Overture Promotions (asi/288473) is working to make the world a little greener.

Starting October 1, the Top 40 promotional products distributorship will plant a tree with every order over $20. The planting will be done through a partnership with Ecologi, an organization that hires and trains local people to plant native tree species as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To date, 36,000 Ecologi members have funded 48.3 million trees and reduced 2.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, executives said.

“Through our partnership with Ecologi, Overture will be helping to reduce carbon pollution, creating employment for local families and restoring wildlife habitats,” said Overture CEO Jo Gilley, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of the industry’s largest distributors.

The tree planting is just one component in a series of sustainability initiatives that Overture is working on in its expanding corporate social responsibility program. 

In August, the Waukegan, IL-based firm joined the United Nations Global Compact, a worldwide network of over 15,000 companies and 4,000 nonbusiness participants committed to building a sustainable future.

In joining, Overture indicated its support for the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Joining indicates Overture is committed to making the principles part of the strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of the company, while also engaging in collaborative projects that advance the broader development goals of the UN, particularly the sustainable development goals.

Overture’s employee-led Green Team is making progress on other sustainability initiatives, too. Those include taking steps to join the UPS Carbon Neutral Program, which will ultimately result in all of the company’s UPS shipments having a carbon neutral footprint.

Overture is also conducting an Ecovadis audit, to be used as a benchmark from which the company can begin tracking carbon footprint reductions more specifically, and as a first step in Overture’s journey to becoming a Certified B Corp.

“Through our partnership with Ecologi, Overture will be helping to reduce carbon pollution, creating employment for local families, and restoring wildlife habitats.”Jo Gilley, Overture

In addition, the Top 40 firm is conducting a waste audit to understand how to improve recycling throughout its offices and distribution center, discontinuing the use of plastic water bottles in its building for employee and customer events, and creating a seed library so employees can grow seedlings to be replanted in Overture’s community vegetable and herb garden.

Overture’s initiatives come as a quickly growing number of companies large and small across the North American promotional products industry make strides to operate in a more environmentally responsible manner. ASI Media has been documenting the industry’s movement toward greater sustainability through Promo for the Planet.

Based on reported 2021 North American promo product revenue of $114 million, Overture Promotions ranked 19^th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributorships in the industry.

In 2021, Westbridge Capital, a minority-led Canadian private equity firm, acquired Overture. Promo industry pioneer Lou Weisbach and his business partners Mark Serdar and Michael Nemlich, along with Westbridge Capital, are the owners of Overture.

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