This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

In a huge win for eco-friendly promotional clothing Boardroom Eco Apparel has been selected to supply apparel for The Hudson’s Bay Company for Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Sponsors, Partners, and Suppliers.

The Olympics has been a showcase for green ideas before, and I suspect the 2010 games will not stop at just apparel. Here is a news clip on this amazing development. Please enjoy.

Boardroom ECO Apparel is an apparel design and manufacturing company located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded by CEO Mark Trotzuk in 1996, Boardroom specializes in custom manufacturing and technical, fashionable and environmentally friendly clothing solutions.

If you have questions on the size and significance of this deal please contact Mark Trotzuk directly. Same for media, please contact Mark Trotzuk. If you want to get into the Olympic spirit a bit early and use Boardroom Apparel for your own promotional needs, contact you local promotional items vendor or email info@proformagreen.com for selections and pricing.

In the past I’ve written about how you can save money by reducing the amount of paper you use and the 7 basics of green procurement (which includes defining office supplies standards). Now, let’s talk about basic office supplies that are great, green and cheap.

It’s easier to buy green office products than ever before. The three largest office supply retailers, Staples, Office Depot and Office Max each carry thousands of reasonably priced products with recycled content and other environmental attributes.

Some even innovate. Take Office Max, they were one of the first national retailers to carry TerraCycle products and they now sell a range of their products from notebooks made from used potato chip bags to juice pouch pencil cases.

There are also a number of green office suppliers online such as Green Line Paper.com, TheGreenOffice.com or Green Apple School Supply that offer thousands of eco-friendly products. And green promotional item companies like John Simonetta’s ProformaGreen.com and EcoPromotionsOnline.com are also good places to find green office supplies.

I found ten awesome green office supply products under $10 because no matter how small every single purchase has an impact on the environment. Whether you’re buying copy paper or forklifts, that purchasing decision is an environmental decision. So, if you want to start with some small stuff, basic office supplies are a great place to start.  Here are my favorite cheap, green office supplies:

#1. on my list is reasonably priced private-label recycled content copy paper from office supply retailers. A scan of websites today (July 2, 2009) revealed the following prices for a 10 ream case (5,000 sheets) of 30% PCW 20 lb. 8.5″ x 11′ copy paper:

Office Depot: $3.30/ream (for a limited time until stock lasts; regularly $4.00/ream)

Office Max: $4.00/ream

Staples: $4.10/ream

2. & 3. The TerraCycle E-Waste Recycling Can is made from 100% e-waste (such as crushed computers and fax machines) that would otherwise have ended up in landfills. It comes in both blue and green, holds 28 quarts and costs $9.99 (www.officemax.com).  For a more funky and slightly smaller version, the TerraCycle 12″ Urban Art Recycled Trash Bin (its that groovy one above) also costs $9.99 (ShopOnlyGreen.com).

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You drink coffee. Tea. When it’s at home, it’s organic, and when you’re out, you do your best. In so many ways, you live a green lifestyle. And yet, there’s one sticky point: the cup.

You know about bringing your own mug, but it’s just so…clumsy. And it’s not the right size for the machines your barista uses, so they have to use a different cup when making it, defeating the purpose of you bringing a mug.

Yes, their cups are made from recycled paper, but they’re coated to make them waterproof, heat resistant, etc. Which means they aren’t getting recycled a second time. Compostable? Biodegradable? Possibly, but still, some materials had to be used to make that single use cup. Often more than twice the weight of the resulting cup. And for many, unless you have a professional grade facility at home, composting or biodegrading isn’t going to happen any time soon.

What to do? KeepCup has what may be just the thing:

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

UltraClub is the in house brand of promotional apparel supplier Bodek and Rhodes. Under the UltraClub brand name Bodek and Rhodes has recently launched a line of organic cotton apparel of a slightly higher quality than other organics currently on the market.

The quality of these garments is one thing, but more important seems to be the way this line is being marketed. Indeed Bodek and Rhodes is going out of their way to educate the promotional item industry, and indeed the end users of these items about what - according to Bodek and Rhodes- makes organic cotton organic cotton.

To this end they have developed the website www.ultraclub.com/organics as an educational tool for the buyer. Ecopreneurists that use the sale of shirts in their business can now arm themselves with facts to answer the question, “what makes this organic”.

Also Ecopreneurist businesses that use Bodek and Rhodes UtraClub Organic apparel for staff uniforms can use this information in their own marketing message as additional proof of their business’s commitment to the environment.

The site is divided into six fast sections, Why Buy Organic, Understanding Organic, It’s the Process, 100% Certified Organic, Protecting the Workers, The UltraClub Line.

Marc Seiler is the Bodek and Rhodes’s ASI contact to talk to about Bodek and Rhodes commitment to organic apparel. If you are interested in these items to promote your own business contact your local promotional items vendor or email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Raining Rose - the first in the promotional items industry to offer a USDA certified organic promotional lip balm - is getting ready for the 4th of July celebrations in the US by releasing three new lip balm wraps ready for the addition of your company’s logo and contact information.

Many lip balms claim to be organic but the USDA certified organic promotional lip balm from Raining Rose is the only promotional lip balm I know of that is certified to put the USDA seal on their high quality product.

Why? Let’s look at the ingredients: organic palm oil, organic beeswax, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic essential oil of peppermint, organic hemp seed oil, organic essential oil of spearmint, vitamin E.  That is it.

Raining Rose also offers a standard SPF 15 and SPF 30 lip balm which are 66% organic and come in a numbers of flavors such as Iced Pear, Cherry, Citrus, Coconut, Grape, and Lemonade. (FYI - Lemonade ingredients would be organic palm oil, beeswax, organic extra virgin olive oil, flavor or essential oil, organic hemp seed oil, vitamin E, rosemary extract.)

All Raining Rose products are made in the USA and made on location in their FDA audited facility. All products have their ingredients listed on the Raining Rose website (try that, Kraft Foods). All casings are made from 30% biodegradable plastic. And if you are ASI, PPAI or SAGE and want to test out their products just ask.

For ecopreneurists wanting a lip smacking summer marketing tool these customizable lip balms are a great idea. Clients really seem to appreciate their quality and Raining Rose can print labels with any artwork that you can design. Plus they offer a number of theme templates, like these 4th of July labels.

Ecopreneurists will find these products are great giveaways at trade shows, festivals, concert events, company picnics, beach events, you name it.

EQP on standard lip balms is $0.90 at 5,000 units. EQP on the USDA certified organic promotional lip balm is $1.90 also at 5,000. Minimum runs for each are as few as 250 units.

If you are in the promotions business contact Lisa Wagner at Raining Rose for more information on their products and special wraps for the 4th of July. If you are interested in these items to promote your own business contact your local promotional items vendor or email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

I get a lot of questions on how old water bottles, etc., make their way into new bags and other items from manufacturers like Leeds.

Well here is a short video from the Leeds website that explains the basic process of turning old water bottles into bags, totes, padfolios and other items in their Owl Line.

Enjoy.

If you are ASI and wish to learn more about the recycled bottle (PET) items from Leeds email Frank Weissert. If you are interested in these items to promote your own business contact your local promotional items vendor or email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Spring is in the air and with it the spring line up of new eco-friendly promotional items. Here are a few stand outs from Leeds.

The first of the new items of note is the Tempo 100% Recycled PET Urban Messenger Bag from Leeds. This thing is 100% recycled PET (old water bottles, that type of thing) but you would not know it to look at it. Yes it is green, but it also has some great lines and is a very functional messenger. The Tempo is also manufactured in the US (which helps its total carbon footprint) and it is certified made from eco materials.

EQP on the Tempo 100% Recycled PET Urban Messenger Bag is $8.92 with one color imprint. That is a great price for this good sized H 11.17″ x W 4.33″ x L 15.25″ bag. Again, where is this cost premium everyone is talking about to “go green”?

The Tempo is a solid marketing choice for any Ecopreneurist focusing on a number of audiences such as the urban commuter, the college crowd, or even forward looking IT firms.

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This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

The new Recycled Walking Enthusiast Kit from Gemline is another example of the promotional items market getting a better handle on the customer base that many Ecopreneurists are targeting with eco-friendly promotion - read that as active, professional, urban.

The Recycled Walking Enthusiast Kit is a great little mix of form and function, providing an easy sling style carrying case for a stainless steel water bottle, wallet, music player (including earphone outlet), key, map, cellphone, in short all those little things that often need to be carried when your client is out for a little exercise.

The sling is made from 51% recycled PET fabric with an overall size of 5″L 10″H 3″W. Unfortunately the included stainless steel water bottle is not available with decoration, which would have been a nice touch. The sling can hold a 3″ x 3″ screen printed logo. Read the rest of this entry »

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Simonetta Freelance, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy (see proformagreen.com). John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

Gemline -  one of the lions of the promotional items industry - is introducing a number of new items featuring recycled cotton. This is a material that seems to have first been used for apparel items.

What does recycled cotton mean to Gemline? They sent me four points in way of a definition.

1. Recycled cotton is made from the post-industrial cotton material collected from weaving mills.
2. Recycled cotton benefits the environment by reducing the fresh raw cotton consumption, it is also cost effective for the customer.
3. 85% of the fabric content is recycled cotton and 15% is polyester.
4. The 85% recycled cotton material is recyclable.

One item in this line that I would like to point out to Ecopreneurists is the Recycled Cotton Apron Kit. This complete apron kit is touted as “the perfect gift for the “green” chef” and includes an 8 oz recycled cotton apron, detachable bottle opener, padded oven mitt and towel (not of recycled materials). Lots of front pockets for storage and of course the unit is machine washable.

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“Empower people in the US to realize that they have power to influence the global economy through their purchasing choices.” That isn’t some pie-in-the-sky wistful, unrealistic dream. That inspiring vision forms the Earth Mission, that driving force behind World of Good as they aim to transform how we shop by connecting us directly that individual who made our product, even if they are half-way around the globe.

Fostering an economy based on social and economic justice, World of Good, launched by co-founders Priya Haji and Siddharth Sanghvi — just after they graduated from University of California Berkeley Business School — features unique gifts and handcrafts from artisan communities around the world. By selling through an ever-expanding distribution network of retailers nationwide, they are building a whole new economy based on Fair Trade.

Ten percent of their profits get funneled to their sister non-profit organization, The World of Good Development Organization, which helps support artisan communities and works to strengthen international fair wage standards.

“Our aim is to make it easy to help customers make a good choice — not to buy more, but to buy differently,” explains Priya. “They can expect quality, convenience and style — yet the products can be made in a way that actually helps the people who make them. Right now, our products are women’s accessories and housewares. As World of Good grows, our aim is to make the choice for people-positive products easy to find in every category of daily life. We want every human-made product to be a tool of relationship and empowerment for the person who crafted it. Imagine every product not as a material thing but as a bridge of connection and transformation.” Read the rest of this entry »