Wooden Keys, Denver and The DNC
A Boulder based company used the power of the press to make a big name for their company. Sustainable Cards, LLC has managed to get their name and their idea in front of the American public by donating 700,000 hotel keys to be used during the Denver Democratic convention.
Peo Akesson, founder and chairman of the 2 year old company ran across wooden hotel trees, used in Europe for well over a decade and founded his fledgling company with Greg Hartmann, Managing Director of HVS, the largest hotel consulting firm in the world.
Replacing non biodegradable plastic hotel keys and even ones made of recycled plastic with wooden keys is a bit of a no-brainer. Besides the environmental savings of 1300 tons annually that would be gained by switching to wooden cards, the long term cost to the hotel is pennies.
I was able to reach the company to ask a few burning questions like what’s the cost/benefit for your customers?
Though the cost to the hotel buying them is a bit more, because they are lighter than plastic cards, they cost less to ship. This struck me as a little odd because you tend to think of wooden keys as big heavy things but…think balsa wood light and thin to get the idea.
The cost right now, of course is higher than it will be in the future as production increases. This was a good point that their PR rep made to me in an email. Ecopreneurs, remember this point because it’s a good one!
The environmental advantage, the keys are made from sustainably harvested birch wood, is particularly important for a B2B product. While consumers, other than those that are deep green, are faced with rising prices and are perhaps forgoing their commitment to the environment, businesses are ramping up.
LEED certified hotels are still far and few between but more and more hotels are trying to do their part to be a bit more eco. There are lessons for B2B ecopreneurs to be found in Sustainable Cards’ business strategies. I’m going to keep my eye on them in the future.
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Those are awesome. If you could get them in business card format, I’d be the first to climb onboard.
I just heard a bit on ‘Wait, Wait, Don’t tell Me’ about these cards saying that while they may be sustainable, they didn’t open the doors.
What a neat idea. I love to see companies like this take steps toward a green future while also providing a great product. For example http://www.simplestop.net stops your postal junk mail and benefits the environment.
There has been a bit of a problem with their functionality, but it always takes a few tries to get something exactly right. I think it’s a great idea and the more we can figure out ways to replace old technology with new green technology (instead of trying to come up with only new technologies) the further along the movement go.
Thanks for another outstanding article,
Alter the Eco, Adam
http://www.twilightearth.com