Earth Day 2008: Organic Wear at Earthfair

Organic wear's promotion at the 2008 EarthFair demonstrates how effective a mascot costume can be at drawing attention. The model, clothed in a leaves and flowers costume was continually swarmed by curious passers by asking about the company and their products.

The company was promoting their line of cosmetics, which is made from 100% cruelty-free vegan ingredients and is certified organic by ECOCERT. Those looking to live a greener, more eco-conscious life will also be pleased to know that all their products are recyclable.

PG&E Solar-Powered

The Pacific Gas & Electric Company have put a new twist on solar powered promotions with an unique billboard promoting their clean and renewable energy initiatives. The billboard, advertising their CSR website at www.wecandothis.com, is the first solar-powered billboard in the United States.

Roofed with 20 solar panels, the billboard is said to generate more energy than it uses everyday, allowing the company to proudly proclaim that it isn't a just a billboard, but also a power plant. The short and succinct copy is a remarkably simple and effective way to promote PG&E's environmentally friendly policies.

(Via: greenworldads)

Eco Word: Biodegradable (Part 2)

Way back in December of last year, we did a piece on biodegradable promotional products featuring latex balloons. Well we are back again with another biodegradable promotional feature, this time with a product that has a bit more oomph in sheer wow factor: promotional sanitary wipes.

Now, I know what you must be thinking now: How can a sanitary wipe possibly be considered cool or impressive? Well what makes this particular promotional sanitary wipe amazing is the unique way it is packaged and presented. Each wipe is compressed into a disc-shaped size not much bigger than a nickel. But, add a few drops of water and it expands into a full sized roll measuring 8.6" by 9.8".

The unique presentation of these wipes ensure that they will be a memorable promotion for your clients. The wipes are especially well suited for trade shows and conventions or sponsored company luncheons and dinners. These 100% natural wipes will help keep hands clean between the meet and greets and best of all, they are completely biodegradable.

Keep The Sea Clean

The Emirates Environmental Group of Dubai have put a new twist on promotional food advertising with their latest series of eco-promotion print ads. The ads feature three easily recognizable seafood dishes: shellfish, sushi and fish, but with some disturbing alterations. The sauce on the fish appears to be crude oil, some of the shellfish are actually bottle caps and the seaweed around the sushi have been replaced with disposable plastic bags.

The copy on the ads states that "What goes around comes around. Keep the sea clean" -- reminding readers to help prevent pollution and littering. Do your part with promotional reusable shopping bags and reduce the amount of disposable plastic bags that may find their way into the seas and oceans.

(Via: adsoftheworld)

Eco Tip: Build CSR With Eco-friendly Promotions

Developing green credentials is rapidly becoming the most popular way for a company to demonstrate corporate social responsibility, but we have seen bitter accusations that many of those companies professing to be eco-friendly are doing little more than paying lip-service to green ideals. Whether this is true or not, a survey conducted by Ceridian may make CSR doubters and backsliders sit up and take notice.

The survey results, published last year, indicates that having truly green credentials may work strongly in your favor in the constant bidding war for new talent. Nearly 70% of the respondents surveyed felt that it is important for their company to be environmentally responsible and 57% wish their company would do more.

However, the truly eye-popping results are those relating to employee satisfaction and loyalty. Out of all respondents, 35% stated that receiving green benefits would increase their loyalty to their employer and an astounding 32% of those aged 16-24 would even go so far as to change jobs to move to a greener company.

In light of these findings, companies may wish to re-evaluate their opinions on how much CSR can benefit them on the business end. Several companies have already taken the green benefits plunge, among them Clif Bar & Co., Green Mountain Energy Co. and NRG Systems.

Each of these companies offer some form of green incentive to employees for practicing environmentally friendly lifestyles. These rewards include stipends for spending on energy-smart alternatives, subsidizing the purchase of fuel-efficient cars and giving out promotional eco-friendly products.

Ice-Made Animals

The Colombian branch of Conservation International commissioned this promotional event in Bogota to raise awareness of melting polar ice caps. The promotional event placed ice sculptures of polar animals at the busiest public parks in the city. The ice sculptures naturally melted in the warm Colombian weather, resulting in a short-lived, but extremely poignant metaphor of the global warming situation.

The promotional decal affixed in front of the sculptures directed onlookers to the organization's website and was highly successful in increasing the number of supporters, garnering at least 1,500 emails inquiring about action plans for the prevention of global warming.

(Via: directdaily)

Friends of the Earth - The Big Bang

Here's another eco guerrilla campaign that uses biodegradable balloons as the medium for conveying a message. Members of BUND, the German "Friends of the Earth" organization wanted to demonstrate the harmful effects of carbon dioxide from car emissions.


Seeking out areas with high foot traffic, they affixed balloons designed to look like the Earth and imprinted with the words "The world can't take anymore CO2" on car exhaust pipes. The emissions inflate the balloon until it destroys the replica Earth, creating a loud attention-grabbing bang in the process.


(Via: Osocio)

Eco Tip - Top 3 Reasons To Use Eco-friendly Balloons

Balloons are a great way to make a lasting impression and powerful impact when used to promote your message. Great for trade shows, new product launches and giveaways, eco-friendly balloons are an all around must for any type of promotion. Below are a few of the many reasons you should use eco-friendly balloons in your next promotion.

1. Ideal for price sensitive promotions, eco-friendly balloons are one of the cheapest and most effective types of promotions available.

2. Impress printing technology guarantees a crisp clear imprint of your message on the balloon. Eco-friendly balloons are available in 8 vibrant colors that are sure to attract attention and ensure that your message is seen from as far as the eyes can see.

3. Balloons are loved by everyone, especially children, but it is also important to satisfy your eco-friendly consumers. These ecological consumers who may be concerned about post-balloon waste can rest assured that your eco-friendly balloons are biodegradable, and that your promotion/company can do no harm to the environment!

Ecological Product of the Week: Hand-Powered LED Key Lights

Back in March I talked about the usefulness of hand-powered flashlights during the Earth Hour ecological promotion. The problem with these flashlights is that they are a bit too big to be easily carried around for everyday use and like most bulb-based flashlights, they are prone to burning out unexpectedly.

Luckily, I have found something that remedies both of those problems: the hand-powered LED key light. LEDs were once too weak to be of practical use and tended to come in colors that are not conductive for increasing visibility. However, the technology has since improved to the point where many types of LEDs are superior to filament bulbs.

These new LEDs are extremely bright and can be very white in color, but their main advantages over bulbs is their average lifespan, operating temperature and power consumption. At an average lifespan of 100,000 hours, they dwarf incandescent bulbs in longevity. Add in the much lower operating temperatures and energy consumption and the result is a superior flashlight that will last longer before needing another recharge.

With their tiny form factor -- smaller than the palm of your hand, these promotional LED key lights will be an ideal giveaway for eco-promotions.

World Wildlife Foundation - Drive One Day Less

Reports of China's attempts at improving their air quality in time for the Beijing Olympics have been making the rounds on Internet news sites lately. You may have heard of some of the drastic measures they have been trying, which includes weather manipulation techniques like cloud seeding. Given the controversial and untested nature of those methods, I can't help but feel that their efforts are a waste of resources.

Meanwhile, the World Wildlife Foundation have not been sitting idle and their efforts, which is aimed more at changing destructive habits, may prove to be more effective. This eye-catching outdoor promotion featured a gigantic promotional balloon, which is actually inflated by the emissions from a car. The imprinted message informed passersby to "Drive one day less and look how much carbon monoxide you'll keep out of the air we breathe."

Why Are Retailers Excited About Reusable Tote Bags?

While going eco-friendly may have its own karmic rewards, we all know that the "green" most businesses care about is the color of money. Since reusable shopping bags can be more expensive to implement than the ubiquitous paper and plastic alternatives, it's a wonder why any businesses ever chose to use them.

Yet, such practices are becoming increasingly common -- many of the savvier grocery chains have already been on the reusable shopping bag bandwagon for several years...so we must ask: what do these companies know that we don't?

It helps that we are currently experiencing another upswing in the environmentally-friendly movement, but these businesses have been doing this for years. We must not kid ourselves that they are doing it solely out of of a sense of magnanimity...as with all smart businesses, the bottom line matters a good deal. The truth is, honoring reusable shopping bags in their stores, even if they are branded with a competitor's logo, is simply good business sense.

For many grocery stores, which typically operate on very slim margins, the savings in not having to supply large quantities of plastic and paper bags can be quite significant -- enough that some retailers have even gone so far as to offer discounts for all purchases where the shopper bought their own bags.

Implementation of this eco-friendly practice may not even be all that expensive. Many of those chains actually sell the bags rather than providing them free of charge. The discounts, while minute does add up over time, so consumers, for the most part, have been responding enthusiastically.

In fact, some of those bags were so popular with consumers that they sold out within minutes of their introduction -- with shoppers even squabbling over who got the last bag. With consumer reactions that favorable, this is one particular "green" bandwagon you will want to get on.

Greenpeace Diver

To raise awareness of global climate change issues, Greenpeace conducted this attention-grabbing promotional stunt in China. A Greenpeace stuntman was outfitted in a scuba diving costume and winched down the side of a building, which was altered by what appears to be a video projection to look like it was underwater.

The Greenpeace stuntman was then moved around against the side of the building, all the while making swimming motions. The stunt managed to convey the message that ocean levels will continue to rise if people don't take action.

(via:Social Ads)