Wow, these are catch-all terms that are ready to be taken advantage of by liars and thieves.
We had a client recently that proclaimed they were reselling 3M post it notes made of recycled paper in all colors under the rainbow.
We have worked closely with 3M as a post it note distributor for years. 3M only offers one color of recycled content paper.
Our potential client stated they could get all colors in 3M post it note pads and cubes with recycled content.
Thought I knew better, I spoke with 3M, and that is simply not the case.
The client said another distributor would put in writing that all paper colors were recycled content.
I offered to give them a phone a number to 3M, or have our rep. at 3M call them. Client declined.
So what’s better, to have someone tell you what you want to hear or to get the truth? This client preferred not to hear the truth; we prefer not to sell our souls.
Another client this week wanted recycled content Flash Drives. These are also known as thumb drives, usb drives etc.
We were able to offer the same recycled content memory sticks at half the price.
The trouble was that the competition was offering to plant a tree for each memory stick purchased.
Since our price was half the price of the competition, and the client insisted on having trees planted, I priced out seedling spruce trees and was able to offer the memory stick and a seedling evergreen for 75% less than the “competition”!
Further, I found a local land owner, a church, a school and a nursing home all willing to accept the gift of the trees and plant them in the spring.
Our environmentally-conscious client wanted to order now, and get a certificate stating the trees had been planted.
I explained that planting seedling trees in the winter will result in possibly zero trees, because they cannot establish roots when the ground is frozen.
I then explained that if they wanted to get what they wanted: recycled content printed USB drives and planted trees, I could get them a certificate stating the trees would be planted in April or May 2008.
I really do not know how much more accommodating we can be.
Our main objective is to sell reasonably priced promotional products with our client’s imprint or printed message.
The client could easily take their 75% savings and plant trees on their own in the spring.
Apparently, they wanted a feel-good deal and trees planted immediately, despite that most -if not all- would die due to lack of roots.
ImprintItems.com will work with you, we will give you honest answers regarding environmentally sound promotional product campaigns.
We will not tell you something is made of recycled content if it is not!
If you want trees planted, we can build that in to the project cost.
We will not pretend that it’s a freebie we offer and then jack up our original prices.
For that matter, we can ship seedlings to you to plant.
If need be, we will buy some acreage, and plant trees there on your behalf.
We will not plant them in winter to watch them shrivel up and die in spring.
Come on Eco conscious consumers of promotional products, use some common sense!
