Eco-Friendly, Recycled and Recycleable Promotional Products

If someone had questioned the size of your carbon footprint a few years ago, you would probably have looked straight at your shoes! Today we are all aware of the impact of our shopping, traveling and eating habits on the environment.

Eco-awareness is now very much part of our day-to-day home lives. We are constantly told that we must cut our carbon emissions and recycle our rubbish. But we can be more considerate eco-citizens in our promotional lives too and here is a sample of just a few eco-friendly products on the market today.

Abingdon-based Business-Pac www.printed-carrier-bags.co.uk provides businesses with a wide range of promotional products, including printed polythene and paper carrier bags, most of which they manufacture using recycled materials.

(Related categories of interest see Promotional Paper Bags and Promotional Carrier Bags)

The bags come in a variety of shapes and sizes and feature punched-out handles, patch handles, flexi loop handles for the polythene bags and brown or white paper tape or twisted paper handles for the paper variety.

On the sporting scene, Allwag Promotional Products are expanding their range of recycled products to encourage corporate golfers to 'go fore the greener products'.

They have just introduced a selection of recycled golf tags made from recycled packaging film

as well as golf pitch mark forks made from recycled CD cases – both of which can be screen printed up to 3 colours!

Visit www.allwag.co.uk

Big Brand China also produce bags from Jute, a natural product, which rots down and has been used in places were plastic bags have been banned. (Related categories of interest see Promotional Carrier Bags and Paper Bags).

As well as saving resources, some promotional suppliers are involved in saving endangered species. When ITV joined forces with WWF to raise awareness of species that may die out in the next century, unless something is done to protect them, Event Merchandising produced a range of environmentally friendly products to support the project.

The items produced by Event Merchandising are available from the Extinct website www.themerchandisingshop.co.uk

Viewers played an important part in the live interactive television event. The money raised will help fund projects on-the-ground dedicated to protecting the rare wildlife.The animals featured in the series were the Bengal tiger, mountain gorilla, giant panda, Asian elephant, polar bear, orang-utan, leatherback turtle and hyacinth macaw.

Jeremy Goldsmith, Director of Event Merchandising, said, "We must all take some responsibility for the serious threats facing our fellow creatures and help protect their natural habitats. The programme was a chance for us to make a real difference for the better."

And eco-friendly can also be stylish. Pod Packaging has just launched the first of their new products for 2007 – stylish aluminium Postal Pod, made from ultra-light, 100% recyclable, brushed aluminium.

These can be sent directly in the post or handed out at events. Plain, or branded in full colour, these inimitable tubes are sure to get you noticed.

I believe that the Fairtrade initiative will also impact on the food and drink side of the promotions industry in the near future too, and may well be doing so already. To quote the Fairtrade website, 'Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay above market prices, Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their lot and have more control over their lives.'

I know that the promotions industry is very price sensitive, but if people have moved their investments to companies that assure them their money is being invested ethically, maybe promoters and recipients of promotional goods can be persuaded to support Fairtrade goods too.

Watch this space.

Carole Bull, Editor.

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