnic.