Companies of all sizes are mandating that they “go green” and are trying to become a responsible corporate citizens by reducing their carbon footprint. However, as I attend and exhibit at shows throughout the year, I continue to see business missing out on opportunities to practice better green stewardship and improved sustainability.

Thinking green should become an every day thought process for all employees – not just for executives or those in the “environmental/sustainability” department. Green should be encouraged all day, much as safety is practiced at manufacturing plants all day long— at work, at home and in the car.

Here are six simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint at your next trade show.

1) Stop with All Those Print Catalogs
Leave your 16 and 32-page catalogs home. Nobody wants to lug them around the trade show floor and they cost a fortune to ship (to say nothing of the exorbitant drayage charges).

Better, you can make up a double-sided single-page flyer highlighting show specials, new features, your blog, website, etc. Then, for those interested parties, you can drop the requested catalogs in the mail, so they will arrive soon after they return back to their office, not in a 25-pound pile at the bottom of a tote bag. Of course, you can stash a handful of your big catalogs in the back of your booth for those clients that threaten you unless you present them with a full-line catalog.

Another option is to bring digital versions of your catalog—either on CD’s or, better yet, on USB flash drives. These can be branded with your logo, and can be made of recycled material—and come in sizes up to 4 MB.

2) Give Away Green Promotional Products
I was at a recycling show a few weeks ago and saw exhibitors giving away rubber light up balls, plastic doodads and the like. I like yo-yos than make whirring noises as much as the next guy, but there are thousands of green-friendly promotional products, or swag that you can choose from that will have a greater impact on your customers and prospects. Practice what you preach…and give away imprinted eco-friendly advertising specialties that are either reusable, recyclable, biodegradable or organic. Functionality, like water bottles and tote bags, are also a plus.

3) Lighten the Load
As mentioned in Rule #1, by reducing the size of your paper handouts, you will drastically cut your freight bill, and reduce energy consumption.

Also, consider lighter trade show displays. I often take pop-up fabric banners and stands at my shows, which weigh under 7 pounds each—as opposed to my old pop-up exhibit that fits inside two rolling cases, which weigh about 35 pounds each. Many of my clients have switched from shipping wooden crates by freight line to shipping just a few boxes by UPS – and have not noticed any decrease in booth traffic, lead generation or sales.

4) Use Green Fabrics and Materials
From the flooring to the fabrics you use to cover the tables and in your banners and backdrops, try to stick with recyclable or recycled materials. Same goes for clothing that your booth personnel wear. Be sure all booth staff wears clothing made of natural materials. There are dozens of eco-friendly clothing options, including organic or regular cotton, bamboo, hemp, recycled cotton and other materials.

5) Car Pool and Share Rooms
When traveling, be sure to insist all personnel car pool or share taxis when traveling to and from the airport, convention centers, meals, etc. Reducing wasted energy consumption helps keep all employees thinking green all the time.

6) Donate Unused Samples and Product
Many booths decorate with flowers or plants that can be donated to a local nursing home and samples can be given away to a local hospital, charity, school or other institution, rather than shipping them back to the home office. Face it, many times the materials never come back in good condition, take too long to sort and put back in the proper location and costs too much to ship back. If you have extra catalogs, give them to your local sales rep, if possible or ship back to the nearest one.

By practicing energy saving steps, you can help to reduce your company’s carbon footprint. Here is a link to a carbon footprint calculator. Multiply the savings over the number of shows your organizations attend each year, and you can notice substantial savings.

Here’s to a greener tomorrow…today.
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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any company interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

Sports bottles have become a very popular promotional product for trade shows, outreach programs and for employee gifts, as they reduce the need for water bottles. I have written a few postings about the dangers of BPA in some water bottles, especially polycarbonate, as they allow for a softer, more flexible shape.

BPA has come under mainstream scrutiny in the past two years after medical reports had linked the chemical to cancer, heart disease, birth defects and more. A year ago the Food and Drug Administration ruled that BPA was safe in trace amounts, but it has since agreed to review its own decision. Many companies have opted to stop creating bottles with BPA as a result of the controversy and lack of consumer demand.

Imprinted stainless steel and aluminum water bottles have been one of the fastest growing segments in drinkware – noted for their sporty looks and rugged design. At EcoMarketingSolutions.com, we stay clear of any bottles that contain BPA—and mention that the bottles are BPA-free for clarity.

BPA is not only used in polycarbonate plastic bottles, but sometimes, even in aluminum bottles. I caution my clients to beware of aluminum sports bottles, as often the inner linings are coated with BPA. Aluminum, although less expensive than stainless steel, has several disadvantages when compared to stainless steel sports bottles.

Mainly aluminum bottles are subject to dinging very easily, whereas stainless can be knocked around and still hold up quite nicely. The other disadvantage is that in order to get rid of the aluminum taste and odor, a liner has to be melted in place. In stainless steel, like in stainless steel eating utensils and cookware, no coating is needed.

In fact, popular water bottle maker SIGG has revealed in a letter from its CEO that all its aluminum bottles made before August 2008 used a liner that contained bisphenol A (BPA). Reaction from its admission prompted CEO Steve Wasik to issue a second letter last Tuesday apologizing for the company’s actions. “After reading and responding to hundreds of e-mails and viewing nearly as many blog & Twitter posts, I realize that my first letter may have missed the mark,” wrote Wasik. “What I should have said simply and loudly to all of our loyal SIGG fans is: I am sorry that we did not make our communications on the original SIGG liner more clear from the very beginning.”

My recommendation is to pay the extra buck and go with stainless steel water bottles. They are more solidly constructed, will last longer than any other drinkware and are BPA-free. You can get stainless steel water bottles with or without a caribiner, depending on the demographics of your audience. Most of my clients are going with the wide-mouth water bottles, as they accept ice cubes and are easier to clean.

Water bottles are an ideal way to showcase your logo and message, as they are used over and over again. And they prevent the widespread use of single use plastic water bottles that end up in landfills. Don’t pinch pennies when it comes to drinkware. Insist that all plastic bottles are BPA-free and stick with stainless steel over aluminum.

Happy green marketing and promoting.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

Most analysts would agree that the Cash for Clunkers program for old cars was a success in terms of stimulating new car sales and in removing gas guzzlers from the road. Government estimates put the number of new cars purchased at over 500,000 vehicles. This will surely lead to reduced energy consumption over the next five to ten years, as these old cars are reduced to scrap metal, which will be recycled into new products.

This fall, the government is planning on a cash for clunkers for appliances, as the federal government has set aside $300 million for the program as part of the economic stimulus plan.

The Department of Energy hopes to encourage conservation by getting consumers to replace old, wasteful appliances with new, more efficient Energy Star certified machines.

Not only will this help to reduce energy consumption, it is also going to provide a much needed shot in the arm for the appliance industry and electronic retailers.

The main problem with this program is that, unlike the automobile program, there is no trade-in required, just rebate checks to cover everything from refrigerators and dishwashers to furnaces and air conditioners. By not mandating the products get turned in for recycling, many of these appliances will continue to be used—either as an extra refrigerator in a garage, or handed down or resold to others.

Reusing energy wasting products will not significantly reduce energy consumption, making this product more of a feel-good rebate, than an energy saving program. This will only encourage more calls by other industries for “clunker” programs-such as trade in your ugly out-dated sweater for a new style, which would certainly help clothing retailers but not really reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

Unless a government program has the requirement and enforcement of a trade in of recycling high energy consumption products for more efficient replacements, the program will be a sham.

This program will not even be the same nationwide, as each state will write its own rules for doling out the rebates. The state plans will be reviewed by the Department of Energy starting in late October, and money could start flowing to consumers by November, though some states may need a few more months to implement the program.

Consumers should check with their state’s energy department for details on when the rebates will be available. Links to information about stimulus projects by state can be found on the Energy Department’s Recovery Act Web site.

Let’s put some teeth into this new clunker program.

Here’s to a greener tomorrow…today.
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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any company interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

Every year, about 300 million tires are disposed of in this country, with nearly ten percent ending up in landfills. Thirty-five states have tire fees that aid in recycling efforts and in public awareness efforts, which has greatly increased the number of tires being recycled each year. Even the Tire Industry Association has a campaign to educate tire dealers on the importance of tire recycling.

But how are recycled tires used?

According to the Rubber Manufacturer’s Association, there are three main uses for scrap tires: tire-derived fuel (TDF), civil engineering and ground rubber.

1) Tire-Derived Fuel

TDF utilizes granulated tires in the place of traditional fuels in cement kilns, pulp and paper factories, electric utilities and various boilers. Although. TDF is not considered to be genuine recycling, nearly 52 percent of all scrap tires are used in this manner. This waste-to-energy process harnesses energy that would have otherwise been lost to a landfill.

2. Civil Engineering

Recycled scrap tires play a meaningful role in civil engineering processes, consuming 16 percent of the scrap tire available in 2005.
Tire shreds are cost-effective substitutes for traditional materials when they are used to stabilize weak soil, such as constructing road embankments or as a subgrade (below the ground level of a project) fill. Additionally, tire shreds provide effective subgrade insulation for roads, walls and bridge abutments.

Recycled scrap tires are also used in such products as:
• Erosion control
• Wetlands or marsh establishment
• Crash barriers around racetracks
• Boat bumpers in marinas
• Planters for home gardens
• Tire swings

3. Ground Rubber

Ground rubber, or “crumb” rubber, is being used to a greater extent in many states in rubberized asphalt applications and is the largest single use of recycled rubber. Its benefits include noise reduction, shorter breaking distances, reduced road maintenance and more cost-effective, durable road surfaces.

Ground rubber also serves a number of sports and recreational purposes. Used in shock-absorbing running tracks and ground cover under playgrounds, the springy and responsive nature of rubber decreases the impact of running or falling. Also added to soil under playing fields, crumb rubber improves drainage and root structure of grass. Ground rubber applications accounted for 12 percent of scrap tire use in 2005.

Recycled Tires in Promotional Products

In my role as a leader in green promotional products, I also utilize recycled tires in a number of imprinted advertising specialties., such as key tags, jar openers, mouse pads, golf balls, tote bags, floor mats, messenger bags, shaving kits, padfolios and journals, coasters and more (click here to see promotional products made from recycled tires).

These promo products all can feature a company’s logo, message and imprint, as a lasting reminder. We have used these recycled tire promotional products for hundreds of campaigns, as we do our part in practicing what we preach.

When looking for promotional products for trade shows, employee gifts or outreach campaigns, look first to recycled products. There is no better way to keep tires, plastics and other materials out of landfills than reuse.

Here’s to a greener tomorrow…today.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for any company interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.