Glass America has launched their new 44oz BPA free stainless steel Geyser collection. These huge stainless steel reusable bottles have an EQP of $6.99 with single color imprint. Although all Geyser bodies are finished stainless steel in color, the top accents are available in Black, Purple, Blue, Orange and Green.

At 44oz these are some of the largest stainless steel bottles on the market and will make excellent holiday gifts for any Ecopreneurist targeting the outdoor or active lifestyle set.

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Research by Sunbeam Hospitality and Andis Corporation shows that about 45% of hotel guests leave the bathroom light on as a night light while they sleep. Indeed night lights are so important to travelers that since 2003 the American Automobile Association TourBook includes the availability of night lights in their reviews of hotels.

Why? Perhaps because the National Safety Council reports that most accidents occur in the bathroom, and that poor lighting is the 6th leading cause pf accidents in the home and a major contributor to hotel room accidents. It seems that people just feel better sleeping with a light on.

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This is not something I would recommend for everyday use. However we often get questions on the strength of the non-woven reusable shopping bags that are becoming such a staple for our industry, and this image seemed a great way to explain a point.

The point is green can be tough. A reusable non-woven bag does not mean a wimpy bag.

This is a photograph sent to us by our friends at Debco showing off the strength of their NW4060 FOLDING NON-WOVEN TOTE BAG.

The motor in the photo is a 1986 model year 20HP Yamaha, checking in at a weight of 110 lbs. The photo came about via a challenge that Debco put to their employees, asking them to really put the strength of their bags to the test.

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The evolve(TM) line from Norwood seems to be doing a bit of evolving itself.

Norwood now offers two new cyclist style water bottles in the line, the evolve(TM) Sport Bottle 20 oz. and the evolve(TM) Sport Bottle 28 oz.

Both bottles are made in the USA and certified BPA free. Like the rest of the evolve(TM) line, these water bottles are made from biodegradable high density polypropylene ethylene. Both come in natural opaque or white body finish.

The bottles are listed by Norwood as biodegradable within 1 to 5 years in managed landfill, and the bottles ship with a hang-tag that can be passed on to end users to educate them about evolve(TM) and the use of biodegradable materials in general.

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As promised Ash City has really picked up their game for the 2010 season, offering more eco-friendly apparel items than most other manufacturers in the promotional items market.

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The EcoCoolie from Numo is playing dress up this Halloween with four pre-printed Halloween costume coolies, Vampire, Mummy, Witch and Frankenstein Monster.

These full color pre-printed units are a great way to give a practical, reusable Halloween promo item this season that will outlast the Halloween night itself.

The EcoCoolie line from Numo Manufacturing is made from at least 15% post-consumer recycled material. I think that is a low percentage, but it is a start and Numo gets some credit as the first vendor to market in the promotional items industry with a coolie containing any recycled materials. If anyone knows of other post-consumer coolies please let me know, as I would like to write about them as well.

The basic EcoCoolie has an EQP of $1.09. That is certainly a premium over the cost of Numo’s standard Pocket Coolie which has an EQP of $0.69, and I hope as more post-consumer recycled material coolies are sold this price will drop.

The Halloween Costume EcoCoolie actually relies on Numo’s full color imprinting process so they come in a bit higher at $2.79. But again that is for a full color, fully printed body coolie, so adding any full color logo or additional artwork to these Halloween Costume EcoCoolies is no problem.

If you are an ASI member with questions for Numo Manufacturing Tonya Luby is the woman to talk to. 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.

Readers may have noticed that in my last few posts I have been focusing on promotional items that can be used by Ecopreneurists for marketing in two rather large October events, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Halloween.

Both of these events can provide Ecopreneurists an opportunity to involve themselves in their local community, while also raising awareness of their services.

Indeed our office just donated custom printed biodegradable Halloween bags to the Denver Children’s Museum for their Trick or Treat Street event. (FYI Denver Children’s Museum is still looking for an additional 3,000 bags, if anyone is interested in sponsoring them please email me directly). I am sure every Ecopreneurist can find deserving organizations to support in their own communities.

Anyway, to help us all out with ideas, Raining Rose - the first in the promotional items industry to offer a USDA certified organic promotional lip balm - is getting ready for October by introducing several new Breast Cancer Awareness theme and Halloween theme lip balm background art wraps ready for the addition of your company’s logo and contact information (see all wraps here).

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Debco has recently released a version of the MoMA I Am Not A Paper Cup which they are calling the DA4299 COFFEE MUG and selling at an EQP of $9.73, which is nearly half the $18.08 cost of the MoMA model. Aside from the fact the DA4299 COFFEE MUG does not come in MoMA packaging and is not printed with the MoMA logo, there is nearly no difference in quality between these two models.

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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as I wrote before, from a marketing standpoint, the month of October will be filled with awareness raising events in which companies and organizations are often asked to show their support through donations of time, resources, and yes promotional items.

Here are a few more eco-friendly ideas for Ecopreneurists looking to support local Breast Cancer Awareness events and organizations with branded promotional items.

One item that groups always seem to need are gift bags, and the pre-printed non-woven Breast Cancer Awareness bags from Leeds give the Ecopreneurist a chance to donate a stylish “pink” bag at a low cost.

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Oh happy day. I cannot tell you how many clients and fellow Ecopreneurists have in the past gotten very excited about recycled material shirts just to have that excitement evaporate when they are told the shirts are produced overseas.

Well, I am very happy to announce the “discovery” of Concept Eco, which has been cutting, sewing, printing,and embroidering environmentally friendly products for over 16 years in West Palm Beach, FL. And it is Concept Eco who is offering this 50% Polyester from Post-Consumer Recycled Clear Plastic Bottles (PC RPET) & 50% Waste Cotton Tee.

The shirts come in natural and white in youth sizes small through large, and adult sizes small through 3XL. The shirts are a very high quality athletic cut, 1 x 1 rib crew neck, with double needle cover stitched sleeves and bottom hem, taped shoulder to shoulder.

All of which means it looks and feels like a t-shirt, same as any other high quality 50% poly & 50% cotton blend shirt. But this shirt was once a water bottle.

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Some quick facts about Halloween for the Ecopreneurist from American Ad Bags.

Halloween is the 2nd largest retail shopping seasonal event in the United States. Consumers [in the United States] will spend over $6 billion during the Halloween season. Over 31 million kids [in the United States] will go door to door trick-or-treating.

Ok, first I want to say I think kids should take a step back on the amount of candy consumed during this holiday. Also that the consumption level in the US during holidays like Halloween - the food, the candy, the packaging, the party favors, and all the waste produced - is more than a little out of control. And last, yes the pillow sack is the best Halloween bag out there, they are reusable, strong, and readily available in most homes. Plus they hold a lot of candy so that is great for the kids, but does bring me back to the start of this paragraph.

With all that said this is an article about promotional items and ways Ecopreneurists can use promotional items to build their business. So from that angle I want to talk about the 10 x 5 x 13 Natural Kraft Pumpkin Shopper made from 100% recycled Post-Consumer Kraft paper from American Ad Bag.

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Logomark is known in the promotional products industry for their detail towards design. In fact they do not have showrooms at Logomark, they have design centers. This attention to design is carrying over into new eco-friendly items which Logomark has started to release for the 2009/2010 season.

The new eco-friendly Ambrose Pen & Pencil set from Logomark is a great example of this combination of green promo and simple, clean design.

The set includes 2 ballpoint pens, 2 pencils and a wood sharpener in a recycled paper tube. All items in the set are made from 100% recycled paper or wood. When I look at the clean lines of this item as well as the practicality of use I think about architects and other design-based businesses that are working in green planning and construction.

At an EQP of just $1.65 with single color imprint, I think the Ambrose Pen and Pencil set is a great marketing tool for any ecopreneurist working in the field of green consultancy or as a small thank you gift for the employees of those same organizations.

If you would like to learn more about the move into eco-friendly promotional items that Logomark is making contact Dustin Smith. 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.

A number of manufacturers have started to sell pre-printed shopping bags in their eco-friendly lines. These bags have a pre-printed eco-friendly message to which the Ecopreneurists simply add their own logo.

This is a great way for Ecopreneurists to get more bang for their buck as the full color detail in these bags used to mean that a buyer would need to be doing runs in the 10,000s and pay for full imprint, full bag setups, that could have run as high as $1,000.

As an example let us look at two new bags, the PET pre-printed Jumbo Grocery Tote from Debco and the pre-printed Laminated Non-Woven Large Shopper Tote from Leeds.

The Debco PET preprinted Jumbo Grocery Tote can be ordered at as few as 50 units. Bag size is 4” W x 16” H x 7.75” D,  a size designed to replace up to four standard sized plastic bags. The bag is pre-printed pattern of three environmental messages, like “I USED TO BE A PLASTIC BOTTLE”.

As a bonus, Debco’s PET pre-printed Jumbo Grocery Tote also comes with a hang tag listing the bag’s environmental properties. The bag is SGS China certified. EQP on PET pre-printed Jumbo Grocery Tote is $3.12.

Runs of the pre-printed Laminated Non-Woven Large Shopper Tote from Leeds start higher at 288 unit runs. They feature reinforced handles and binding for added durability, plus a 10 inch drop handle height. Their pre-printed design also supports environmentally friendly themes.

The Laminated Non-Woven Large Shopper Tote is made from 100% recyclable material with an exterior label that affirms this claim.

According to Leeds the bag’s laminated material is water resistant and hand-wipeable, making it ideal for both shopping and beach trips.

The bag size is 14″ H x 6.5″ W x 16″ L and made from 110gm polypropylene (110gLamNWPP). EQP on the Laminated Non-Woven Large Shopper Tote is $2.15.

If you are ASI or PPAI and wish to learn more about the full line of eco-friendly totes at Debco contact Andrew Green. For more on what Leeds is up to contact Mary Beach.

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.

Check out this clip from the TV show THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST. In the program - which airs on the Sundance Channel Tuesdays at 9 p.m. - host Josh Dorfman is talking to the Lovin’ Cup in New York about an eco-friendly overhaul to their operations.

From the website  “In the Sundance Channel original series THE LAZY ENVIRONMENTALIST, entrepreneur and author Josh Dorfman meets with environmental skeptics — experts in fields as diverse as food, architecture and business — to prove that there are innovative, cost-effective, ecologically sound alternatives that also meet high professional standards”. I encourage all Ecopreneurists to try and catch this program if they can.

In this clip Tonia Guffey is talking to the owners of the Lovin’ Cup in New York about ways to incorporate local fresh flavors into their drinks menu. Actually it is very interesting. At the very end of this clip Josh has a surprise gift for the bar - Flat Tire™ Recycled Rubber Coasters from Americanna.

Here is a link to the clip (sorry I could not figure out how to embed the clip).

For more information on the green credentials of the Flat Tire™ Recycled Rubber Coasters from Americanna contact Michelle Stiles. 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.

Pacesetter Awards caught our attention at the Proforma 2009 Convention in Denver with their range of award plaques made from eco-friendly materials. Not only is Pacesetter Awards working with some new materials; the actual finishes, plus the multiple sizes and shapes of their products seem to place them ahead of their peers. Unfortunately none of the new line is yet on view at the Pacesetter Awards website or virtual catalog.

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I don’t golf. However selling promotional products, like caps, shirts, golf bags, golf towels and water bottles to those that do is a huge part of the promotional products industry.

Regarding eco-friendly promotional items the industry quickly moved to take care of this space with items like e.c.o apparel, organic cotton golf caps, BPA free water bottles, and even golf bags made from recycled materials.

But I don’t golf. So when I was recently asked which is the better “green” solution regarding golf tees, natural wood (from sustainable sources I would suggest) or biodegradable corn plastic, I simply did not have an answer. It was not something I had thought about and as a non-golfer I don’t know if wood or plastic is better to play off of.

So what are some of the options out there? I took a look at two basic tees.

QuickPoint - the folks with the corn plastic drinkware - also do a nice corn plastic golf tee.  Built from biodegradable corn plastic and made in the USA, these branded corn plastic golf tees run about $85 per 1000 units with a one color imprint.

QuickPoint also does a nice LINKS PAC in their Nature/ad™ line with one imprinted ballmarker and five 2 3/4″ tees for EQP $0.64. Biodegradable corn plastic comes in a number of bright colors as well as the “natural wood” finish (as shown above).

The QuickPoint LINKS PAC is actually $0.18 less per unit than the wooden FAIRWAY PAK product from Norwood that runs EQP $0.82, however the comparison is unfair in that the wooden FAIRWAY PAK is more with a total of six imprinted 2-1/8″ tees, plus two imprinted quarter marks.

Again you have the options for the assorted colors, in this case Black (as shown), Blue, Dark Blue, Natural, Red, White, and Yellow.

For Ecopreneurists working the golf scene or indeed golf events or clubs wishing to be as eco-friendly as possible I am still in the dark as to which item - corn plastic or wood - is the best way to go.

I think the real lesson here is that even at this level, from the promotional products industry, there are green options available. And that is likely a good sign for things to come.

For more on Norwood’s golf line contact Mark Goldring. If you wish to learn more on QuickPoint and their corn plastic products contact Tina VanHoogstraat.

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.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into planning for the Fall festival season, Aakron Line has expanded their Mood line of Stadium Cups, Coffee Mugs, Sport Bottles and Beer Steins made from the SAFE Plastic® .

As mentioned before Aakron’s SAFE Plastic® contains an additive that makes their manufactured plastic products biodegradable. For example while petrochemical plastics would normally take from 100 to over 500 years to “biodegrade”, Aarkon SAFE Plastic® can break down in as little as 9 months, with rates of degrading varying based on conditions, thickness of plastic, etc. For more information look to Aakron’s website.

Ok, to start with let me explain what a mood cup is. Think mood ring, think the Mod Squad, think the amazing Isaac Hayes.

The Mood line from Aakron is a number of great products perfect for the party scene. They change colors when introduced to cold or hot liquids, for example changing from basic orange to a fiery tropical red, or from plain frosted to calming blue. I wish I had video of these product as pictures really do not do the transformation justice.

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Here is a short video from the 2009 Proforma Convention in Denver. This is Pro Towels Etc’s new bamboo fiber golf towel, which they say is the first bamboo fiber golf towel introduced to the promotional items market.

Why towels? As a promotional item they have a number of advantages over shirts and caps, the items they seem to compete with the most. According to Pro Towels the advantages are:

• For Recognition - Make a huge impact with a 25″ x 50″ logo on a beach towel.  Largest imprint area amongst most other promotional products.
• For Durability - Machine washable for endless use. When was the last time you threw a towel away?
• For Leisure - Towels are used when doing fun things such as swimming, boating, golfing, etc.
• For Value - Superior value for price.
• For Style - Towels never go out of style.

For the Ecopreneurist organic cotton and bamboo towels are a great match for many summer time marketing activities like boating events, golfing events, spa weekends, etc., and they really do provide a large imprintable message area at a low cost.

If you are in the business the ASI contact to talk is Dana Zezzo at Pro Towels Etc. 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.

In this short video Craig from Independent Printing shows off their new bamboo blend print stock. This was taken at the Proforma 2009 convention so I did get a chance to touch and feel this paper. You cannot tell that this is a bamboo blend. It looks and feels and acts like “paper” and seems suitable for any print job.

Another thing to mention about Independent Printing is that their offices and press are now powered by renewable resources. Indeed they have created their own symbol to denote their products are printed with clean energy which they can add to any project coming out of their shop.

Really, when talking about green printing using green resources I think Independent Printing is quickly taking the lead position in our industry. Any custom or standard job, any size, they have the Ecopreneurist covered.

You can read a lot more about Independent Printing’s commitment to eco-friendly printing on their website.

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For those Ecopreneurists working in the great outdoors Dri-Duck Work Wear and Performance apparel has launched a line of Endangered Species Wildlife organic cotton hats available from Bodek and Rhodes among other apparel distributors.

These caps are the one size fits all variety and come in four pre-embroidered endangered species styles in specialty colors. Chestnut Brown for the Eastern Cougar, Sawdust for the Grey Wolf, Ink for the Grizzly Bear, Fatigue for the Peregrine Falcon, and Stone for the Polar Bear.

All hats are 100% Certified Organic Cotton chino twill, with a structured finish, 6-panel design and adjustable Velcro strap closure. As you can see in these images the pre-embroidery is very highly detailed. (Please select thumbnail for Hi-Res image).

There is no mention on the Bodek and Rhodes site or the Dri-Duck site as to whether any of the purchase costs of these caps goes towards funding for wildlife restoration, etc. That would have been a nice touch.

These caps should be a slam dunk for businesses, hotels and gift shops catering to outdoor enthusiasts. Also for  ecopreneurists in the travel and tourism business that are working to educate the public on these animals.

The pre-embroidered image really gives you a lot more design prowess than a standard cap, and with an EQP of $12.94 with up to 7,000 stitches of custom embroidery, the cost on this unit is very reasonable.

To learn more about these units Marc Seiler is the ASI contact to talk to at Bodek & Rhodes. 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.