We love the promo industry. But we know it can be better.
How? In this series of stories, ASI Media explores five big ideas that can transform the world of promo. These aren’t quick fixes or simple changes. But with enough consideration, ambition and coordination, we think they’re all possible. And our beloved industry – and the people who live and breathe it – will be better off for it.
Baloo Living (asi/38053) didn’t start out plastic-free.
Early on, the supplier’s high-end weighted cotton blankets filled with lead-free glass microbeads still had some polyester lining and were packaged in plastic polybags to keep the elements out during shipping.
But sisters Elizabeth and Jennifer Grojean knew they wanted to phase that synthetic material out – both because it better fit the brand they were building and because they felt it was the right thing to do for the planet. So, the Grojeans jettisoned the polyester lining and swapped out the polybags for branded cotton tote bags – which, the sisters acknowledge, still have an environmental impact but at least can be reused.
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Those decisions all came with a price tag. Jennifer notes, for example, that switching to 100% cotton blankets added around 15% to the production cost. The supplier also paid its factory partners to install water-activated paper tape dispensers so their boxes could be sealed without using plastic. Despite the added upfront costs, these are the types of decisions the sisters continue to make as they grow their business.
“It helps us know internally that we’re always making the right choice,” Elizabeth says.
Within the last few years, plastic has become one of the most high-profile targets of the sustainability movement and public ire. Gut-wrenching footage of sea turtles eating plastic and unsettling images of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have helped turn public opinion, as have new studies such as the findings the average person ingests as much as a credit card’s worth of microplastic every week. The effects of pervasive plastic pollution have become impossible to ignore, and consumers are clamoring for big brands to take action.
“I feel like the cost of plastic is being externalized, and it needs to be built into the price of plastic. It’s going to be really hard … to have sustainability win if it’s always more expensive.”Elizabeth Grojean, Baloo Living
As a luxury company with a strong retail presence, Baloo is in somewhat of a unique position compared to other suppliers. But is it possible for the promotional products industry as a whole to steer away from plastic – whether in its products, packaging or plastic-derived synthetic fabrics – and toward long-lasting items made from natural materials?
“How do we find that intersection between business realities and social impact? Our industry really struggles with that,” says Leo Friedman, CEO of Ohio-based iPromo (asi/229471). “If someone comes to us and wants to buy 25,000 plastic pens that won’t biodegrade for the next 25 years, we’ll sell them. There’s nobody that’s turning away that business. That’s kind of the sad reality.”
In the short run, the promotional products industry chooses plastic because it’s often the cheaper choice – accounting for its abundance. But that’s misleading, Elizabeth Grojean says.
“That’s the highest level to me – sustainable materials and recycled biodegradable plastics that actually don’t last for 100 years.”Leo Friedman, iPromo
“I feel like the cost of plastic is being externalized, and it needs to be built into the price of plastic,” she explains. “It’s going to be really hard in the capitalist, price-driven society that we live in to have sustainability win if it’s always more expensive.”
The environmental price of plastic, she notes, is astronomical. The vast majority is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels – contributing to climate change – and it can take hundreds of years (if ever) to biodegrade. Consider this: Last year, of the 40 million tons of plastic waste generated in the United States, only 5% to 6% – about 2 million tons – was recycled, according to a report from environmental groups Beyond Plastics and The Last Beach Cleanup. About 85% went to landfills and 10% was incinerated (which can pollute the air with harmful chemicals). The rate of plastic recycling has actually declined since 2018, when it was at 8.7%. Scientists estimate that as much 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year, where it can cause entanglement or starvation among birds, fish and other marine life.
Seth Godin, marketing expert and author of The Carbon Almanac, appeared on an industry podcast on the topic of climate change earlier this year. During the episode, Godin had a stark suggestion for helping the promo industry – and others – grasp the impact of plastic production on the planet: “Every time you make something out of plastic, you should have to keep 10 on your desk forever. The first 10 will be no big deal. When you get to 50 or 60 or 100 of them, you’re going to start thinking, ‘Maybe I should just stop making things out of plastic.’ Because the system is rewarding you for making cheap stuff out of plastic, but in the long run, the system is going to destroy us.”
On the whole, the idea of getting plastic out of the industry can be a daunting, almost Sisyphean prospect. But eco-minded promo pros don’t believe it’s a total impossibility. After all, plastic has only been around for about 115 years, and you have to go back just a few generations to see how people coped without the conveniences it’s brought.
“My generation was the generation of plastic, right?” says Debbie Abergel, chief strategy officer of Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600). “We’ve made these lifestyle changes that are harmful to the world, but we can go back. There’s no harm in going back. … It was a learned behavior, so we can unlearn it.”
It won’t happen overnight. But there are steps suppliers and distributors can take to reduce their reliance on the material and steer clients toward better choices. Here are five actionable steps that distributors and suppliers can take right now to make our plastic-free future a reality.
One method is to offer well-made products that end-users actually want and will use for the long term. (This has the added benefit of changing negative perceptions that the industry is made up solely of cheap, throwaway swag.) Somerville, MA-based distributor Grossman Marketing Group (asi/215205) has taken to suggesting reusable drinkware made from metal and other easily recyclable materials to its clients, says Ben Grossman, co-president.
“At this point, we feel like many people have received a large volume of lower-cost items, which have a tendency to find their way to a landfill, and our focus is recommending products that are useful, practical, and have a high perceived value and long shelf life,” says the Counselor 2022 Bess Cohn Humanitarian of the Year. “There’s a lot of education that needs to happen both at the distributor level to understand what options are available, as well as to consult with end-user clients to be able to make the most informed merchandising decision possible.”
Consumers, particularly millennials and Gen Z, hate plastic packaging – whether it’s Styrofoam packing peanuts, bubble wrap or a polybag. A recent study from ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana found that most e-commerce shoppers would choose plastic-free packaging if given the choice. The study also found that 87% of consumers think major online retailers should cut back on the amount of plastic packaging they use. Jen Grojean of Baloo Living agrees. “Whenever I get something that’s not in a polybag, I’m really happy,” she says.
Sometimes, eschewing excess packaging is as simple as thinking about kitting in a new way. Friedman of iPromo recently worked on a project for a client accustomed to providing customers with big boxes filled with swag. One of the items being given away this time around was a backpack, so Friedman and his client thought: “Why not have that be the actual box?”
Lauren Piller, vice president of Eco Marketing Solutions (asi/185798), says she’s been making the switch to eco-friendly packaging options – using solutions like honeycomb kraft paper rather than plastic bubble wrap to protect items during transit.
“I’ll ask my vendors if they have an eco-friendly option,” she says, “which they usually do, but you have to bring it up because it’s not the first option.”
In just about every product category, there are alternatives to the more prevalent plastic option, whether that means choosing a T-shirt or tote bag made of recycled or responsibly sourced cotton, rather than polyester, or opting for a cutting board made from highly renewable and completely biodegradable bamboo instead of plastic.
Even items where the use of plastic seems inevitable generally have more sustainable alternatives if you search for them. For example, Friedman notes, there’s a company that manufactures single-use golf balls made from a biodegradable, nontoxic material. In fewer than 48 hours, the outer shell of the ball dissolves in water, leaving behind a core of fish food.
“That’s the highest level to me – sustainable materials and recycled biodegradable plastics that actually don’t last for 100 years,” Friedman says.
You can find pens made from FSC-certified wood, recycled plastic and other more sustainable materials. Swiss company Pagani Pens Corp. (asi/79688) has a True Biotic pen (QS40 TB) in its Prodir line made from biobased, nontoxic PHAs – a polymer sometimes referred to as “nature’s polyester.”
“If the casing of a True Biotic should ever get into the sea, it will sink to the bottom and will then quickly, completely decompose,” Alessandro Sgotto, head of research and development for Pagani, noted in a Q&A on the company blog. “And if you put it in the earth next to your tomatoes in the garden, it will be decomposed by microbes and even act as fertilizer.”
Biodegradable wheat straw plastic, made from breaking down the cellulose in the straw leftover after a wheat harvest, has potential as an alternative to traditional plastic. It’s reusable and microwaveable and can be composted over the course of three to six months in a home compost. One caveat: If an item is made of a mix of wheat straw and conventional plastic, it’s no longer recyclable and could contaminate plastic recycling.
Abergel, Counselor’s 2022 Woman of Distinction believes promo suppliers should look to Europe when considering plastic-free, sustainable products to offer the industry. “They’re really leading the way,” she adds.
Recycled polyester – or recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) – has become increasingly common as an alternative to virgin polyester in fleece and other performance wear. Proponents say it has a smaller carbon footprint than its virgin counterpart and the process keeps plastic waste from ending up in landfills or the ocean. The downside, however, is that rPET fabric still sheds harmful microfibers that can make their way into waterways, and in general, recycled polyester cannot itself be recycled into new garments. Researchers have been working on ways to chemically recycle polyester into new textiles, but the technology is still in its infancy.
Another issue, according to Andy Keller, CEO of ChicoBag (asi/44811), is the fact that recycled polyester looks identical to virgin material, making it ripe for shady practices and general confusion. There are several tests, however, to ensure a product is actually made with rPET. First, he says, look for Global Recycling Standard (GRS) certification when shopping for products made from recycled content. Second, work with a company that’s taken the time to get to know its supply chain, down to the raw materials being sourced.
“Most brands only know their Tier 1 suppliers, such as those who cut, sew and package their products,” Keller says. Tier 2 suppliers are the fabric mills that weave the fabric; Tier 3 are the yarn suppliers; and Tier 4 are the companies taking post-consumer plastic bottles and sorting, cleaning and chipping them in preparation for the yarn-making process.
Suppliers can also verify their product by working with a Tier 2 supplier like UNIFI, which has developed a verification program to provide customers with a high level of transparency, Keller notes. The company’s REPREVE fabrics contain a proprietary tracer technology used to analyze and validate fiber content claims. Another option is to work with a fabric mill like Baichuan Resources Recycling that produces only recycled content fabrics and has several tiers of the supply chain vertically integrated in one facility “to eliminate the possibility of any intentional or unintentional mix-ups or funny business,” Keller says.
The goal may be to eliminate plastic entirely from promo, but ensuring it doesn’t end up in the ocean is an admirable fallback plan. When you’re putting together a promotion for a client, the whole lifecycle of a product should be considered, from how it was created to how long it will be used to what happens to it at the end of its original use. The vast majority of plastic waste still ends up in landfills – and that includes clothing made from polyester or rPET.
To try to stem the tide, it’s a good idea to work with organizations that have built robust recycling programs. SwagCycle, the initiative started by Grossman Marketing Group, for example, keeps unused and unusable promo items out of landfills by recycling them or donating them to charities.
And iPromo offers a service it calls EcoCloud, an extension of its SwagCloud online promo management program. The distributor will pick up unused merch after an event and either return it to the distribution facility for use at a later event or help clients get the items recycled or donated, Friedman says.
In general, though, Grossman notes that it’s much easier for SwagCycle to work with cotton than polyester or other synthetic fabrics. “Apparel containing plastic-based material like polyester as well as other synthetic materials like rayon tend to be much harder to recycle or upcycle than cotton-based apparel,” he says.
Sustainability Soapbox
Promo for the Planet's Board Weighs In
Members of the Promo for the Planet advisory board share their thoughts on how the promotional products industry can reduce its reliance on plastic.
Andy Keller, CEO, ChicoBag (asi/44811)
“In the world of recycled-content fabric, virgin polyester is currently cheaper than recycled-content polyester mainly due to the fact that the actual cost of oil and natural gas extraction isn’t built into the purchase price. Much of it is externalized to taxpayers (tax credits, government subsidies) and to future generations (cleanup costs and environmental degradation). On the other hand, more of the costs are embedded into recycled content making it more expensive than virgin polyester. The fact that recycled plastic looks identical to virgin plastic content creates confusion and mix-ups as well as an economic incentive for shady businesspeople in the supply chain to dilute the recycled content with cheaper virgin material.”
Daniel Cardozo, president and CEO of Ethix Merch (asi/189731)
“The goal is to get big enough where we could pressure clients to stop buying plastic. If we were to say today that we would no longer sell plastic items, we may as well close up shop now. It feels crucial and equally impossible to stop selling plastic. We’ve got to have a transition plan, starting with education and encouraging alternatives. Then, there will be a tipping point that can lead to more suppliers and distributors saying no to plastic and still surviving.”
Michelle Sheldon, president of Eco Promotional Products (asi/185797)
“Start with packaging. Let’s work with our suppliers to eliminate the use of petroleum-based poly bags, film, peanuts, bubble wrap and packaging airbags. Plastic pollution is contaminating our waterways, soil, entering into our food chain and impacting our ecosystem. There are available alternatives. Distributors, suggest and sell products with long-lasting impressions and purpose. Many frivolous promotional products are made of plastic/petroleum and may seem inexpensive, however, in the end cost much more socially and environmentally. Reducing the demand for low-value plastic materials can change the dynamics and allow other more useful sustainable products a chance to shine.”