Welcome to the industry leading site for greener promotional merchandise - its time to THINK ECO. Our aim is to take a fresh look at branded products that will ensure a sustainable future - we will supply you, the customer, with up-to-date, relevant and interesting information on a regular basis. We'll focus on the growing topic of environmentally-friendly products and ideas – especially those aimed at promoting your brand.
In this, our first blog, we're going to set the scene by looking at why your business should be going eco-friendly. What exactly is causing climate change? And how can we make our businesses more sustainable?
We'll touch on the real benefits of promotional marketing to your business and delve into the added benefits of choosing green promotional items.
Careless Consumption
As it stands, humans are consuming too much of the planet's available raw materials to be sustainable.
Earth's resources are finite and running out but our demands are constantly rising, with growing populations and expectations. The biggest concern lies with plastic, its usage and, above all, its waste.
It might not be possible to go plastic free in the immediate future, but we're just using too much of it, and in a destructive fashion. We still don't recycle enough, and the plastic we use is made in such a way that it never goes away.
Day-to-day items such as supermarket carrier bags can take as many as 1,000 years to decompose. The result is that because of the amounts of plastic we use our rubbish dumps grow bigger every day and we are laying waste to the oceans.
Promo Plastics
The problem with plastic is that it's such a versatile substance that you'll find it everywhere, in every facet of our lives. From carrier bags to airplanes, life today would be virtually impossible.
And it's no different ion the promo items industry. The difference for brand awareness items is that the average lifespan of a promotional giveaway is usually quite short, especially for things made from plastic.
Take for example, the humble printed pen – perhaps among the greatest promo items of all time. The fact it's always been one of the most popular giveaways tells us that it works. But, once the ink has dried up, it's reached the end of it's life cycle and is almost always simply discarded.
It's estimated that in 2018, UK businesses spent £60million on printed pens. of which 25% have already ended up in landfill.
And this is only one product. This type of consumption is the opposite to sustainable living, and the driving force behind the set-up of Totally Environmental.
We believe there are three key reasons that companies are not adopting eco marketing strategies with their promo merchandise ...
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Limited knowledge of the impact. |
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Limited knowledge of the alternatives – exactly what is out there. |
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The cost being the deciding factor for final decisions. |
Let's go, Eco-Promo
Totally Environmental believe there is a solution to the mess we're currently in. We also think that switching your promotional merchandise from single-use plastics to items made from biodegradable or a recycled material is among the easiest steps to build a greener future.
Some organisations are complex in nature and reducing carbon footprint and waste is not easy because the supply chain is vast varied and complex. Therefore, a long-term approach is required.
Yet any company that focuses on the benefits of brand recognition for a marketing campaign could change their offerings overnight.
Benefits of Branding
Studies show the huge benefits of promotional products – water bottles, shopping bags, promotional pens and even recycled plastic bags – to companies of all sizes. We'll look at this more closely soon but, if implemented correctly, branded products can go a long way to increase customer loyalty, company visibility, and public opinion.
There are a huge number of strategies that can be implemented in various scenarios, almost instantly. From tradeshows and festivals, to charity runs and corporate gifts, regardless of industry or budget, there is an opportunity that will boost your brand identity.
Eco Effect
In short, switching to eco-friendly promotional products made with sustainable materials will give your business all the benefits of "standard" printed merchandise, and much more.
As with any efforts to increase brand awareness, the choice of product is important. It wouldn't make sense to switch your standard printed pen to an alternative recycled product if it was of sub-par quality. Choose right, and your company image can only improve.
Consider some of the key additional benefits of going green with your ethical marketing giveaways:
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Public opinion – with climate change at the forefront of global discussion, those that choose to ignore public opinion will ultimately suffer. Those that are seen to invest in sustainable construction will project an image of social and environmental responsibility, and thus be viewed more positively. |
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Customer Relationships – For current customers, green initiatives will enhance existing relationships; commitment to carbon footprint reductions suggests financial stability, increasing trust and loyalty, thus ensuring business longevity. |
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Confidence in Supply – With pressure mounting on companies to ensure a green supply chain, eco-credentials will to win new business. Every brand has a supply chain, and every brand is also a link in the supply chain of another. The more environmentally responsible you are, the more attractive your business becomes to those also wanting to portray an image of being socially and ecologically responsible. |
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The Real Bottom Line – Business aside, investing in sustainability will benefit all on a social-environmental level, in the long run. Currently one of the biggest hurdles in the promotional items market is the confidence to switch. Yes, eco-friendly promo products cost more, but only because the demand is currently low. Simple economics dictates that, as production increases, costs can reduce. If we all move together, economies of scale can be achieved, and ecological damage reduced. |
Our Green Goals
We've tried to give a broad overview to the green situation in this blog, the first of many from us at Totally Environmental.
We plan to provide a platform for you, the consumer, to allow you to access the information you need to make the shift towards a greener future.
