 What's so important about eco-friendliness? Well, for starters, environmental responsibility is something that consumers, companies and governments are caring more about - and doing more about - with each passing year. From Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which launched the modern environmental movement in 1962, to ever worsening projections of climate change the environment has become an increasingly important factor in our lifestyle and buying choices.
Recent studies show 40% of consumers seek eco-friendly products and 77% of companies anticipate spending more on environmental programs in the future. With Wal-Mart pursuing green initiatives from reduced packaging to compact fluorescent light bulbs, the green movement has truly hit the mainstream.
Why Eco-friendly products?
Because you can: In 2008, every organization big or small needs to think about their environmental practices and how they impact your brand. Luckily, there hundreds of eco-friendly promotional products out there that can support any sort of program your company is running.
Promotes Great Brand/Company Image: Out of all the ways you can promote your business, promotional products are the most physical representation you present to your customer. They are literally holding a piece of your company and generating an image of what your company is about. By giving out eco-friendly promotional products, you are showing your customers that you are a responsible and caring company that encourages environmentally-friendly business practices.
Raise Awareness: We all agree that the eco-friendly trend is important and that everyone should be involved in making the world better in some way. By using eco-friendly products in your campaigns, you are not only promoting your business, you are promoting taking part in making our world a better place to live.
How Do You Do It?
Tons of products available: There has been an explosion in the number of eco-friendly products in the past 12 months. What started with some organic cotton t-shirts and recycled paper products has blossomed into a rich selection of recycled, organic, biodegradable and sustainably-produced products of all types, from corn plastic mugs to hand-powered flashlights.
Can I afford eco-friendly products? Along with the increase in the number of different items available, we've also seen products in a range of price points. Although Eco-friendly products tend to be priced at a premium versus their non-eco counterparts, there are eco-friendly options in every major product type that are affordable and potentially help your message have a stronger impact. Biodegradable pens and pencils made from recycled paper are affordable eco-friendly giveaways. They are perfect for reducing trade show waste, or branding your office with your eco-friendly message.
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| An Eco-products Primer and Glossary of Terms |
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 Eco-friendly promotional products have quite literally exploded onto the scene. There are so many types of eco-friendly solutions. Here are some you have heard of before and some categories that might be new to you
Recycled
Promotional products made from recycled materials are a great eco-friendly product because the reuse plastics and paper products that would normally fill landfills. Items like pencils made from recycled paper make excellent trade show giveaways, and the ecycle tumbler makes a great eco-friendly corporate gift
Biodegradable
Biodegradable promotional products like eco-wipes are perfect for protecting the environment. Since they breakdown naturally they put less strain on the environment and reduce the amount of trash in landfills. Products include biodegradable corn husk mugs and biodegradable balloons.
Organic Many promotional apparel items, like custom organic t-shirts, can be found that are made from 100% organic cotton. Why would this be good for the environment? The production of organic cotton reduces the amount of chemicals put into the air from traditional farming methods.
Hand-powered Products
Instead of throwing away old batteries, which are filled with toxic chemicals, hand powered promotional products allow you to recharge batteries. This eco-friendly option allows for continuous use of your promotional items with the cost and waste of batteries.
Sustainable Materials
Materials made from bamboo are a great eco-friendly alternative. Bamboo t-shirts and promotional picture frames are just some of the options of products made from this material. Bamboo is a natural resource that replenishes itself very quickly, making it a great option for any eco-friendly promotion.
Solar & Water Powered
Some of the coolest and newest promotional products of 2008 can be seen from this category. Promotional water-powered calculators are great for the environment and branding your office. Solar powered products are great for recharging your mp3 players or cell phones. You can use an item like the reactor solar charging case to recharge your batteries electronics. By using solar energy as opposed to simply plugging your device into the wall you use up less energy from burning coal or wood, making solar power a very hot eco-friendly option.
Reusable Alternatives
This eco-friendly option is perfect for retailers. Items like non-woven tote bags (see the non-woven shopping tote guide) are strong, sturdy, long lasting products that can be used over and over again whenever your customers revisit your store. You can even encourage reuse of your tote bags, which in the long run can lead to a return on your investment.
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| Upcoming Promotional Event Dates |
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Since we are talking about eco-friendly promotions, we think it is also important to discuss Earth Day occurring on April 22nd.
Celebrating Earth Day offers you lots of promotional opportunities. There's a whole bunch of fun promotional products to use on this day. From promotional plants to promotional gardening products that'll appeal to tree-huggers. For a more innovative approach to Earth Day you can brand your office with promotional logo bean plants. Or, for a more zen approach you can always use promotional bamboo plants
This Earth Day, make sure you pick the right products to satisfy your promotional needs!
Plan ahead and take advantage of the following promotional opportunities. You'll find a wide choice of personalized products as well as pre-decorated items that feature unique messages and slogans to help you celebrate your event.
Want the full list of promotional events? Check out our promotional calendar
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March
April
May
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| Retailers Excited About Re-usable Totes |
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Non-woven tote bags are easily one of the most popular eco-friendly promotional products of 2008. Many retailers in and outside of the U.S. are incorporating them into the way they run their business and even charging their customers for using disposable plastic bags. Retailers are serious about this new "green" movement; here is why you should jump on the non-woven grocery tote bag trend as well:
Alternative to Disposable Bags: Plastic shopping bags are harmful to the environment and use up resources (e.g., petroleum) that our country can better use in other more productive areas. By using non-woven tote bags in your business, you are reducing the amount of disposable bags in landfills and saving the environment.
Cost Effective: Reusable and efficient. At first, it's a little more expensive than disposable bags, but as your customers continually reuse their non-woven shopping totes, your costs will decrease because you do not need to buy as many plastic disposable bags.
Sturdy: Instead of seeing plastic and paper shopping bags break with heavy loads, non-woven shopping totes can easily handle the weight of many products. No need to double bag!
Fashionable: Tote bags are in. Everyone we go we see hundreds of people carting around their fashionable tote bags; they have become a fashion accessory, particularly amongst women.
Big Imprint Area = High Visibility: Not only are these imprinted totes great for inside the store, but retailers are getting tons of exposure from their customers outside their store as well. The large imprint area enables the company's name to be seen from far away. So, when the customer takes their tote bag outside the store, and all of a sudden, the retailer has a walking advertisement exposing their logo to a number of other people as well.
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| The Wall Street Journal Drinks to Tradeshow Success with SIGG Switzerland Water Bottles |
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Challenge: Find a tradeshow promotion that does a quality brand justice
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a global franchise with a paid circulation of 2.6 million and published in U.S., Asian, European and online editions, enjoys a longstanding position as the world's leading business-news organization. As such, the WSJ tradeshow team tends to think big. A recent tradeshow appearance prompted the above quandary was prompted a recent tradeshow appearance, for which the WSJ team connected with ePromos' associate Carrie Sleva.
Solution: ePromos' connection enables the WSJ to present a gold standard tradeshow gift-imprinted SIGG Switzerland water bottles
Working closely with Carrie, the WSJ team selected a water bottle to be used as a booth giveaway. But not just any water bottle would do-the team wanted the crème de la crème of water bottles: a water bottle by SIGG Switzerland. As befitting the prestigious company, the branded giveaway could be nothing but top of the line: the aura of taste, design and money. High stakes. Carrie leveraged her sales expertise and extensive network of contacts to arrange for SIGG to manufacture the bottles especially for the media giant, which ensured that the Journal would stand out among the other media outlets present at the tradeshow. Reaching across categories, but with a firm knowledge of productive and seductive partnerships, ePromos united two hallowed brands both recognized for quality and being at the top of their respective markets.
Why did the WSJ team prefer SIGG? SIGG bottles are considered the gold standard in reusable water bottles. Constructed from a single piece of aluminum and coated with a patented liner, SIGG bottles do not leach harmful chemicals so beverages are free from chemical tastes. Plus, SIGG bottles weigh no more than plastic water bottles, and come with unique screw-on caps-no more leaks, no more puddles. Even better, SIGG bottles are pure aluminum and thus recyclable when they're finally ready for retirement.
Result: Two big names, one big gift, one big tradeshow splash The WSJ team reported that the unique SIGG bottles attracted scores of visitors to the booth, all of whom said they much appreciated such a high quality giveaway. The team also reported that they were extremely pleased with their SIGG promotion, and that they look forward to planning for their next tradeshow appearance with the help of ePromos.
See more case studies...
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