According to a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), there has been a 71% rise in online searches for sustainable goods since 2016. Within the promotional products industry the news is equally good. Options for sustainable promotional products are available today and here to stay. Here are five stand-out businesses you should know. Businesses that are using promo to do good, well beyond Earth Day.
Fill it Forward is a new kind of business, one that balances profit and purpose. Fill it Forward's mission is to inspire the world to reuse. A purposeful by-product of the use of their products are donations made to charities.
Our interest in Fill it Forward goes back to having seen their products at trade shows over the years. We were excited ti get a full (albeit virtual) tour of Fill it Forward by one of their passionate specialists, Raveena. Having learned even more about Fill it Forward we find ourselves even more passionate about spreading the Fill it Forward story.
Fill it Forward combines an ever growing line of products including cups, reusable bottles and totes, all designed to eliminate single-use waste with scannable tags and a mobile app that tracks your impact.
Every time you reuse a Fill it Forward product, Fill it Forward gives back. Simply scan the Fill it Forward tag with your phone and you can track your individual (or groups) impact of diverting every single-use item from the waste stream.
C-FREE is a traditional apparel line that has taken advantage of new carbon reduction efforts to make its apparel line ‘certified carbon free’.
How it works:
First, the line lowers its impact by using recycled materials in all C-FREE styles. Then, the carbon emissions generated during the product lifecycle are calculated. Finally, third-party, verified carbon offsets are purchased through an organization called Carbonfund.org.
You might think this is just window dressing but the initial offsets supported a renewable energy project that installed wind turbines in India. The power generated replaces energy that would otherwise come from non-renewable sources. This is how modern businesses should work!
And yes, C-FREE is an apparel line available now and ready for embroidery or silkscreen.
An apparel brand way ahead of its time. Allmade® is an apparel line that puts the needs of people and the planet first, creating a positive impact you can feel great about.
All-Made has been close to our hearts for a while. During the pandemic when masks were a must, Business Boosters spent many hours on the phone procuring these ‘must have’ items with one of All-Made’s amazing employees - Laurel. Laurel’s job title is ‘Resident Creator of Fun’ - we’re not kidding. And we can only assume that Laurel and all the employees at All-Made love their jobs and have as much fun as we did working with Laurel and the team at Allmade. Seriously!
All-Made uses three sustainable fibers in their Tri-Blend fabric that includes 50% recycled polyester fibers from recycled plastics, 25% Tencel™ Modal sourced from sustainable beech trees and 25% organic cotton.
All-Made® started when the founders traveled to Haiti together and saw first-hand the economic and environmental challenges experienced by garment workers. They returned from their trip wholly committed to breaking the cycle of poverty and child abandonment in Haiti, while reducing the garment industry’s impact on the environment. Another amazing story, don’t you think?
Some interesting facts about the Allmade® T’s.
The District clothing brand has been around for about ten years. Founded in 2012 they produce fun, fresh apparel staples for people of all ages. Business Boosters did a social post about Districts ‘Re-Tee’ for Earth Day 2020 and once again we are here to build awareness of their unique t-shirt.
District's Re-Tee is made from 100% reclaimed plastic bottle and reclaimed fabric scraps that are broken down and spun into yarn. All the material in their Re-Tee line could otherwise end up in landfills so it’s really amazing to consider the second life these fabric scraps and bottles get. Remarkable!
Another interesting element of the Re-Tee is they are never re-dyed. The colors come from the original cotton scraps and polyester yarn which are sorted into colors and that’s it, no need to re-dye it. The dying process uses huge amounts of water so this results in eliminating the use of water in production of the Re-Tee.
Some interesting facts about District Re-Tee’s.
Each unit of Re-Tee is basically the equivalent of;
No one said that you need to own an apparel brand or consumer product to do right by our planet.
For close to seven years, Business Boosters has been working with Dr. Patti, a leading specialist in cosmetic dentistry and sleep apnea and owner of Aesthetic Dentistry of Bernardsville. Among her other marketing initiatives, Dr. Patti believes and trusts in the power of promotional branding to communicate and promote her message. On top of that, she chooses high quality promotional products which will have years and years of continued use for her customers and employees.
Far from single use, high quality promotions are more like coveted personal effects. Stainless steel wine tumblers with vacuum lids and high quality apparel brands like North Face. These are not ‘grab and throw away’ items with a short lifespan which will head quickly to landfill. High quality items will have years upon years of useful life.
As important, these durable product selections reflect positively on the state of the art facilities and five star services that Aesthetic Dentistry of Bernardsville works hard to provide day in and day out. Clearly a win-win for the practice's promotions and the environment too. So, it is worth considering this approach when looking for more sustainable promotional items for your business.
1 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Study
https://www.climateaction.org/news/wwf-huge-rise-in-demand-for-sustainable-goods-during-pandemic
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