Wright Choice Promotions was recently featured in the promotional productsindustry’s premier magazine, PPB!
Raising Green In ArizonaA green-products distributor discusses the motivations behind her transition to eco-friendly promotions.
Green business is big, this much we know. But exactly how big is it? It turns out there’s no existing metric for calculating the number of green businesses, their revenue or growth, according to www.greenbiz.com and its State of Green Business 2008 report. Basically, the report says, there is no definition for a green business. The whole movement amounts to businesses, entrepreneurs and workers deciding every day to do things in a more eco-conscious way.
The promotional products industry is no exception. Julia Wright, founder of Glendale, Arizona-based distributor Wright Choice Promotions (UPIC: wcpaz) and a 15-year industry veteran, created her own eco-friendly distributorship four years ago and even though she can’t always go green, she does what she can with what’s available. We talked to Julia about why she chose to reinvent herself as a green promotional consultant and how she makes it work.
PPB: Why did you change your business focus to green promotions?Wright: Early in my career, I worked for a supplier that offered acid etching as an imprint process. It bothered me that the workers had to wear gloves and masks and that special hazmat trucks had to pick up the used chemicals. It also concerned me that so many items were petroleum-plastic based and brought in from overseas.
About seven years ago, my husband and I moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, the quintessential home of granola-eating, sandal-wearing tree huggers. (I say that with respect, and I consider myself to be one of them.) At the time, I was working for a medium-sized distributor as an independent contractor. They were one of the first distributors in the industry to put a green page on their website. It had about five items on it—pretty much the extent of what was available then. When I formed my own company four years ago, I had in mind that I would offer only eco-friendly products, but the reality is that we’ve only been able to offer a good variety of green items in the last couple of years. Another factor that solidified my commitment to green is my kids. I want to show them that a green company can make a difference in an industry that is still dominated by plastic widgets.
PPB: What do your clients think?Wright: Clients who have been with me since before I went green have been very receptive. When they approach me with a request, I’m usually able to find a green solution. We have so many items to choose from now, and the prices are very similar to their conventional plastic counterparts. Honestly, I still sell conventional plastic when a green option isn’t available, but in those cases we ensure the item is targeted properly for the demographic so that the item is retained and used.
PPB: How is business?Wright: We have been wonderfully successful. Our numbers are up almost 50 percent over last year, and we continue to have new clients seek us out for green products.
PPB: Did health and safety warnings have any bearing on your decision to go green?Wright: The BPA report on the Today show scared me, as well as some of my clients. There is so much information out there being presented from both sides of the argument that it’s hard to know what is true. I’ve decided to err on the side of caution. After BPA became a concern this year, I started a policy of advising my clients if the item they selected contained BPA. Remember that a year ago we were all happy to sell polycarbonate bottles as a green alternative to bottled water. Now we’re being told to do a 180 and switch to aluminum or stainless steel. With the research I’ve done, it looks like glass is the safest choice—but not many people are going to ask for glass travel water bottles.
PPB: What’s your biggest challenge in this new endeavor?Wright: Greenwashing is my biggest challenge. I have to carefully evaluate suppliers’ claims before I can offer their products to my clients. Some factories are advertising their new eco-friendly mug, for example, but it turns out the only thing green about it is that you can reuse it. Some suppliers have done a good job being honest. Often when something claims to be recycled, it’s only 10-percent recycled material. There needs to be an industry standard (or at least a guideline) to calling something eco-friendly.
Also, I’ve had to become an expert in each little detail of the products I sell. No longer is it good enough to know that the key chain is available in red, blue and green—now I have to know the country of origin, the human rights standards of the factory, the material it’s made from, the rate of decomposition, the eco-friendliness of the imprint method and whether it will be shipped in recycled packaging
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Monday, December 15, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
New Recycling Page
New Page! Now learn how to recycle your promotionalitems on our new Recycle page!
The new recycling page is a great way to gain ideas on how to recycle your “end of life” promotional products. It includes a number of ideas including where to recycle or donate products. Please visit the page to learn more about how to reduce the harmful environmental impact of your next promotion!
The new recycling page is a great way to gain ideas on how to recycle your “end of life” promotional products. It includes a number of ideas including where to recycle or donate products. Please visit the page to learn more about how to reduce the harmful environmental impact of your next promotion!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Letter to the Editor PPB Magazine
Being Green Extends To Marketing Solutions
(Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to “Do Promotional Products Impact Our Lives?” by Dale Kirby, which ran in the August issue of PPB magazine.)
Dale brings up some very good points. I also feel that if we want to walk the walk with being green, we should think about what we are presenting to our clients. Green products do make a difference—recycled plastic, corn plastic, bamboo and organic cotton are all great—but what about the bigger question: Is a promotional product the best solution to the client’s challenge?
Since we are in the business of selling them, we might be too quick to solve every problem with a coffee mug. When that mug will bring results, then yes, sell the mug (Make sure it’s recycled!), but also let your client know when an e-mail blast might be more effective. They will respect your honesty, and you will build a stronger relationship. Thank you, Dale, for bringing up this topic.
Julia WrightOwnerWright Choice PromotionsGlendale, Arizona
(Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to “Do Promotional Products Impact Our Lives?” by Dale Kirby, which ran in the August issue of PPB magazine.)
Dale brings up some very good points. I also feel that if we want to walk the walk with being green, we should think about what we are presenting to our clients. Green products do make a difference—recycled plastic, corn plastic, bamboo and organic cotton are all great—but what about the bigger question: Is a promotional product the best solution to the client’s challenge?
Since we are in the business of selling them, we might be too quick to solve every problem with a coffee mug. When that mug will bring results, then yes, sell the mug (Make sure it’s recycled!), but also let your client know when an e-mail blast might be more effective. They will respect your honesty, and you will build a stronger relationship. Thank you, Dale, for bringing up this topic.
Julia WrightOwnerWright Choice PromotionsGlendale, Arizona
Quote in Glendale Daily Planet
A local reporter for the on-line news source The Glendale Daily Planet wrote about the Glendale Chamber of Commerce Go Green Award. Here’s an excerpt.
“Going Green” is Julia Wright, owner of Wright Choice Promotions
June Nelson, Chamber President, stated
“Julia has always been concerned about the environment, but until recently, there were not many manufacturers producing eco-friendly promotional items that she could market through her business. In 2007, Wright Choice launched a comprehensive collection of eco-friendly promotional products including clothing, drinkware, bags, alternative power, automotive, key tags, office products, kids items, household items, and printed products.
Julia is a tireless promoter of environmentally sound business practices and is currently working with area chambers of commerce and other organizations to develop eco-friendly business networks in the Valley.
Wright Choice Promotions knows that everyone would like to save the earth, but not everyone can afford organic cotton. And, as much as we would like to run our home on solar panels and leave no footprints on the earth, it is not yet practical… but we can reduce, reuse and recycle. Congratulations to Julia Wright!”
For the full article about the event click here.
“Going Green” is Julia Wright, owner of Wright Choice Promotions
June Nelson, Chamber President, stated
“Julia has always been concerned about the environment, but until recently, there were not many manufacturers producing eco-friendly promotional items that she could market through her business. In 2007, Wright Choice launched a comprehensive collection of eco-friendly promotional products including clothing, drinkware, bags, alternative power, automotive, key tags, office products, kids items, household items, and printed products.
Julia is a tireless promoter of environmentally sound business practices and is currently working with area chambers of commerce and other organizations to develop eco-friendly business networks in the Valley.
Wright Choice Promotions knows that everyone would like to save the earth, but not everyone can afford organic cotton. And, as much as we would like to run our home on solar panels and leave no footprints on the earth, it is not yet practical… but we can reduce, reuse and recycle. Congratulations to Julia Wright!”
For the full article about the event click here.
Monday, October 6, 2008
On The Radio
Wright Choice Promotions was interviewed last week by Nancy Moore of KFNN for the Green Business Edge. Listen by clicking here.
Quote in Glendale Daily Planet
A local reporter for the on-line news source The Glendale Daily Planet wrote about the Glendale Chamber of Commerce Go Green Award. Here’s an excerpt.
“Going Green” is Julia Wright, owner of Wright Choice Promotions
June Nelson, Chamber President, stated
“Julia has always been concerned about the environment, but until recently, there were not many manufacturers producing eco-friendly promotional items that she could market through her business. In 2007, Wright Choice launched a comprehensive collection of eco-friendly promotional products including clothing, drinkware, bags, alternative power, automotive, key tags, office products, kids items, household items, and printed products.
Julia is a tireless promoter of environmentally sound business practices and is currently working with area chambers of commerce and other organizations to develop eco-friendly business networks in the Valley.
Wright Choice Promotions knows that everyone would like to save the earth, but not everyone can afford organic cotton. And, as much as we would like to run our home on solar panels and leave no footprints on the earth, it is not yet practical… but we can reduce, reuse and recycle. Congratulations to Julia Wright!”
For the full article about the event click here.
“Going Green” is Julia Wright, owner of Wright Choice Promotions
June Nelson, Chamber President, stated
“Julia has always been concerned about the environment, but until recently, there were not many manufacturers producing eco-friendly promotional items that she could market through her business. In 2007, Wright Choice launched a comprehensive collection of eco-friendly promotional products including clothing, drinkware, bags, alternative power, automotive, key tags, office products, kids items, household items, and printed products.
Julia is a tireless promoter of environmentally sound business practices and is currently working with area chambers of commerce and other organizations to develop eco-friendly business networks in the Valley.
Wright Choice Promotions knows that everyone would like to save the earth, but not everyone can afford organic cotton. And, as much as we would like to run our home on solar panels and leave no footprints on the earth, it is not yet practical… but we can reduce, reuse and recycle. Congratulations to Julia Wright!”
For the full article about the event click here.
Monday, September 29, 2008
And the winner is…
Wright Choice Promotions just won the Glendale Chamber of Commerce “Go Green” award!! We’re so excited to be recognized by the business community for our efforts. There are over 900 Chamber members, so we are very proud to have been selected for this honor.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Green imprints on wearables
Recently I had a client ask me about green methods of imprinting on an organic t-shirt. This is a great question because we can quickly make our organic cotton garment not quite so eco-friendly if we apply harsh or toxic inks in the imprinting process.
Screen-printing is by far the most common method of imprinting t-shirts. In this process screens are “burned” using a chemical emulsion. Inks are then pushed through the screens to transfer the ink onto the garment. When you are done printing the garment the screens are washed down with a solution so that the screens can be reused. Ink that is left on the screen after the shirts are printed is collected but much is washed down the drain. Today’s inks are getting better. Most are low VOC which is safer for the workers.
Embroidery is another common imprint method, but it is not practical on large areas. A company logo on the front left chest of a shirt would be great, but it’s not cost effective to do a full back or full chest imprint with embroidery. Other than the electricity used to operate the embroidery machine, the only other environmental impact that I could see is the dyes that are used to color the threads. I couldn’t find much info about that subject.
Direct to Garment printing is quickly increasing in popularity. It’s basically like an ink jet printer that you have in your office, but it prints directly onto the shirt. The inks are low VOC and because you don’t have to burn screens it’s much more kind to the environment.
There are some really cool designs being created by laser engraving on fabrics. The laser just “burns” into the very top layer of the fabric. It doesn’t affect the strength of the fabric and has a really cool tone-on-tone look. The only environmental impact I can see is the use of electricity.
“Green” is still in the eye of the beholder. But I hope the information listed above provided some good food for thought. If you have any suggestions or info I welcome your comments.
Julia Wright, MASOwner, Wright Choice Promotions
Screen-printing is by far the most common method of imprinting t-shirts. In this process screens are “burned” using a chemical emulsion. Inks are then pushed through the screens to transfer the ink onto the garment. When you are done printing the garment the screens are washed down with a solution so that the screens can be reused. Ink that is left on the screen after the shirts are printed is collected but much is washed down the drain. Today’s inks are getting better. Most are low VOC which is safer for the workers.
Embroidery is another common imprint method, but it is not practical on large areas. A company logo on the front left chest of a shirt would be great, but it’s not cost effective to do a full back or full chest imprint with embroidery. Other than the electricity used to operate the embroidery machine, the only other environmental impact that I could see is the dyes that are used to color the threads. I couldn’t find much info about that subject.
Direct to Garment printing is quickly increasing in popularity. It’s basically like an ink jet printer that you have in your office, but it prints directly onto the shirt. The inks are low VOC and because you don’t have to burn screens it’s much more kind to the environment.
There are some really cool designs being created by laser engraving on fabrics. The laser just “burns” into the very top layer of the fabric. It doesn’t affect the strength of the fabric and has a really cool tone-on-tone look. The only environmental impact I can see is the use of electricity.
“Green” is still in the eye of the beholder. But I hope the information listed above provided some good food for thought. If you have any suggestions or info I welcome your comments.
Julia Wright, MASOwner, Wright Choice Promotions
Sunday, September 14, 2008
More Press!
We’re so excited about all the press we’ve been getting lately! The Arizona Repulbic mentioned us in an article last week.
Click here for the link.
Click here for the link.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wright Choice Promotions in the News!
I had something exciting happen at the Green Summit last week that I wanted to share with everyone! Wright Choice Promotions made the evening news!!
Please click on the link below to view a recap of the Green Summit. My 10 seconds of fame are towards the end of the clip. (Saving the best for last I would like to think!)
click here
There were so many new and innovative eco-friendly products and serivces at the Green Summit it was awesome to be selected as one of the few that were spotlighted in the news clip.
Thanks again to everyone who has supported our efforts to “Green” the promotional products world!
Please click on the link below to view a recap of the Green Summit. My 10 seconds of fame are towards the end of the clip. (Saving the best for last I would like to think!)
click here
There were so many new and innovative eco-friendly products and serivces at the Green Summit it was awesome to be selected as one of the few that were spotlighted in the news clip.
Thanks again to everyone who has supported our efforts to “Green” the promotional products world!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
What’s all the fuss about BPA?
BPA – Bisphenol A is a chemical building block used primarily to make polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. An NBC Today Show news segment created quite a stir about the safety of that chemical. Just Google “BPA” and you’ll be presented with a ton of information – both for and against. I’ve read many articles and have spoken with my suppliers who make polycarbonate bottles and I still don’t consider myself an expert on the subject. But here’s what I can tell you:
In the promotional products world – BPA can be found in polycarbonate water bottles. This is the Nalgene style of plastic – rigid, shatter resistant and translucent. BPA is not typically found in flexible plastic (traditional bike bottles, opaque plastics). It is possible to make polycarbonate style bottles using non-BPA materials.
Unlike in the retail market where BPA baby bottles can be twice as expensive as non-BPA, the price for non-BPA water bottles is comparable to the BPA version. In the media, the recycle code #7 has been given a bad rap. Recycle code #7 simply means that it is not classified as another type of plastic (ie PETE, HDPE, etc). It may or may not contain BPA.
Keep in mind that BPA is not just in our water bottles. BPA is found in many places that touch our lives – including many water cooler bottles and the lining of tin cans. If having a BPA free water bottle is important to you, all you have to do is ask your Promotional Consultant. Remember, the FDA still says that BPA is safe, it’s not against the law to sell them and many bottles being sold today still contain BPA. If this is an important issue to you, make sure to ask before purchasing.
Julia Wright, MAS
Wright Choice Promotions
Friday, July 18, 2008
Welcome to my Blog
July 18th, 2008
Hi everyone!
We have just started this brand new blog to help keep our clients up to date on the latest and greatest in world of earth friendly promotional products. News, new product information and all kinds of good stuff will be posted here. Please feel free to leave feedback. We want to hear from you!
Hi everyone!
We have just started this brand new blog to help keep our clients up to date on the latest and greatest in world of earth friendly promotional products. News, new product information and all kinds of good stuff will be posted here. Please feel free to leave feedback. We want to hear from you!
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