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Bamboo Wireless Charging Desk Clock

27 Oct

Bamboo Wireless Charging Desk Clock is new for 2021, is made of FSC Certified Bamboo, and features the option of Laser or Digital Inkjet imprinting of your logo.

Laser decoration is the suggest better method, with a laser used to directly etch the artwork into each item.

From the manufacturer, “The Bamboo Wireless Charging Desk Clock can be used on any desk, end table or night stand. The top surface has a 5W wireless charging pad for compatible devices. The clock has an alarm function, can show temperature in either Fahrenheit or Celsius and display three different levels of light brightness. One additional USB output 5V/1.5A for charging through a cable. If you want to charge an iPhone series before iPhone 8 with wireless technology, an external wireless charging receiver or receiver case is required. It works with most plastic phone cases on. Includes 39″ USB to Type C charging cable. Packaged in a FSC certified premium gift box.”

The Bamboo Wireless Charging Desk Clock is another example of a traditional product design being recreated using a bamboo instead of traditional plastic. Bamboo is a more sustainable material, and of course it will break down after useful life much quicker than plastic.

The Bamboo Wireless Charging Desk Clock is a great giveaway item for home based employees and clients, as it allows your brand to enter your audiences home, bedroom, and work space. With ever glace at the time, your audience will be reminded of your brand.

If you are interested in this product to promote your own business, or if you wish to see some samples, email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

And as always, if you really want to do something sustainable, do not buy promotional products. All products are consumption at one level or another. So if you must buy, 1) Buy local (i.e. made in USA), 2) Buy useful, long lasting items, 3) Buy sustainable/recycled/recyclable products if possible.

Speaker made from Wheat Straw – Why not?

14 Jan

Great full color speak top imprint.

Strong gift box vibe.

Easily portable.

The new Frenzy Wheat Straw Bluetooth Speaker from PCNA is another example of promotional items made from wheat straw mixed with polypropylene. This new material is being used for more and more items in the promotional products market, however these is the first speaker I have seen.

Description from the vendor;

The Frenzy Wheat Straw Bluetooth Speaker got your attention. The Frenzy Bluetooth Speaker case is made from 51% wheat straw, giving it a natural on trend look! The speaker produces crystal clear sound at over 1.5hrs at max volume. The instruction manual and giftbox of the Frenzy Bluetooth Speaker is made from FSC Certified recycled paper. Bluetooth Version 5.0. Through a partnership with 1% For The Planet, one percent of sales of this and all EcoSmart products will be donated to nonprofits dedicated to protecting the planet

I love the full color imprinting possible on these speakers. I am also a fan of the included packaging. And once again, this is another product that is part of the 1% For The Planet partnership.

The speakers are beige only (but again they have full color decoration on top) which is a neutral color that works with most company logos. Their size is 1.96″ H X 2.2″ W X 2.2″ D.

How does the Frenzy Wheat Straw Bluetooth Speakesound. Really good actually. Go ahead and request a sample, and let us give you a chance to hear the sound for yourself.

If you are interested in these products to promote your own business, or if you wish to see some samples, email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

And as always, if you really want to do something sustainable, do not buy promotional products. All products are consumption at one level or another. So if you must buy, 1) Buy local (i.e. made in USA), 2) Buy useful, long lasting items, 3) Buy sustainable/recycled/recyclable products if possible.

 

My New Answer: Mike Biddle

14 Oct

People ask us all the time. Where do the recycled materials come from that end up in the sustainable products our industry sells, and I write about on this bog. I used to have a long answer for that question. I now have a short answer. Mike Biddle. Here is Mr. Biddle talking at TEDGlobal 2011. These is an amazing story and a great way to rethink recycling.

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From TED: Throwing water bottles into the recycling bin doesn’t begin to address the massive quantity of postconsumer plastic that ends up in landfills and the ocean. Because it’s so difficult to separate the various kinds of plastics – up to 20 kinds per product – that make up our computers, cell phones, cars and home appliances, only a small fraction of plastics from complex waste streams are recycled, while the rest is tossed. In 1992, Mike Biddle, a plastics engineer, set out to find a solution. He set up a lab in his garage in Pittsburg, California, and began experimenting with complex-plastics recycling, borrowing ideas from such industries as mining and grain processing.

Since then, Biddle has developed a patented 30-step plastics recycling system that includes magnetically extracting metals, shredding the plastics, sorting them by polymer type and producing graded pellets to be reused in industry – a process that takes less than a tenth of the energy required to make virgin plastic from crude oil. Today, the company he co-founded, MBA Polymers, has plants in China and Austria, and plans to build more in Europe, where electronics-waste regulation (which doesn’t yet have an equivalent in the US) already ensures a stream of materials to exploit – a process Biddle calls “above-ground mining.”

He says: “I consider myself an environmentalist. I hate to see plastics wasted. I hate to see any natural resource – even human time – wasted.”

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EMERGENCY SELF-CHARGING DYNAMO

6 Aug

EMERGENCY SELF-CHARGING DYNAMO

There is no getting around the fact that the last few months have seen some really terrible weather in the U.S.  Floods, fires, tornadoes, all have been issues in the first half of 2011.

Something that often proves invaluable in bad weather situations is a good radio, preferably with a shortwave (SW) band.

The Emergency Self-Charging Dynamo from Sweda is a good example of a small, portable, self-charging emergency radiothat at the right place, and at the right time, can go way beyond “just another promo item”.

The Emergency Self-Charging Dynamo from Sweda features a sleek metallic silver case and a matte black rubberized body. The radio also contains a three bulb LED flashlight. Both the radio and the flashlight run off an internal wind-up generator, so the Emergency Self-Charging Dynamo will never need batteries.

The imprint area of the Dynamo is 3/8″H x 2-1/4″W smack on the center front of the unit, total size of the unit is a very portable 3”H x 6”W x 2”.

If you are a credit union in Tornado Alley still handing out toasters, I suggested you think about switching to the Emergency Self-Charging Dynamo from Sweda. The Dynamo is also a good fit for storm awareness programs or organizations promoting weather awareness and educational programs.

If you are a distributor and want more information on the Emergency Self-Charging Dynamo from Sweda contact Lakisha Higgins, Sweda Strategic Accounts. If you would like to purchase this item for your own business please contact your local promotional items provider or email info@proformagreen.com for pricing and samples.

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EcoSphere® Enters Promotional Industry

21 Apr


For over 25 years the EcoSphere® has been praised as both a living work of art and an ecological educational tool. “The Original EcoSphere® is the world’s first totally enclosed ecosystem – a complete, self-contained and self-sustaining miniature world encased in glass.”

Now these incredible items are available with a custom laser engrave of your logo or organization name, which brings them into the awards category of the promotional products industry. I consider them as an eco-friendly promotional item not for their construction, but for their educational role.

Think about it, a single, enclosed living system that’s mere presence is a constant miniature reminder of the incredible balance required for life on our very planet. Or less highbrow, a company can basically spend $50 on a plaque or the same money on this incredibly unique living artwork.

The use of the EcoSphere® as an award for Ecopreneurist working in education, natural science, preservation and education areas are all good ideas. Ecopreneurists who work in the resort and spa industries might also want to take a look at the EcoSphere® as a branded signage as exhibition size EcoSphere® can be scaled to nearly any size.

Inside each EcoSphere are active micro-organisms, small shrimp, algae and bacteria, each living in a solution of filtered sea water. Because these are self-sustaining ecosystems, the units simply need a source of indirect natural or artificial light to thrive. And since the living organisms within the EcoSphere utilize their resources without overpopulating or contaminating their environment, the EcoSphere requires virtually no maintenance.

Sizing options on standard promotional EcoSpheres are medium sphere (5.25” dia EQP $120),  small pod (5.25” tall EQP $48), small sphere (4” dia EQP $48), large sphere (6.5” dia $185 EQP), and large pod (7.25” tall EQP $120), extra large sphere (9” dia EQP $440).

Pictures do not do this item justice. They are alive and amazing.

If you are an ASI member with questions Chris Kose is the contact to talk to.  If you are interested in the EcoSphere® to promote your own business contact your local promotional items vendor or email info@proformagreen.com for information and pricing.

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POKEN Go Beyond Flash Drives

15 Dec

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 green argument for flash drives goes something like this: Flash drives are a great way to get a lot of information to clients without having the need to print and ship thousands of pieces of paper. (And if they are made from eco-friendly materials all the better).

For example, think about a large conference, say with 10,000 attendees over four days. Printing and shipping all the information, schedules, data-sheets, presentations, and white papers for such an event is a huge cost to the budget and the environment. Why not just put it all on a flash drive, in a format that all the attendees can easily store, carry and share?

It is a good argument, however the POKEN allows us to take the idea to the next level. POKEN looks like a flash drives and sort of work the same way, as a tool with which to share data. The difference is that when two POKEN touch each other they copy – for lack of a better word – each other’s information.

Continue reading →

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Order Portals save Time, Money, Fuel and Headaches

12 Oct

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

Not all the changes in the promotional products industry relate to actual products. New technologies are starting to make their way into our industry as well.

The neatest thing I have seen lately is the new concept of order portals from companies like Creative Merchandise, LLC, based in California.

Client Order Portals are custom web ordering platforms to make ordering promotional items even easier as they allow companies like ours to display our client’s logos on actual in stock merchandise in real time.

Why is that green? The number one question we get is how is a logo going to look on X item.

In the far past the only way to address this question was to develop a spec sample, i.e to run one item to serve as a sample for the hundreds of, say, coffee mugs to follow. Today we often run .pdf proofs instead of spec samples, but there are still thousands of spec samples being done in our industry.

The problem is that to run something even as simple as one mug spec sample is the same process as running 10,000 mugs. We use the same big machines, same screens, same setup but all that work and energy produce only one item.

It is like using a bulldozer to plant a single flower bulb in your front yard. Continue reading →

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Eco Button, Ideas From PPAI Tradeshow

9 Oct

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

This is a short video we took of Robert De Veau with Hirsch Gift showing the Eco Button at the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) event in Fort Worth last weekend.

Initially I stopped at the Hirsch Gift booth to discuss their new line of bamboo and PET flash drives – yes another vendor is entering the green flash drive market – but then Robert showed me the Eco Button.

The idea is basic. How many hundreds of computers are in your average office block? How many hours are those computers on during the day when people are not using them? Continue reading →

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100% Recycled PVC Flash Drives, Ideas from PPAI Tradeshow

6 Oct

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There were a number of green and eco-friendly flash drives on display at the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) event in Fort Worth last weekend including the T530 Riclado made from 100% Recycled PVC and show at the event by Hirsch Gift.

Hirsch lists these items as being made from post-consumer materials that have completed their life cycle and would otherwise have been disposed of as solid waste.

Hirsch also points out the T530 casing is manufactured with post-consumer recyclables collected in commercial & residential recycling programs. That is a nice touch for Ecopreneurists looking for a local tie-in.

Of course I am assuming the PVC is a fungible commodity so although the PVC comes from commercial & residential recycling programs there is no telling if they come from your local commercial & residential recycling programs.

Like most flash drives the T530 is RoHS compliant.

Hirsch was also showing off their cherry wood and bamboo drives.

Hirsch was not alone in showcasing eco-friendly drives at the event as other manufactures including All-in-One also where there to display new drives. This week I also got information on over 20 new bodies available in rosewood, maple and bamboo from U.S. Flash & Technologies.

It looks like eco-friendly flash drives are here to stay and options will continue to increase in availability. I expect an industry wide price drop to come sooner than later.

For more information on these drive visit the manufacturers websites or look at our overview page at www.proformagreen.com.

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Use A Flash Drive; Save A Tree; Ignite A Flash Drive War

12 Sep

Bamboo drive

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

If you are planning an event or teaching program that involves a lot of data please save a tree and use a flash drive.

At less than 8oz a 1GB flash drive can hold more information that 100 twenty-page teaching manuals. Use a promotional items company like ProformaGreen for your drives and we can print your logo, event name, even class title on the side of the drive.

Flash drives are easy to use and no one ever throws them away. They may erase your info but the drive will survive with your information printed on the shell. A great marketing item.

And now for the zinger, the flash memory wars are on again. Continue reading →

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