The Promo Column Sustainably good


Promotional products commentator, Stuart Derrick, reports on all things sustainable this month, including bottles, pens and notebooks.


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t’s November already and thoughts are turning to the future of the planet as the UK hosts the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow this month.


The main aim of the conference is to secure global net zero by mid-century and keep the global average temperature increase to 1.5˚F. That sounds like quite big ask for merchandise – what’s it got to do with us? Well, we all have a role to play and lots of merchandise companies are already moving down the path to offer more sustainable options to their clients.


Self-interest


It’s enlightened self-interest of course. Companies are increasingly nervous to be seen to be using merchandise that doesn’t have a sustainability story to tell, and businesses that don’t get on board will soon find themselves surplus to requirements. That goes for the products, the processes involved in producing them, and even the packaging they come in. Some might say that the best approach is no merchandise at all – what’s greener than that? Reduce, recycle and reuse is a core environmental message, so a completely hairshirt response is only one option. Being smarter and perhaps buying fewer and better products where you are more aware of their provenance is another. There is nothing innately ‘bad’ about merchandise, just as there is nothing bad about most things that we use. However, we all need a new mindset where we consider why we need something, where it has come from, and increasingly, what we will do with it when we are finished with it. The good news is that there are a growing number of options to provide businesses with ‘green’ and ‘eco’ products that can help firms promote a message while be mindful of the planet’s future.


Waving the flag


Our good friends at Everything Environmental have been waving the flag for some years now, demonstrating through its portfolio of promotional


| 40 | November 2021


materials, to sit alongside its award-winning Bio D PU, Eleather and Recyco. COMO is Juniper’s first recycled PET material, made from recycled plastic bottles. Following six months of development and trials, Juniper produced the composite material that is made up of 80% rPET, 16% non-woven organic cellulose, and 4% PU. The material is REACH complaint and vegan friendly.


Juniper’s COMO notebook


The material is held in stock in both Juniper’s UK and China factories, but all notebooks using COMO are made at Juniper’s ISO accredited factory in Wellingborough. The COMO notebooks will be made with 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper. The material is best debossed, but can be screen printed, digitally printed or foil blocked.


Christmas


Everything Environmental’s Green & Good X Ocean Bottle


products that eco can be useful and stylish as well as sustainable.


A new option is the Green & Good X Ocean Bottle, a 500ml drinks bottle that is made from part recycled plastic and stainless steel. Each bottle funds the collection of 11.4kg of plastic, equivalent to 1,000 plastic bottles.


Plastic Bank, an organisation that says it has stopped one billion plastic bottles ending up in the ocean, ensures that plastic waste is collected by locals living in coastal communities, mostly in Asia. This bottle is vacuum thermos insulated, this means it keeps cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot. It comes with an easy carry silicone loop, double opening for easy drink and a clean drinking cup. It is dishwasher safe. The other important thing is that it looks great, proving that worthy things needn’t be dull.


Meanwhile, Juniper, a trade only supplier of stitched promotional products has launched another option for sustainable


With Christmas just around the corner, perhaps we’re allowed a little time off from caring about the planet too. A perfect way to send wishes this year could be Slodkie’s Choco Text mailings. You can produce your own message in three lines of milk, dark and white chocolate tiles which feature letters and festive patterns. What’s not to like?


Another great piece of Christmas fun is the festive bauble speaker. It looks like a Christmas tree decoration, but is actually Bluetooth enabled so that your Christmas tree can soon be blasting out Slade, Wham, and the Pogues while the office Christmas party (will it be on this year? Who knows!) gets into full effect.


It has an operating range of 10m and can be pad printed. So here it is…! Finally, something sensible from Badger Design, which reminds us that the best laid plans are added to a large wallplanner so everyone can be made aware of them and stick to them.


Its planners are printed on re-adhesive material with a long-lasting dry erase surface and come in A1, A2 and A3 sizes, making your logo visible to customers all year round. The dry erase surface means that when plans change, so can the planner as it’s write on, wipe off.


www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk


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