29th June, 2010 | Posted by EcoPromo |
It has been reported that a Local Borough Council spent over forty one thousand pounds in a single year on bottled water for staff meetings. This shocking amount was uncovered by The Mirror and will no doubt be met with anger and dismay by many families, businesses and individuals who are going to experience a tougher time all round in lieu of the recent stringent budget cuts. Other unnecessary spends by the council included over £20K on snacks for staff meetings and over £11k on a dinner for the Mayor.
In addition to the ridiculous amount spent on bottled water, the issue raises a very real environmental concern. As the Government constantly harps on about carbon footprint, real consideration must be given to the large volume of disposable water bottles used by public sector staff. There are many alternatives to disposable water bottles and indeed there are many eco-friendly promotional products and items of eco-friendly promotional merchandise that can do the job just as well.
Issuing staff with one off promotional products such as the Eco Friendly Hydropal filter bottle, or promotional merchandise such as the Eco Friendly Biodegrade-a-bottle, must surely represent a more budget and environmentally friendly alternative.
Posted in Eco Friendly Water Bottles, Slider | No Comments »
26th February, 2010 | Posted by EcoPromo |
From radio to website, television show to newspaper, it is pretty hard to escape promotional coverage of Sports Relief. This worthy cause is due to run from Friday 19th March to Sunday 21st March and there are a host of notable celebrities leading the way. Some of the celebrities getting in on the action and doing their bit for Sports Relief include David Williams, Fearne Cotton, Davina McCall, Jimmy Carr, Patrick Kielty and Russell Howard.
Of course the majority of money raised for Sports Relief and Comic Relief comes from real people and there are loads of ways in which the public can become involved. Schools in particular can play a very big part in fund raising activities. Not only can they get free packs from the Sports Relief website, but there are also a host of promotional products and promotional merchandise (including Sport Relief Socks) which can be purchased and used for raising money for this charity event. Sports Relief in schools is also a fantastic way in which to encourage children to be active for a good cause.
There are also numerous local councils which are doing their bit to for Sports Relief. As reported in the Chippenham People, councillor Stuart Wheeler, who is a cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, spoke of the continued support the government has for events which get people active and help others.
Whilst it is of course important that the focus should remain on Sports Relief at these events, there is also an opportunity for schools and councils to use their own promotional products and promotional merchandise to spread awareness of the issues addressed by Sports Relief.
For example, hydration is paramount when people are taking part in physical activities. Schools and councils could well consider incorporating promotional products and promotional merchandise such as their own branded sports bottles into the day’s events.
Posted in Councils, Eco Friendly Water Bottles, Eco Schools, Slider | No Comments »
19th February, 2010 | Posted by EcoPromo |
The BBC has recently published figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) showing that the majority of Scottish Councils are well on their way to hitting their recycling targets. The recycling target (40% recycled waste by the end of 2010) was set by the Scottish Government and eighteen of the thirty two local councils have already achieved this.
Richard Lochhead, environment minister was particularly pleased with the achievements of local councils. Mr Lochhead reminded everyone that “”Before devolution, Scotland was almost wholly dependent on landfill, an out-of-sight and out-of-mind approach that was unsustainable and damaging to the environment”. This statement does indeed make local Scottish councils’ achievements seem all the more glorious.
However, with a ‘zero waste’ Scotland as the end goal, local councils need to further improve recycling facilities and continue to educate the population of Scotland in the best approaches to recycling. Rosiaina Browning from Friends of the Earth pointed out that the main areas needing further attention in Scotland were “excess packaging, junk mail and left-over food”.
Whilst perhaps it is time that shops, manufacturers and supermarkets started to take responsibility for excess packaging on items, there are still many areas in which the general public and government can improve. Disposable water bottles and soft drink bottles are the bane of all recycling targets and this is one area that can readily be addressed. Local councils could consider providing promotional products and promotional merchandise such as biodegradable sports bottles that encourage the public to take drinks with them – saving themselves money and helping the environment in the process.
Indeed, biodegradable sports bottles make for outstanding promotional products and promotional merchandise, with space for company logos or messages. If more firms chose to give them away in building brand exposure, perhaps replacing some mailing exercises, we would be one step closer to attaining those recycling targets.
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11th February, 2010 | Posted by EcoPromo |
Councils and Schools are always looking for ways in which they can become more environmentally friendly and a brand new Japanese invention may be just the thing to help them out. Brought to the public’s attention recently in an article in the Daily Mail, the ‘White Goat’ is a innovative invention that takes used office paper and converts it into toilet paper. Given that schools and offices are guilty of wasting a lot of paper every year (and also get through a fair few toilet rolls), this could be just the thing to help make them more sustainable and to contribute towards saving the environment.
The Eco-products International Fair 2009 winning product, however, costs £63,000 – so it may be a little bit out the reach of most council and school budgets. However there are many other steps councils and schools can take to ensure they are doing their bit to be eco friendly.
Primary schools already ensure that children have water bottles with them at school each day, to ensure good hydration, promote good health and aid concentration. However perhaps they could go one step better by using readily available promotional products such as Eco Friendly Biodegrade-a-bottle or promotional merchandise such as the Eco Friendly Hydropal filter bottle which uses up to 35% recycled plastic.
As schools are often responsible for selling the water bottles to the pupils in any case, this would be a small step that could allow them to also brand their water bottle promotional products and indeed other promotional merchandise with the school name and logo upon it.
It is by making small changes that schools and councils can do their bit for the environment as well as ensuring that children are aware of the importance of using recycled goods. The goat may have to wait a while yet.
Posted in Eco Friendly Water Bottles | No Comments »
It has been reported that a Local Borough Council spent over forty one thousand pounds in a single year on bottled water for staff meetings. This shocking amount was uncovered by The Mirror and will no doubt be met with anger and dismay by many families, businesses and individuals who are going to experience a tougher time all round in lieu of the recent stringent budget cuts. Other unnecessary spends by the council included over £20K on snacks for staff meetings and over £11k on a dinner for the Mayor.
