5 Benefits to Using Eco-Friendly Promotional Products
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Going green with your promo merch?
What does eco-friendly even mean?
When you think of environmentally friendly, or eco-friendly products, do you usually think of them being either one or maybe even all of these things?
- Biodegradable
- Sustainable
- Recycled
- Responsibly sourced
That means the product, practice, or activity won’t harm the environment and sustainability means that what we do today doesn’t deplete resources for future generations. Products that we can describe as eco-friendly are becoming more and more popular in general, for our personal lives and using in our businesses and therefore more often requested as promotional merchandise too. There are so many more and so many different types of eco-friendly products available as merchandise that can be branded for a business now, and some might surprise you too. There is no denying that they can be more expensive, but not always and it is not always a direct comparison either, so let’s look at what some of the benefits could be to your business in buying environmentally friendly business branded products.
Why use eco friendly products?
• Create a positive impression of your company
• Important for the future of the planet
• Contribute to the change
• Spread awareness
• Lead by example
Create a good impression
The whole idea, the main reason you could say, for using branded merchandise and promotional products as part of your marketing strategy is to create a good impression of your business to potential and existing customers. The return on investment for promotional merchandise is a subject for a whole other blog, but let’s just agree that using the right merch is a really good way to be able to do that. So, if your company ethos speaks about your environmentally friendly values, then the merch you use for your giveaways and use within your business too, could easily speak of that for you and it would then be a favourable reflection of that same message and your company values.
Important for the planet
Here are just a couple of the simple facts that we found when diving into a number of studies around plastic pollution:
– Approximately 5,000 items of marine plastic pollution are found per mile of beach in the UK and that number is growing.
– 8 million tons of plastics enter our ocean every year
– Every minute around the world 1 million plastic bottles are sold
Using a sustainable product won’t cause the same amount of damage or leave the same amount of waste behind on the planet, in the long term.
Contribute to the change
Probably most people now recycle their plastics at home and have made small swaps like using a reusable bag when doing your shopping. At work that probably extends to using recycled coffee cups and recycled toilet paper, and maybe the packaging used for your parcels. Swapping reusable items over single use ones can make a significant difference to your environmental impact. With your promotional merchandise you can opt for products made of recycled materials, for clothing there are options that use fibers like Tencel or organic cotton too. These manufacturers will also use the most environmentally sustainable manufacturing methods possible and will display their eco-conscious credentials to prove it.
Spread Awareness
Promotional merchandise is most definitely not about a throwaway freebie, in fact, the ideal piece of branded merch should be in the eyeline of your ideal customer and be in constant use by them over a long time, getting your brand seen and remembered. You want your clients to be looking at your brand or your slogan as much as possible, and for as long as possible. Ideally then the merch you choose needs to be both useful and durable. By choosing a product that is friendly to the environment you can show your clients by using these types of products that they are useful and long lasting too.
Lead By Example
Sustainability, using eco-friendly merchandise and ‘Going Green’ may have started as a consumer trend and perhaps once upon a time it was the cool thing to do. But now it is far more wide-spread and consumers have different expectations, and your future customers could have more of a social conscious now too.
When it comes to promotional merchandise, consumers are no different, in fact, according to a recent study it showed that 46% of consumers reported having a more favorable opinion of an advertiser if the promotional product they received was environmentally friendly, and that’s not just the younger generations either.
Implementing the use of environmentally friendly products into your marketing strategy may not be something you had considered before but might be something you would like to start looking at a bit more closely. So just to give you some ideas here is a list of just some of the types of products that you can purchase that would be on that environmentally friendly list.
- Pens – many styles and options available
- Pencils – (ask me about the pencil that you can plant in your garden)
- Clothing – Jackets, T Shirts, Fleeces, Hoodies, Sweatshirts, Caps & many more
- USB charger – made from bamboo or other recycled materials
- Reusable water bottles – avoid the single use bottles
- Biodegradable sports bottles
- Recycled umbrellas
- Packaging and Paper – made from recycled paper and stationery printed on it too
- Notepads and notepads
- Cotton and jute bags – of various styles and sizes
- Recycled coffee cups
- Bamboo lunch boxes and cutting boards
- Keyrings
- Coasters
This really is just the tip of the iceberg, with so many manufacturers using sustainably sourced materials like cork, wood and bamboo in the ranges of their products that can be branded, it means that there are now so many more options for the eco-conscious business. How about bamboo sunglasses, cork conference folders, wheat straw mugs or a wooden yo-yo for example? So next time you are looking for some branded merchandise for your business why not consider the environmentally friendly option. We are happy to help with any advice and guidance, feel free to ask any questions and we will be happy to source any specific product requests.
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