More companies than ever before are making the effort to become environmentally-conscious, and are dedicating themselves to being responsible for their own environmental stewardship. It is now as common for organizations to be crafting their corporate social responsibility programs as it is their overall mission statement. Corporate Social Responsibility is high on the agenda and many organizations have established targets to purchase recycled, organic, sustainable and ethically sourced materials. Businesses are looking for ways to take action on issues such as climate change, fair trade, and the sustainability of our environment. And as individuals, employees are becoming more aware of the environmental and social impacts of all their behaviors, including their buying decisions at home and the office. We are all realizing that just like changing our homes to be "greener" that we can change our offices and business practices to do the same. This effort is behind the sharp increase and popularity of environmentally friendly promotional products. And, it is not limited to just the largest corporate and government organizations, but holds true in small businesses as well. Even for those companies that are not actively promoting this "green" philosophy on a corporate level, few are ignoring the fact that we should be doing as much as we can to improve our environments and minimize our impact upon it.
One of the first steps in seeing how we can apply these principles to our purchases of promotional and marketing materials is by understanding the terminology. Following is a list of the most frequently used terms and a practical definition for each:
- Recycled: Products made from materials that would previously have been discarded. "Post-consumer" materials (plastics, paper, metal, fabric, etc…) are those that were already destined for disposal, but were then rescued and turned into a new product. "Pre-consumer" materials are those that are made from waste products as a result of the manufacturing process. For example, fabric scraps that are left over when making a garment, or paper trimmings from the printing process. Using products made from recycled materials reduces the need for more raw materials, and thereby leaves a lighter footprint on our environment.
- Re-usable or Reusable: Products that have been designed to be used in place of their disposable predecessors. One of the challenges with the design of reusable products is making the product or its use more attractive to the end user than the disposable product had been.
- Organic: Products made from raw materials that were plant-derived and produced in such as manner as to be carbon neutral or to have no negative impact on the environment. Commercially-grown cotton while being a "natural" product can have a negative environmental impact because of pesticides, fertilizers, and soil depleting production methods. Organic cotton, on the other hand, is farmed using natural predators to control pests, untreated seeds that have not been genetically modified, and hand techniques to remove weeds instead of chemicals.
- All natural: Products that contain no chemical additives.
- Biodegradable or Bio-plastic: These products will dissolve or break down under favorable soil conditions rather than lasting forever in our landfills. They are made from plants, such as corn, and not from oil or petroleum.
- Fair Trade: This premise is based on products being made by workers who are not exploited in the work place, and who are paid a fair wage for their labor..
- Reduced Material Usage and Reduced Packaging: Products and their packaging that have been designed using less material than in the past. This includes fewer raw materials, less chemical additives and less energy usage during the manufacturing process, and the design of logistics and transportation into and out of production to reduce overall waste products.
- Material Substitution: This practice is the replacing of raw materials with those that may be environmentally superior because they are either recycled, biodegradable or use less petroleum during their manufacture.
- Energy Substitution: The use of solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power creates fewer greenhouse gases than their coal and oil counterparts, and they do not contribute to habitat destruction from drilling or mining, or air and water pollution from waste products.
- Energy Reduction: Manufacturing processes have been modified to use less energy overall through greater efficiency and better business practices. Examples include using fluorescent light bulbs, turning off equipment when not needed, and reducing lighting when not needed for operation or safety.
Incorporating these practices into your promotional product purchasing is not difficult. Most of our larger suppliers are broadening their product base to include environmentally-friendly styles. For example, BIC has dedicated themselves to sustainable development and offer pens that use fewer petroleum products, and sticky pads made from recycled materials. One supplier makes promotional products using 100% US-grown corn plastic. This "all natural" plastic helps reduce US dependence on foreign energy and uses a renewable US-grown agricultural product. Our garment warehouses are offering organic cotton tees and ball caps, fleece vests and jackets made from recycled fabrics, and all natural styles made from bamboo and hemp. And, printers are offering products imprinted with soy-based inks or digitally printed with water-based and recyclable ink cartridges, in addition to a wide variety of recycled paper stocks. Promotional products can reinforce your organization's commitment to environmental awareness. And, the promotional products industry can now be the purveyor of higher quality, ecologically sound and practical products that will keep your name and message in front of your audience well into the future, and not the "trash and trinkets" stereotype of the past.
Sources:
‘Green' Selling Trends by Don Sanders, Identity Marketing, January 2008, page 14 & 59.
The Eco-Conscious Product Paradigm by Lisa Schofield, Identity Marketing, January 2008, pages 30-37.
Wearing the New Green by Lisa Schofield, Identity Marketing, January 2008, pages 46-52.
Advantages magazine published by the Advertising Specialty Institute, September 2007