This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of 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.
Sort of following up on the point Maryanne Conlin Milker made in her article Consumers Want Proof It’s Green But Where Do They Look?, I wanted to touch on the use of facts to help Ecopreneurists reach their intended audiences.
As a practical example let’s talk about one of the 100 extra emails I got today that I did not delete.
It was from the promotional products division of ThermaServ/Betras, one of the manufacturers we work with. All the body of the email said was “Did you know Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour?” and included an image of their 34oz. Classic Insulated Green Line mug and 20oz. Wide Body Green Line mug.
It worked. It got my attention. And trust me I get a lot of emails on green items.
It seems way back on April 1, 2008 Thermo-Serv/Betras launched their green initiative, “Reduce, Refill, Recycle, Rethink”, a campaign focused on “educating their customers to the environmental benefits of utilizing refillable drinking containers”.
In addition to its everyday support of refillable drinking containers, Thermo-Serv/Betras has also introduced new Green Line mugs made from recycled materials, featuring double-wall insulation, ergonomically designed handles for comfort, and one-color printing with high-gloss finish. EQP on the 34oz. Classic Insulated Green Line mug is $2.90 and $3.75 on the 20oz. Wide Body. These items are #5 recyclable material.
The next thing that impressed me was that when I asked Thermo-Serv where that statistic came from, they immediately wrote back and provided what I would consider a reputable source, the website of the Clean Air Council. Continue reading
Adventures in Green Marketing 