I attended a webinar the other day on green promotional items that really made me think. Living in Austin, everyone wants to be green so I'm frequently asked to provide quotes on eco-friendly or green products. However, it's likely that some of these options are not really as green as they seem.
An organic or eco-friendly polo, hat, or t-shirt may seem green on the surface, but you really do need to consider the entire life cycle of the product. It was estimated in this seminar that only 3-5% of a green wearable item's lifetime eco footprint is in the fabric the item was made from. Just as there are stories on the Internet bashing Toyota for the global impact of the batteries in their Prius hybrid, you can probably trace a similar path for that organic t-shirt. (Prius battery materials are allegedly mined on one continent, manufactured on another, and then transported to the factory in North America.)
So, you need to figure out where the cotton was grown, where it was spun into fabric, and where it was assembled into the t-shirt. Further, did these factories use green energy or pour smoke into the air? And then ask how far did that assembled garment travel to get to the US? But we are not done yet. Once that shirt gets in your hands, you have to consider how the shirt gets washed including how the electricity is generated for that washing! Brain hurt yet? It's very likely that the 'regular' cotton t-shirt that was assembled in Latin America or the Caribbean is actually more eco friendly than that organic t-shirt you were considering.
When considering promotional items such as pens, cups, and other items, the environmental impact of the material it was constructed from is far more significant. However, you still should think about the environmental impact of the supply chain. A trained promotional products specialist like me can help you figure this out. I can also help you find a product
My personal philosophy is to minimize the impact. When I help my clients select products, I try to get as much local content as possible. We do embroidery right in our shop in South Austin and screen printing is done not too far away. When I buy outsourced items (pens, drink wear, etc), I try to buy from suppliers within a few hours of Austin and then reach out from there. It's very difficult to find items these days with 100% US content, but we can make smart choices. The next time you are trying to decide between the organic t-shirt manufactured overseas and the one assembled in Latin America, take a moment to think about the process from seed to you.
Contact me to continue the debate. Our website is http://www.embroidme-austinsw.com/.
(repost from my blog at EmbroidMeAustinSW.blogspot.com on 3/9/11)
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