Being eco-friendly isn’t just about adding green buzzwords to your website—it’s a mission. In fact, 78% of consumers care about sustainability, and 84% say “poor environmental practices alienate them from a brand.”
Bottom line: your business needs to embrace eco-viable decisions. This not only shows you care about Mother Earth but that you’re actively assisting in the fight against deforestation, ozone decimation, and climate change.
Going green doesn’t mean you have to upend your entire business model or spend thousands of dollars, either. Follow these easy tips to eco-fy your brand to preserve the environment, deepen customer relationships, and save a few bucks in the process.
1. Digitize Everything
Using plain, white paper is so 1999. Do you really have the time to sift through hundreds of sheets of paper to find what you need?
Digitize as much of your business as possible by going paperless. This process saves hundreds of trees every year and makes your business way more efficient. Even if you use paper forms, OCR scanning makes the text easily searchable in a digital document platform or with tools like Google Workspace.
2. Choose Green Vendors
It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. If you care about sustainability, do your best to work with vendors who also care about the environment.
When it comes to promotional products, it’s important to use a distributor partner who takes the time and energy to source high-quality products from companies that value sustainability as much as you do.
It’s not just about the products, either. You can reach your ESG goals when you know you’re matched with providers who take their initiatives seriously. For example, some web hosting companies power websites with only renewable energy. Neat, right?
3. Create an Eco-Friendly Office Culture
Does your team still mainly work out of a physical office? Hybrid or in-office workers can still promote sustainability:
Ditch single-use plastics: Sure, K-Cups are convenient, but they create a lot of plastic waste. The same goes for plastic cups in the break room. Opt for an inexpensive glass coffee pot and washable dishware instead. For a personal touch, provide your hardworking team with reusable wheat fiber mugs branded with your logo.
Green-ifying the office space: If you can control your physical space, take a few small steps to save energy, trees, and water. Install low-flow toilets, LED lights, and hand dryers to start. You can even add more greenery to your space to promote a healthier environment through oxygenating plants in branded pots or DIY grow kits. It doesn’t hurt that most of these changes can also reduce your utility bills!
Creating recycling programs: Make it easy for your team to recycle paper, cans, and cardboard at the office. Sign up for recycling services with your building or city and place recycling bins at every desk and common area. You might want to post signs on the bins explaining what can and can’t be recycled to avoid “wishcycling”
4. Brag About Your Eco-Initiatives
There’s a time and a place for bragging, and this is it. Consumers—especially millennial and Gen Z shoppers—are leading the eco-conscious consumer movement. In fact, 75% of millennials have changed their buying habits to prioritize environmentally friendly products, and Gen Z shoppers are willing to spend 10% more on sustainable products.
These shoppers want to see your green initiatives. Actually, many millennial and Gen Z shoppers will specifically search for information on your environmental practices before buying anything. This is why sharing your eco-friendly practices with the world is so important. Promote these green initiatives via:
Your website
Social media
Email campaigns in April to celebrate Earth Day (April 22nd)
Custom infographics
Products in your online store
Employee merch
Of course, this needs to be sincere. If you brag about installing a few LED light bulbs, that might not be enough to appease skeptical consumers. These folks expect to see you making a genuine difference. Share with your audience when you have something significant and noteworthy.
5. Opt For Eco-Friendly Promotional Products
We know that promotional product campaigns put a lot of product out into the world. Sometimes, that product inadvertently becomes waste, so it’s critical for both promo providers like Boundless and brands like you to come together and reduce waste.
After all, the longer people hold onto your products, the more airtime you’ll get and the more results you’ll see from your promo campaigns. Eco-friendly promo is a win-win!
Looking for products that fit the bill? Boundless works with brands to source eco-friendly promo made with renewable energy or recycled materials. Here are just a few examples of eco-friendly promo at work:
If you’ve stored old promo in a closet and have no clue what to do with it, we’ve got you covered. Boundless helps brands breathe new life into products that would otherwise be destined for the landfill. Talk with your Brand Consultant about how to upcycle tees, bags, or other fabric materials from long-gone campaigns.
6. Take Promo Online
Want to get more life out of your promo campaigns? Take your campaigns online. For example, adding a scannable QR code to a branded box gives you a different avenue to engage with your audience. It also makes it possible to track user engagement at every digital touchpoint, which is a hole-in-one for marketing attribution.
When designing promo campaigns, think of how to extend the physical products into the online space. That might mean:
Giving out Bluetooth earbuds with a link to a custom Spotify playlist
Sharing bamboo cooking utensil kits with a link to a digital cookbook (bonus points if the recipes are plant-based!)
Giving out running shoes that link to a YouTube series about running tips
You’re already investing in promo, so why not get more mileage out of it? You can give your audience more ways to engage with your brand in the digital realm, so when in doubt, pair physical products with unforgettable online experiences.
Turn Over a New Leaf: Eco-Fy To Amplify Your Brand
Sixty-nine percent of Americans believe corporations aren’t doing enough to address climate change. Progress is better than perfection, so whether you’re an enterprise or a small business, taking steps to eco-fy your brand will make the world a better place.
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