Corporate gifting for clients, team members, and key stakeholders is a crucial aspect of modern business strategy. However, the influx of low-quality products and novelty items that end up discarded has raised concerns about waste. Fortunately, as eco-friendliness and environmental responsibility have become core values in many corporate cultures, there's a growing trend for sustainable swag and eco-conscious promotional merchandise in 2024.
Clients and employees are delighted to receive sustainable swag items, appreciating companies that align their brand image with eco-friendly principles. For example, products made from recycled materials showcase a company’s commitment to the environment through their promotional strategies.
At Ethical Swag, we’ve compiled sustainable swag ideas based on client feedback and our own experience. Get inspired with these eco-friendly products and elevate your corporate gifting game in 2024.
Sustainable Swag Ideas and Eco-Friendly Merch Ideas to Bring Your Brand to the Next Level:
- Game-Changing Sustainable Swag Trends in 2024
- Merch Ideas that Go Easy on our Planet
- Make it Unique - Customization and Branding
- Distribution and Packaging
- Budget Considerations and ROI
- Take Your Brand to the Next Level: Shop Eco-Friendly Merchandise Today!
Game-Changing Sustainable Swag Trends in 2024
The number of organizations of all sizes adopting sustainable practices in their promotional merchandise and swag items has skyrocketed. Companies have come to recognize the environmental impact of their promotional merchandise and more and more organizations are actively seeking more sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives. The use of recycled materials, bamboo, and plantable seed paper are all gaining traction in sustainable swag by many reputable brands. From pens made from recycled plastic to tote bags crafted from repurposed fabrics, the wide range of collections for company swag and merchandise products available not only helps minimize consumption and waste, it also meets the promotional needs of your company at a lower cost to our environment.
Another trend in 2024 is the use of biodegradable materials. We want to say no to waste and materials which take hundreds of years to break down. More sustainable alternatives to replace traditional plastic items have emerged, for example, biodegradable phone cases and compostable packaging. These products decompose naturally in the soil over time, thus reducing the amount of waste burdening our landfills and oceans.
Have you considered seeds and plants as a part of a promotional campaign? In fact, plantable merchandise products are becoming increasingly popular, ranging from seed paper bookmarks to pencils embedded with seeds. These items are useful, beautiful and help tell your story.
Merch Ideas that care for our Earth
Reusable Drinkware: Reusable drinkware has been around for a while and has several benefits. Encouraging behavior change by encouraging people to BYO tumblers has lowered single-use waste in recent years. In 2024, it continues to be one of the favorites for companies that want to consider sustainability.
Take it up a notch by choosing products that have additional sustainability benefits like give-back programs for our oceans and/or products made from recycled materials.
Stainless steel water bottles, bamboo travel mugs, and glass tumblers are sleek and modern choices for an extra stylish and premium element to day-to-day life. The double-wall vacuum insulation keeps beverages hot or cold for hours, offering reliable temperature retention. There have been several new additions in this category, taking sustainability from minimizing single-use cups to using recycled aluminum, plastic and using alternative materials like wheat straw and bamboo. Branded with your company logo, reusable drinkware continues to be a popular choice as it keeps your brand in front of consumers, clients and employees. Take a look at our selection of promotional tumblers for ideas!
Sustainable Apparel: Wearables and clothing made from eco-friendly materials like organic cotton, recycled polyester and hemp is a sustainable choice for promotional merchandise. We seek and source from apparel manufacturers that monitor water usage, dies and other practices to minimize their impact on the environment. We also have suppliers that are investing in sustainable communities to take care of the textile workers and power their facilities with solar energy. Environmentally-friendliness comes in many forms and at Ethical Swag, we do the heavy lifting for you. We consider the longevity of products as well. High-quality durable fabrics ensure products will be worn and used for a long time resulting in less waste.
Sustainable apparel isn’t just a good choice for the environment, it also helps to tell your story of commitment to a better world. Your employees and clients care about the planet, and you can demonstrate your values through the products that bear your logo. As you consider how to be more eco-conscious, think about the companies you work with. At Ethical Swag, this is a key pillar of our mission. The supply chain can be hard to navigate so we have developed a thorough process for onboarding suppliers so you can feel confident in your choices.
Plantable Products: Plantable merchandise has come a long way in recent years. It is a cost-effective, beautiful and usable product that, when planted, provides further beauty. The best part of plantable promotional products is it is a cost effective way to stand out. Business cards that stand apart in the stack from a conference, 2-sided seed paper bookmarks that can help tell your story and pencils that become a plant when planted after use. Consider your employee welcome cards printed on greeting cards made from plantable paper or your holiday gifting program including plantable postcards. We guarantee you will be remembered for all the right reasons.
We have had clients run promotions with seed paper shapes that have vegetable seeds embedded. For example, an orange carrot shape with carrot seeds, and a green leaf with basil leaves. Couple these with a recipe card as part of a gift. It is a fabulous promotional tool that shows that thought has been given to the give-away.
Tech Accessories: We all use tech accessories to make our day-to-day lives better and more convenient. But what about tech accessories that are biodegradable? Thousands of tons of products are disposed of every year, creating a large amount of waste.
This year, consider sustainable swag such as recycled chopstick phone stands, wooden pop socket grips, and Bluetooth earbuds crafted from bamboo to reduce your environmental footprint. Tech products are always loved and coveted, let’s show love for the planet and demonstrate your commitment to something greater through this simple act of buying.
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Make it Unique - Customization and Branding
A trend with customization and decoration includes creating messaging that embodies your mission and values and keeps the logo more discreet. It is much better to provide products that are kept and used than spending money on the “I will sleep in it” t-shirt. There are really powerful campaigns now leveraging viral marketing and great branding to drive awareness and sales. Largely, these campaigns rely on word of mouth with great creative rather than logo heavy branding.
An example of this would be Tower Bar. The collection included prints from the Tower Bar’s famous menu, and hoodies emblazoned with “Rude Guests Will Be Eaten Whole.” How’d it go? The collection sold out within an hour.
We encourage you to consider how eco-friendly merch and your brand values can combine for an interesting campaign. Think about your goals and objectives first, then source products that align with your message. And don’t underestimate the power of getting it right when it comes to sustainability. Collectively, we can make a significant difference. Sustainable swag is a vehicle for change that can make your job easier with effective marketing.
The Earth says ‘thank you’ to your commitment to sustainability, while the eco-conscious target audience is more than pleased to purchase customized swag items and promotional merch with company logos and personalized messages in a way that respects the planet.
One of our core principles at Ethical Swag is it isn’t what you say, but what you do that matters. We help your campaigns resonate with environmentally conscious consumers, team members and partners who are increasingly looking for brands that share their commitment to protecting the planet.
Distribution and Packaging
Distribution and packaging are a large consideration in our industry. Sometimes it is hard to be completely sustainable, but we work every day to improve. The last thing we want to happen is your products are damaged in transport. Damaged products end up in the landfill so we have to ensure they are properly packaged for distribution.
Our efforts to protect our planet include voting with our dollars (on your behalf!). An example includes which suppliers we support. We talk to them about sustainable packaging, we encourage the reuse of shipping boxes and recycled cardboard. While we don’t have control over these factors, it is always a conversation we have. The key thing to remember is together, we have a louder voice. Help us put pressure on the supply chain for a more sustainable and eco-conscious future. Companies are doing more to explore sustainable packaging methods. Examples include recycled cardboard boxes, compostable mailers, and biodegradable packing peanuts. Single-use plastic is also popular in our industry, where individual pens may be shrink-wrapped and water bottles protected with plastic sleeves. We ask suppliers to consider recycled plastic packaging and to minimize single-use plastics. It is a work in progress in our industry but we have seen significant progress in recent years.
Choosing packaging materials that are biodegradable or recyclable minimizes the environmental impact of your promotional products. Ethical Swag has an eco-conscious approach to add a positive impact to your brand's reputation as an environmentally responsible organization.
Budget Considerations and ROI
There is a belief that sustainability equals increased costs. We beg to differ! We are encouraging everyone to consider many things when it comes to budget and ROI. It is important to address today's challenges with different thinking.
Ethical Swag has a good/better/best approach to sourcing products for you. If your budget allows, we always encourage “Best 😀😀😀” as these products generally have an increased impact with giving projects and/or use sustainable materials. But you can feel confident when picking “Good 😀” from our site that we have reviewed the social practices and environmental stewardship of our suppliers.
In addition to reducing your company's environmental footprint, eco-friendly promotional merchandise can also enhance your brand image and attract eco-conscious clients. There are long-term and short-term benefits to choosing the right products from the right suppliers. Ethical Swag makes that job easy for you. As a Certified B Corporation, we have been audited to a global standard for sustainability as our testament to you of our commitment to your success.
Research shows that consumers prefer to purchase from companies with a commitment to sustainability, making eco-friendly promotional merchandise a smart investment for businesses to attract and retain customers.
We encourage you to buy less but higher quality products. We encourage you to rethink your traditional approach and look for new ways to create awareness of your organization. Creativity coupled with sustainability is a winning strategy!
Take Your Brand to the Next Level: Consider Eco-Friendly Merchandise!
Ethical Swag wants to encourage you to leverage the eco-friendly focus of today’s consumers. It is important, however, to be aware that there is significant greenwashing going on as more companies see this shift as a way to make money. It is more important than ever to dig deeper when considering who to purchase from in this industry. We are living in a world of fake news and bogus reviews so look to third-party certification to support your supplier choices.
We consider ourselves your go-to place for the best selection of sustainable swag and eco-friendly merch ideas this year. We offer a wide range of environmentally friendly promotional products and commitment to sustainability Contact us today to find out how we can help you promote your brand to today's buyers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What are some popular eco-friendly swag options for 2024? Popular eco-friendly swag options for 2024 include reusable drinkware like recycled stainless steel water bottles and bamboo travel mugs, organic apparel made from sustainable materials, plantable products such as seed paper bookmarks and pencils, and biodegradable tech accessories like phone stands and earbuds made from recycled plastics. These items are practical, stylish, and environmentally friendly, making them ideal for promoting your brand sustainably.
Is investing in sustainable swag items cost-effective? Yes, it is cost-effective. Ethical Swag provides good/better/best options to meet every budget. Eco-friendly promotional merchandise can enhance your brand image, attract and retain eco-conscious consumers, and foster customer loyalty. Studies show that consumers are more likely to support companies with strong commitments to sustainability, making sustainable swag a smart investment for your business.