While raising a family overseas, one distributor was inspired to embark on a mission of sustainability in the promo industry.

Michelle Sheldon, president of Eco Promotional Products (asi/185797) and a member of the ASI Media Promo for the Planet Advisory Board, spoke to fellow distributors during a Jan. 4 education session at ASI Show Orlando, entitled “Sustainability Sells: Products & Practices to Improve Your Company & Our Industry.”

Michelle Sheldon of Eco Promotional Products spoke with ASI Orlando attendees about the importance of focusing on sustainability within the promo industry.

Sheldon shared with attendees her experience living for several years in the Netherlands for her husband’s job. There, sustainability is a way of life – everyone brings reusable totes to the grocery store (single-use plastic simply isn’t available) and they have numerous recycling incentives. When she returned to the U.S., she took over Eco Promotional Products, the sustainability division of her father’s existing promo company, and made “people, planet and profit” the pillars of her eco-conscious enterprise.

“Ask yourself, does this item have a purpose?” she said, as she held up a branded beach towel from a former employer that she still uses 25 years later, and a tie-dye T-shirt from The Ohio State University she bought in 1989. “Is it made to last? What’s the lifecycle of the product?”

Sheldon with a T-shirt from The Ohio State University she bought almost 35 years ago.

Sheldon advised attendees to avoid eco offenders, such as items that contain harmful chemicals. When brainstorming with clients, she said, reconsider “dated” products (those branded with a specific date that then become obsolete after an event) and themed products with little significance. “Think longer-lasting items that can be useful,” she says. “The beach towel I still use that I received from my employer came in handy during the sales incentive trip and for many years after.”

In addition to the products themselves, distributors need to take a studied look at how they’re packaged. Customers certainly will.

“When items we order in bulk come individually polybagged, our supplier has failed us,” said Sheldon. “We’ve lost customers because of unsustainable packaging.” She also won’t sell high-end reusable items in gift boxes that contain fitted foam, which doesn’t break down in landfills. To avoid packaging pitfalls, distributors shouldn’t hesitate to ask suppliers a series of questions, such as how to eliminate plastic and foam packaging, the availability of alternative materials, and who’s responsible for getting rid of it.

Distributors also need to know how a particular item was made, and by whom. Contrary to popular belief, modern-day slavery still occurs – people are forced into working for a low wage, which keeps cost of products low. Being paid just a few cents for each unit produced (called piecework) is still a concern, even in the U.S.

“We have to question how T-shirts can be so inexpensive,” said Sheldon. “People are coerced into picking cotton so it can be cheap. That’s modern-day slavery.”

Of course, sustainability often comes with a heftier price tag, and that has to be communicated to customers at the outset. But to change the industry – and to shift consumer habits – it’s essential.

“Sell useful products, and embrace the cost increase in exchange for humanity,” said Sheldon. “We all need to work together, because my company can’t do this alone.”

Promo for the Planet is your destination for the latest news, biggest trends and best ideas to help build a more sustainable and socially-responsible industry.