Eco-friendly Promos

When you’re giving a present to someone you care about, there is no denying that gift packaging adds something - a sense of value, of expectation, of surprise. Yet it’s silly to waste paper that will just be thrown out once the gift is given. Fortunately, there’s a new brand of wrapping paper on the market that looks like it can make the gift-giving tradition sustainable. The Local Paper is FSC certified, meaning it complies with the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility, and it’s made with post-consumer recycled fibers. All the packaging is recycled/recyclable and biodegradable, too, making it the obvious eco-friendly choice for giftwrap.

[via Inhabitat]

Lunchtime is a great time to think about food, and this eco-friendly menu is absolutely salivating. But how can your business enjoy a decadent wine dinner without damaging the environment? Customizable wine aprons will do the trick. And, while preparing at home, use environemntally friendly promotional products such as bamboo knives Remember, you can still indulge while taking care of the environment.

Scott’s EcoSense, an environmentally friendly gardening company, promotes the idea of a sustainable garden or a garden that gives back to earth. In order to promote the concept of eco-garden, a great idea would be to send a eco-friendly plant to spark interest in your endeavor amongst clients and to initiate the progress toward eco-gardening.

I never thought much about the countless times I’ve reached for my stapler in times of need. Staples are a seemingly essential part of every day life in an office, school and home but according to practical environmentalists, they have a huge carbon footprint. Most staples are made with steel that undergoes an energy intensive double-heating process before being layered with zinc. Staples are also usually not recycled and end up in landfills. An eco-friendly alternative to the familiar generic stapler is the staple-free stapler. Also known as “virtual” staplers, they work by first creating a hole in the stack, then threading a small strip of paper cut from the stack through the hole, binding the documents together. Aside from helping the environment, you’ll never have to worry about running out of staplers! These staple-less staplers are a great investment for any office or school trying to go green. Accompanied by a recycled notebook and biodegradable pen, I can also see a virtual stapler making a great gift for an environmentally conscious friend or co-worker.

If you really enjoy process of using a traditional stapler you can always simulate the experience online, waste free!

For all those coffee and tea drinkers who want to make the sustainable switch to reusable alternatives without sacrificing the iconic nature of their to-go paper and styrofoam cups, your savior has arrived! Check out the latest from Decor Craft, Inc. This coffee cup looks suspiciously like the disposable styrofoam variety used  by just about every deli and coffee shop in the country - but there’s more than meets the eye. This cool mug is actually made out of double-walled porcelain and features a silicon lid. This durable alternative eliminates the use-and-dispose mentality that is causing a lot of problems for the environment.

If you’re looking for a way to market your business in a more eco-conscious manner, why not give out eco-friendly coffee mugs imprinted with your logo and contact information? Recipients will appreciate the free gift, and the mug spends valuable time on their desks where it will increase exposure for your brand and serve as a constant reminder of your products or services.

How about packing your lunch in a sustainable, reusable and recyclable lunch container that is free from lead, phthalates, and bisphenol A (BPA)? Simply put, you can be eco-friendly merely by making your own lunch! Laptop Lunches is a company that fosters earth friendly eating habits for the whole family. These bento styled bags makes portioning your food very easy.

Customize a lunch box for each family member and make packing lunch both fun and nutritious!

Does this oil sands drilling pit look environmentally sustainable to you? In a recent, revolting example of green-washing, Shell oil company tried to claim it was. Fortunately, they were caught and reprimanded. Canada’s World Wildlife Fund took notice of the full page Shell ad, published February 1st, that boasted about new environmental progress made by oil companies, such as the “sustainable oil sands”. The group conducted research and discovered that no data backed up Shell’s claim that the plant was “sustainable”, or even managing carbon emissions effectively! Quite to the contrary, the only data that does exist suggests oil sand development is horrendously detrimental to the environment in terms of water conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, land disturbance and more! Eventually, Canada’s Advertising Standards Authority forced the oil company to stop using the ad. What’s the moral of the story here? Don’t believe everything you read; if it seems to good to be green, it probably is…

The green movement may give us a new excuse to make Friday a permanent holiday…Workspaces across the country are discovering the energy-conserving merits of implementing four day work weeks. A variety of sources out there cover this blossoming issue. According to the oil drum.com potential benefits of four day weeks include reduction of green house emissions, less crude oil imports, less traffic/road issues, and higher productivity and attendance! Just think, one day you may tell your grandchildren about the tough days when people worked five days a week!

It’s hard to believe that this gorgeous work of art was created entirely out of trash! Greenpeace created it to promote recycling. The promotion (and website featured) actually appeared in Poland but the USA Greenpeace site is very informative. Definitely Check it out. For those who don’t know much about Greenpeace, it’s a hugely influential environmental activism organization that has networks spanning the globe.

No doubt you’ve heard about guerrilla warfare, or guerrilla marketing, but guerrilla gardening? Yes, there is such a thing! What started as one man’s gardening efforts has evolved into an elaborate website and community: Guerilla Gardening.org. As the site so dramatically describes, “There is neglected orphaned land all over the place. Pockets of resistance have broken out in some areas as guerrilla gardeners fight back to reclaim this precious resource and cultivate it”. Basically, these “troops” meet at night and cultivate unused parts of cities to make them “a bit more colorful” or even “live off vegetables grown illicitly in road side verges”. Pretty crazy environmental trend, huh? Maybe one day teenagers will be sneaking out at night to work on their gardens! However, if you prefer to spend your night hours asleep (or are reluctant to eat vegetables grown in highway ditches…) you could always make a donation. Another environmentally friendly promotion along the same lines is Green Graffiti; Brooklyn artist Edina Tokodi is rapidly rising to fame for her wonderful moss creations, featured below.