Is it possible to gift branded items that align with your company’s sustainability values and goals? The short answer is yes. The effects of climate change are becoming more pronounced each year – remaining oblivious comes at a global price. In an environment where every little counts, just imagine the huge impact if companies were to move to more sustainable corporate gifts. 

In this blog post, we’ll break down why it’s important to move to sustainable corporate gifts, what makes a gift sustainable, and how we can help you get access to corporate gifts that are equally awesome and planet-friendly.

Why you should switch to sustainable gifts

Choosing sustainable corporate gifts is a smart move for the environment and your brand. 7 in every 10 consumers believe that brands have an obligation to improve societal and environmental issues. In your choice of gifts, you’re basically integrating your company’s values – it’s useless marketing your environmental focus if you then gift resource-heavy swag. Or gifting stress balls when you prioritize a healthy work-life balance. In short, the corporate gifts you select are a representation of your company and what it stands for.

Additionally, when properly curated, promotional and branded gifts can boost the employee’s connection with your brand, as well as customer loyalty and brand recognition. Your employees and clients would be proud to use the product, adding to your brand’s visibility. This is worlds away from the useless junk that finds itself in the dumpster in a matter of hours.

What makes a sustainable corporate gift?

Practicality

For years, employees and customers have been inundated with useless, cheaply-made branded items. Who doesn’t have random, branded things lying in the junk drawer?

To identify the practicality of an item, you must first get to know the recipients. Is the product something your employees or clients need or consistently use? What are they into? What’s their lifestyle like? As a (somewhat far fetched) example – gifting a branded, extremely sustainable ashtray to your overwhelmingly health conscious team isn’t the best idea.

Eco certifications

Just because a product has eco-friendly plastered all over it doesn’t mean it actually is. Many companies claim to produce eco-friendly products, but instead ‘greenwash’. Greenwashing is when a company presents misleading information to persuade consumers that the product is environmentally friendly, when it isn’t. To find out if an item is really sustainable, look out for reputable certifications, including certified B corporations, Fair Trade certified or the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). 

Reuse opportunities

For an item to be continually reused, quality is key. As an example, it’s useless gifting a travel mug only for it to start leaking after a couple of uses. Not only will it end up in the bin, you’d also have a very frustrated client or employee with a ruined bag, clothes or seat.

Same applies for more popular items such as pens. We all appreciate a good pen, but not when it stops working after a couple of uses or the ink frustratingly cuts off. 

Green Packaging – or none at all

Where sustainability is concerned, the packaging is as important as the gift. Consider the package’s lifespan and material used – is it really needed? While plastic and other toxic material may be cost-saving in the short run, the effects on the planet are too detrimental.

It’s time to move to sustainable corporate gifts

Sustainable corporate gifts are the future. While it may feel difficult to organize the switch, there are plenty of options for brands willing to make the move. Many gift options are also surprisingly affordable, so there’s no need to overhaul your entire budget.

At Ciloo, we can help you make more conscious, environmentally-friendly choices in your gift strategy. The Ciloo platform is integrated with carefully selected corporate gift vendors and their systems, your procurement and accounting tools and logistics systems, making it easy for your brand to choose sustainable, practical and quality gifts every time – and with total cost control. 

Get in touch with us to see how we can facilitate your switch to sustainable gifting.