Green Promo Items

How many times have you been at a tradeshow or a conference and been given some trinket or goody bag full of trinkets with a company’s logo on it? Well just between us ... ( I usually throw that stuff out. Shhhhh! ) There’s only so much room on my desk for stress balls and I’m all set on XXL T-shirts to wear to the gym.

Now more than ever, people and corporations are interested in “going green” and what better way to start or continue that effort than by marketing your business in a way that supports greener living and/or is made using eco-friendly materials.

The most obvious way to do this is to print on 100% recycled paper and to use soy-based inks. But what about the giveaways? The premiums? The promos? The trinkets with logos?
Well, I’ve compiled a list of some great ideas for these things that will not only help you market your brand but also support the environment and hopefully offer people something so useful that they don’t want to it throw out.

• Coffee Mugs and Water Bottles: Styrofoam, paper coffee cups and plastic water bottles are piling up in our landfills at an alarming rate. Encourage your clients, vendors and employees to B.Y.O.B.H (Bring Your Own Beverage Holder). They even make them out of corn plastic which is biodegradable in landfills and composting.
• Biodegradable Balloons (hand-tied latex balloons with no plastic attachments)
• Seed Paper: You can print just about anything on this paper or have it die-cut into fun shapes. When the recipient plants it in a pot of soil, the embedded seeds sprout and bloom into wildflowers!
• Can Crushers: This is a personal favorite of mine...and I may be the first to come up with this idea. Now that people are more and more encouraged to recycle, why not give them a fun gift that makes it easier to do.
• Canvas Grocery Bags: This is a no-brainer. Whole Foods has already stopped offering plastic bags because they are so harmful to the environment.
• Seed Packets: You can print any message on these. Plus they are fun to receive!
• Tree Planting Kit: You can print a message or your logo on these.

Posted by Heather Simms