San Francisco-based Social Imprints (asi/164607) is going green – unveiling a new threefold sustainability initiative.

The Bay Area promotional products distributor, which operates as a “fair chance employer” with 80% of its workforce considered at-risk, strives to be a force for positive change. Kevin McCracken, co-founder and chief operating officer, said he believes his company’s new initiative is one of the most comprehensive green initiatives in the industry. “While no eco-friendly solution is perfect, we’re proud to be a cleaner and greener promotional products option for our customers,” McCracken added. “Social Imprints is setting the standard for sustainability in the industry.”

The first prong of Social Imprints’ initiative is an extensive, curated product catalog of eco-friendly promo. Each offering either reduces water use, carbon emissions or traditional plastic waste, has a one-for-one charity model and/or contributes profits to an environmental cause, according to the distributor. By 2024, Social Imprints aims to make more than 75% of its supply chain environmentally conscious and comprised of socially responsible suppliers. The distributor’s 400-page sustainability catalog features an array of product categories that includes apparel, bags, drinkware, outdoor and tech.

Social Imprints has pledged to plant 40,000 mangrove trees at this site in Kenya, through a partnership with veritree. (Photo courtesy of veritree)

Social Imprints has also partnered with veritree, a company that says it connects businesses with verified tree planting projects to create local jobs, sequester carbon and restore ecosystems. As part of its partnership, Social Imprints has pledged to plant 40,000 mangrove trees in Mombasa, Kenya this year. Each tree planted sequesters about 1 ton of carbon, helping to offset the carbon footprint created by the swag Social Imprints sells. The tree planting is also expected to generate 260 workdays for locals who plant and care for the mangroves.

“Trees change people’s lives,” said David Luba, co-founder of veritree and tentree, an earth-friendly apparel company that has products available to the promo industry through Top 40 supplier PCNA (asi/78897). “Through job provision, food security, habitat restoration and more, reforestation can, if done correctly, serve as one of our most scalable, reliable tools for combating climate change and positively affecting the world.”

The distributor’s customers will be able to track their positive contributions through a shareable database Social Imprints plans to create. Social Imprints said it plans to “gift” trees to customers, which will help clients improve their own sustainability metrics.

Social Imprints is implementing a customer portal so its clients can track their progress toward meeting sustainable development goals.

The final pillar of Social Imprints’ sustainability initiative is to generate a community engagement score for clients. The score, accessible via a customer portal, represents a real-time comprehensive evaluation of each customer’s social and environmental impact, according to the distributor. The scoring system measures a variety of factors, including support for diverse vendors, eco-friendly product choices, jobs created and trees planted. The intent is to help clients gather data as they strive to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs).

“Our customers – many of which are some of the world’s largest and recognizable tech companies, such as Dropbox, Oracle and Stripe – seek not only to be at the cutting edge of tech, but help advance social and environmental progress,” said Jeff Sheinbein, CEO and co-founder of Social Imprints. “We’re excited to be able to offer this multifaceted approach to sustainability and branded swag. We look forward to partnering with them in reducing landfill and water waste, lowering our collective carbon emissions and restoring forests tree by tree.”

Social Imprints launched in 2009 as a social enterprise dedicated to giving at-risk adults a chance at employment. According to the distributor’s website, 80% of its workforce is either a formerly incarcerated person released within the last two years, a person recovering from substance abuse who’s been sober for more than two years, a high school dropout, a veteran discharged within the last five years or a person who has “been on and off public assistance.”

Sheinbein has said that the promotional products industry serves as the perfect entry point to help people transition into white-collar work: “It covers everything – graphic arts, sales, marketing, business development,” he noted.

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