Using "green" promotional products should be part of your company's overall marketing strategy. They should complement and reinforce the company's green and sustainability identity.

 

There is no perfectly "green" promotional product. Decide how green you want or need to be.

 

How to categorize green products: reusable, recyclable, recycled, organic, sustainable.

 

Product categories with the widest selection of "green" offerings: apparel with organic and recycled fabrics; paper products like note books and journals made from recycled paper, sustainable growth paper, soy inks; corn starch and vegetable starch plastic substitutes (pens, mugs, etc.); drinkware with recycled and biodegradable plastics, stainless steel and aluminum water bottles; tote bags from recycled fabric, reusable materials, recycled materials.

 

Some practical ideas to be green and save money:

Use ceramic coffee mugs in your office rather than Styrofoam. They're reusable. A Chicago law firm did this and recovered their $2000 investment in 13 months.

 

Source your products from nearby suppliers. Less transport time and distance results in a lower carbon footprint.

 

When possible source from USA suppliers for the same reasons as above.

 

Use flash drives to store and share information rather than printing everything.

 

Some resources:

Forest Stewardship Council for more information on sustainable forests and paper products http://www.fscus.org

 

Organic Trade Association for information on organic fabrics and standards http://www.ota.com/standards.html   

 

Organic Exchange is another resource for organic fibers www.organicexchange.org

 

Did you know that most (but not all) suppliers will produce quantities below their catalog minimum?

 

Promotional products catalogs will show item prices in a series of columns with the prices going down as the quantities go up.

 

That first column, with the lowest quantity, is the catalog minimum. Most suppliers will produce a run at a lower quantity - usually half that first amount. (They call it their absolute minimum.)

 

They will add a "Less-Than-Minimum" surcharge to run the smaller order.  The LTM surcharge can range from $25 and higher depending upon the supplier.

 

When you are considering whether to order less than minimum calculate your final per item cost both ways. Sometimes it's not that much more expensive to order the minimum amount once you figure in the LTM surcharge.

 

Now, don't you feel smarter?