Everyone is Red Hot for "green" Products

How about your local newspaper? Are they focused on local eco-friendly businesses?

Trade magazines and newspapers in the retail packaging industry are all concentrating on "Green" businesses. The local newspapers have been highlighting local manufacturers, growers and businesses trying to be enviromentally friendlier.

So how about the retailers? Don't you think if you have a custom paper or plastic shopping bag made from recycled and biodegradable materials with your name on it, use giftboxes made from 100% post consumer waste, and recycled kraft tissue that might be news worthy?

So retailers go ahead and try it. Have the packaging made and then write a press release to every newspaper within a 50 mile radius of your location, tourist publications and community websites and tell them. You will be surprised how interested an editor will be of the simplest local interest story and you will be more surprised in how many locales will respond to a news paper article.

If new packaging isn't in your budget then offer a discount to those customers bringing in their own shopping bags to take away their purchases. Tell that to the editor. I know I would come visit and make a purcase for a discount. A local grocer gave five cents back for every plastic bag I re-used on every purchase. I know I used 10 bags with most of purchases and that wasn't a huge savings but I thought it was a great attempt by the grocer.

Of course if you are in a "green" community and everyone is already doing it then it might not work. Well then you send out a press release stating you finally joined the "green" movement and some locales might visit your store because you finally came around to their way of thinking.
Watch for my next blog on how to write a press release.

Green Press Release

How about your local newspaper? Are they focused on local eco-friendly businesses? Trade magazines and newspapers in the retail packaging industry are all concentrating on "Green" businesses. The local newspapers have been highlighting local manufacturers, growers and businesses trying to be enviromentally friendlier.

So how about the retailers? Don't you think if you have a custom paper or plastic shopping bag made from recycled and biodegradable materials with your name on it, use giftboxes made from 100% post consumer waste, and recycled kraft tissue that might be news worthy?

So retailers go ahead and try it. Have the packaging made and then write a press release to every newspaper within a 50 mile radius of your location, tourist publications and community websites and tell them. You will be surprised how interested an editor will be of the simplest local interest story and you will be more surprised in how many locales will respond to a news paper article.

If new packaging isn't in your budget then offer a discount to those customers bringing in their own shopping bags to take away their purchases. Tell that to the editor. I know I would come visit and make a purcase for a discount. A local grocer gave five cents back for every plastic bag I re-used on every purchase. I know I used 10 bags with most of purchases and that wasn't a huge savings but I thought it was a great attempt by the grocer.

Of course if you are in a "green" community and everyone is already doing it then it might not work. Well then you send out a press release stating you finally joined the "green" movement and some locales might visit your store because you finally came around to their way of thinking.

Green Products - Plastic Bag insight

A person's use of a plastic check-out bag can be counted in minutes. The time it takes to get their groceries from the grocer to their homes. These bags, however, can last for hundreds of years if not recycled. Combine the growing number of plastic bags used every year with the time it takes for them to break down and you have a major environmental problem.
Whether it's inadvertent or deliberate, plastic bag litter creates many problems. Bags get blown accross country sides and city scapes and deposited in unsightly locations - trees, along beaches, in heaps on the road ways. They end up blocking drains and suffocating wildlife when eaten. In the lakes, ponds and oceans, plastic bag litter is lethal, killing thousands of whales, turtles and other sea life every year.

A new answer is available for the retailer who uses plastic bags in their store locations. Recycleable and biodegradable plastic bags made from recycled materials. All customizable and available for immediate manufacturing. There are US manufacturers who are making this bags available to retailers at the same cost as a traditional plastic bag. Up to this point, biodegradable plastic was out of most peoples financial reach because of the higher cost but not anymore.

All plastic bag using retailers should look into the cost of this possibility. Even ask your packaging distributor if your current imprint plates are usable. If they can use your plates then there might be no additional expense for you - so you can keep the green you earn in your packet while you point your business in a greener direction. You and your customer will be happier.

Green Products - Re-usable Shopping bags

High End Re-usable Shopping Bags

There are some stylish reusable bags by Pretty Green Bag . These bags are beautiful and can easily be used for shopping at the grocers or the mall, shopping at Walmart or Target and used for going to the library. The Pretty Green bags are made from designer print fabric and have a cushiony handle and have a water repellent lining so you will never have soggy bags again. The bags come in sizes 11 x 14 x 6. Pretty Green Bag is committed to social responsibility. 1% of all sales are given to Water Partners International that works with developing countries to provide clean water resources. These bags have a higher wholesale price per bag then your everyday run of the mill non woven polypropylene bags.

Low End Re-usable Shopping Bags

Re-usable bags, like the 'Green Bags' seen in supermarkets, are made from non-woven polypropylene that is manufactured from polypropylene gas, a by-product of oil refining.

Polypropylene bags can carry more shopping than plastic check-out bags. These bags are sturdy and designed to be reused again and again for many years. When the consumer is finished with the bag, they can be recycled - drop them into the plastic bag recycling bins.
Polypropylene bags reduce consumption of single use standard plastic shopping bags and encourage customers to be more ‘waste-wise’ in their daily life. Domestic manufactured non woven poly bags can be custom imprinted with your logo on it for a low minimum usually just 300 pieces of course they will have a higher piece price then an overseas made bag. However custom sized bags with multi-colored designs can be manufactured overseas with a higher minimum but a lower piece price.

Your standard packaging supplier can provide accurate quotes for the non-woven polypropylene bags. Call today for a quote. Generally a 10 to 12 week delivery is need for larger bag orders.

So many gift shop owners are purchasing these bags and having their own logos discreetly printed on the bags along with a tastefully done graphic and then selling them to their regular customers. Most consumers are accepting of this re-usable shopping bag concept but they are not accepting of paying $1.00 a bag at the big box grocer with the store names plastered on the side. I think those big box grocers should be paying use to advertise their stores and for saving them all the money on not having to order as many of the junkie plastic bags.