Contrary to popular belief, spending your eco vouchers is not complicated. You also don’t absolutely have to buy something that you wouldn’t normally buy to use them before their expiration date. As a reminder, their period of validity is 2 years, while they constitute a real (small) increase in your purchasing power (up to a maximum of 250 euros net per year).
Here are some examples of purchases that you might not think of:
• trees or plants (except bouquets of flowers);
• maintenance products or tools for the garden (even electric);
• second hand items like the books, furniture, clothing and even aelectrical appliances.
Please note, since March 1, 2021 (and the entry into force of the new European energy label), these are washing machines with an A label and dishwashers with an A, B, C label. For the refrigerators and freezers as well as electronic displays, eco-vouchers are accepted for categories A, B, C and D.
By category, here are also all the other goods and services (as well as some examples) that you can pay with your eco-vouchers:
• Products and services intended specifically to save water and energy (eg economical shower head, heat pumps, taps and thermostatic valves);
• Products and services for insulation (thermal and acoustic) dwellings (eg insulating curtains, energy audits by infrared thermography, lining of partitions);
• Products which function or allow the production of exclusively renewable energy (eg solar panels, solar water heaters, devices that only run on solar energy such as watches, calculators, etc.);
• Electrical appliances from A + (i.e. those who do not yet have the new European energy label). This is still the case today for a hood or an air conditioner for example.
• Products intended specifically for reuse or composting (eg rechargeable batteries, soda machines and their refills, washable diapers);
• Products recycled or products made from recycled or recovered materials, compostable or biodegradable (eg wood pellets, potting soil, 100% recycled paper);
• All product repairs except appliances with non-electric motors (eg clothes, shoes, glasses, furniture).
• The bicycles, speed-pedelecs, electric scooters and accessories (e.g. GPS for bicycles, water bottles, pumps, helmets, padlocks) as well as scooters, the monowheels where the hoverboardswhether they are motorless or fitted with an electric motor;
• All public transport, coach and shared passenger transport without driver;
• All eco-driving course;
• All accessories and subscriptions for electric vehicle charging stations.
If these products and services are also provided with the following labels, you can pay all or part of them with your eco-vouchers:
In other words, these can be used in particular to buy organic food, products intended for hygiene or maintenance, of paper products, clothing, wooden furniture and even services. These are for example hotels, guest rooms (and rural lodgings), campsites and events (including some festivals) which have the “Green Key” label.
Which businesses accept them?
To sell them, it is of course necessary that the stores which sell this type of article accept this means of payment, whether in paper and / or electronic format. Unearth them by surfing on Ticketecocheque.be and enter the desired product and the town in which you are located.
If, on the other hand, you want to have an overview of all the stores that accept eco-vouchers within a radius of 5 to 25 km (or even more) around your home, use the map published by Monizze or that of Sodexo instead.
On the latter, it is even possible to add a filter: “Display the merchants who accept the electronic eco-check.”
For those who prefer mobile versions, here are the 3 applications you absolutely must download:
Tips
Finally, note that a quick visit to the site of the issuer of your eco-vouchers can – depending on your needs – save you a few euros. For example, Edenred regularly negotiates promotional offers for the purchase of products payable in eco-vouchers and intended only for its customers. For example:
• 15% on the entire Hubo assortment;
• 150 euros reduction for a stay in CenterParks and / or Sunparks.
On the Monizze side, good deals can be found under the “Coupons” tab of your personal online space. Same story for Sodexo via its site, Sodexo4you.be.