Sustainability is more than a trend – it’s quickly becoming a necessity in the promo products industry. Nearly 60% distributors prefer to buy environmentally friendly or socially responsible items and 45% of distributors say clients asked for more of these products in 2021. You need to make sure you’re not only aware of sustainability but building it into your sales pitches and products you sell. Your clients care and are demanding these items. Let’s do a full rundown on everything you need to know when it comes to sustainability including terms to know, materials, products, certifications and what you can do to make a difference.

Terms to Know

Carbon footprint – The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions from the production, use and disposal of a product or service. According to the Nature Conservancy, the average American has one of the highest carbon footprints in the world at 16 tons.

Circular economy – The traditional economic model is linear: to take, make and waste. A more circular model is based on three principals and driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials and regenerate nature.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) – Investors and others will look at metrics from these three areas to evaluate how advanced a company or organization is with sustainability goals.

Greenwashing – When a company uses sustainability claims in marketing without actually making efforts to follow through. For example, an oil and gas company touting low-carbon energy products when it mainly provides traditional fossil fuel. A brand announcing plans to end virgin plastic use without outlining clear benchmarks or timelines is also greenwashing.

Sustainability – Meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. It’s often broken down into three categories: environmental, economic and social.

Triple bottom line – When you improve long-term performance by following more sustainable business practices while considering three things: people, planet and profit.

Upcycling – The process of transforming products into something new, giving it a greater perceived value than the original. A number of brands in promo are making upcycled merch; one example is screen printing designs onto pre-worn tees.

Sustainable Materials to Know

Impress your clients when you talk about the difference between sustainable materials and the impact they have on the planet! Here are some important materials you’ll see a lot of in ESP and supplier offerings.

Bamboo

Bamboo is a fast-growing grass. It reaches its maximum height in only one growing season, and if it’s used for lumber, it regenerates and returns the following season, unlike hardwood trees. Uses for bamboo in our world include flooring, furniture, mats, coffee cups, utensils and tableware. Plus, it can be pulped and made into drinking straws. There is some controversy around using bamboo textiles, because the process to make bamboo into fabric is chemically heavy.

Bamboo Promos

In the promo industry, it’s not uncommon to see promos with bamboo accents, or sustainable promos where the , like:

• Cutting boards, grill tools and other kitchen accessories
• Picture frames
• Sunglasses
• Coasters
• Notebooks & pens
• Toothbrushes
• Phone stands

Hemp

Compared to other natural fibers, hemp is strong, durable and has amazing shape retention. It’s eco-friendly since it grows quickly without the need of herbicides, fungicides or pesticides and requires less water and land to grow. To help create a soft fabric with performance properties, it’s often blended with other fibers.

Hemp Promos

Looking for hemp products to pitch? Obviously you can search for hemp apparel promos, but it may surprise you to know hemp can be used to create other products as well:

• Totes
• Badge reels
• Baseball caps
• Coasters
• Product tags
• Postcards and business cards
• Dog toys
• Cosmetic cases and pouches

Organic Cotton

Although somewhat controversial (which we’ll get into in a minute), organic cotton is grown without genetically modified (GMO) seeds, chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, and uses low-impact production systems that replenish and maintain soil fertility. When it comes to standards, because environmental organization define the criteria for organic cotton, backed up by independent certification of the supply chain, critics feel it’s easy to game the system. They note that certified organic cotton might not actually be organic, so be sure to ask your supplier probing questions to find out how the cotton is grown and moves through the supply chain.

Organic Cotton Promos

Most organic cotton promos are apparel-related, but can stretch into other product categories:

• Socks
• Headwear
• T-shirts and hoodies
• Children’s apparel and baby bibs
• Backpacks and totes
• Lanyards
• Laptop sleeves
• Bags and totes
• Table throws and blankets

Recycled Cotton

Some recycled cotton comes from scraps gathered from an apparel factory, called pre-consumer waste. When it comes from old T-shirts that consumers send back to a clothing company, it’s called post-consumer waste. Once sorted by color, the materials are shredded by a machine which turns them into a raw fiber that is in turn spun back into yarn. Since there’s no dyeing or water usage, it’s more sustainable than traditional apparel production. Recycled cotton fibers are usually not as high quality as new cotton, so they’re usually blended with other fibers to add strength and softness and can’t be recycled again.

Recycled Cotton Promos

In addition to apparel, you can sell other items, many in the bag category, made of recycled cotton:

• Napkins
• Drawstring bags, totes, backpacks and travel bags
• Beach towels
• Journals
• Baseball caps

REPREVE

The REPREVE® brand of polyester from the company Unifi is made from 100% recycled material, including post-consumer plastic bottles and pre-consumer waste. The items are sourced from material-recovery facilities, chopped, washed, melted and transformed in flake and then chip. The chip is heated, extruded and spun into fiber. Compared to virgin polyester fiber, Unifi states that REPREVE helps offset the use of petroleum, emitting fewer greenhouse gases and conserving water and energy.

REPREVE Promos

REPREVE fabrics include a proprietary tracer technology called FiberPoint, which is used to analyze and validate content claims. Some REPREVE promos to pitch include:

• Coolers
• Backpacks
• Neck gaiters
• Tablecloths
• Jackets and vests
• Golf polos
• Uniforms

rPET

Recycled polyethylene tetraphyte (PET), or recycled polyester is usually made from things like discarded plastic water bottles, diverting them from landfills. Since it requires fewer resources to create, recycled polyester has a smaller carbon footprint than virgin polyester. There are two issues with rPET: 1) garments typically can’t be recycled and end up landfills, and 2) microfiber shedding occurs (this is when microplastics from a garment shed in the wash and end up in oceans and other waterways).

rPET Promos

There are a variety of rPET promotional items you can present to eco-conscious clients:

• Pens
• Journals
• Tote and messenger bags and backpacks
• Bottles
• Mobile accessories
• Towels

TENCEL

TENCEL™ is a brand of lyocell fiber that is a “regenerated cellulose,” and it uses less energy and fewer chemicals to produce compared to rayon. To make it, wood pulp is dissolved with a chemical solvent and pushed through an extruder to form fibers that are certified as compostable and biodegradable. With moisture-absorbing and sweat-wicking properties, it’s a great material for shirts, pants, bedding and other products. Plus, it’s easily moldable, making a final product that’s soft, but still durable.

TENCEL Promos

Some TENCEL apparel products you can sell include:

• Uniforms
• Vests
• Performance apparel

Vegan Leather

Vegan leather is usually made of two forms of plastic, polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), both forms of plastic, which are not biodegradable or eco-friendly. You can find more environmentally friendly versions made from things like cork, pineapple, apple, cactus and mushroom.

Vegan Leather Promos

Be cognizant when pitching to animal welfare groups like shelters and rescues, as well as veterinary offices, that many people who work and are customers use less products that come from animals, so you’ll want to pitch items made from vegan leather over real leather.

It may surprise you, but many vegan leather promotional products aren’t in the apparel category:

• Notebooks
• Bags and backpacks
• Journals
• Cases
• Wallets
• Keychains
• Awards

Certifications & Ecolabels to Know

Keep an eye out in ESP and on supplier websites for certifications and ecolabels like these.

1% for the Planet

As a nonprofit, 1% for the Planet members have invested over $350 million toward environmental causes. Businesses join the network and commit to donating the equivalent of 1% of gross sales directly to environmental nonprofits. 1% for the Planet certifies member donations annually by reviewing and confirming sales and donations.

B Corp

There is a lengthy audit process for a business to receive a B Corp certification. The nonprofit B Lab reviews the company’s legal structure, supply chain practices, philanthropy, customer relations and employee engagement. Only companies that achieve a “B Impact Assessment Score of 80 or above” and have passed a risk review are certified. Certified businesses must make a legal commitment to change their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders. They also need to be transparent and allow their performance to be measured against B Lab’s standards and be publicly available on their B Corp profile.

Climate Neutral

After a company is certified by the nonprofit Climate Neutral, they must measure their carbon footprint and offset and lower their carbon emissions to achieve zero net carbon emissions for all the carbon created through making and delivering their products and services for a year. Companies must report progress annually.

EcoVadis

EcoVadis is one of the world’s largest providers of business sustainability ratings, using a Sustainability Scorecard based on standards including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact and the ISO 26000. It measures performance across 21 indicators in four categories: environment, labor & human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement. So far, EcoVadis has a global record of 90,000 rated companies.

Fairtrade Certified

The Fairtrade International system includes Fairtrade America, which certifies organizations, brands and products that meet its rigorous social, economic and environmental standards. Fairtrade standards are designed to combat poverty and help producers in the poorest countries.

5 Tips to Help Your Company Go Green

Use these guidelines as a point to work toward a more sustainable business.

1. Track energy use and waste to create a baseline.
2. Incorporate sustainability into all presentations. When you bring it up before your clients can, it shows you’re knowledgeable on trends and what matters to them, elevating you as a reliable resource they can trust.
3. Looks for ways to cut water waste. One way to do this is by switching to digital prints over water-intensive screen printing.
4. Ask your supplier partners for data on how their products and operations impact or help the environment, along with carbon offset options they offer. These facts can be useful when you’re trying to close a sale with an eco-conscious customer.
5. Consider how easy it is to recycle, reuse or donate the products you sell, and remind clients they can do the same.

What’s your favorite sustainable promo to sell? Share on our Facebook page.

Source: asicentral.com/promofortheplanet