It was often said that workplaces of the future would be tech utopias where the use of paper would either be entirely eliminated or greatly reduced.

That hasn't quite happened – yet firms are still striving to adopt green initiatives and cut down on their paper usage.

Certainly, the rise of email and, more recently, e-billing, has seen many traditionally paper documents converted into digital form.

But there is still much firms can do in order to go fully paperless.

According to Raz Godelnik, co-founder of green company Ecolibris.net, what's key is to get employees on board.

Businesses could think about providing incentives to employees who try to save paper, he said.

"Many times you see companies that save a lot of money but they save a lot of money because the employees are taking these steps," Mr Godelnik explained.

These savings could be achieved through bonuses or a competition between teams – in which promotional mugs and printed USBs could be handed out as employee rewards.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

Employers might want to use corporate gifts to drive green initiatives in the workplace.

According to the founder of Littlegreenblog.com, Mrs Green – a pseudonym – said there are a number of "simple and easy" steps firms can take to introduce efforts to become more environmentally-friendly.

She said the key to the success of green strategies is to make staff the core of the project, inspiring them to feel like a "practical part of the solution".

Rolling-out tasks like organising eco teams to be in charge of particular areas, such as checking lights and computers are turned off and efficient recycling, as well as hosting awareness days – when staff could be 'challenged' to bring in a 'zero-waste lunch', all helps employees feel valued, Mrs Green explained.

Consider using corporate gifts to reward staff for their involvement in your green projects – like printed cotton bags and reusable promotional mugs.

"The gentle exercise of maintaining a small community garden can [also] reap enormous benefits," Mrs Green added.

"By setting up schemes like this, being green is fun rather than another chore," Mrs Green said.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

Local councils in Northern Ireland that may have used promotional items to let communities know about their waste services look to have been successful: recycling and composting rates in the country have risen to record levels.

About 41 per cent of household waste was recycled or decomposed from April to June this year, the Northern Ireland Executive said.

The statistics show a 15 per cent decrease in the amount of biodegradable municipal material being sent to landfill by councils compared with the same period last year.

Increasing awareness of the benefits of recycling is the key way to get more people to go green. Local authorities are at the heart of their communities and many of them run events designed to encourage more take-up of environmentally-friendly methods – at which promotional items can prove useful in getting the message across.

Commenting on the figures, environment minister Alex Attwood said: "We all know that prevention is better than cure so it is particularly encouraging to see a decrease in waste produced by households.

"These changes made by householders and industry together save us all money and help create an environment and society where citizens want to live, work and invest."

"Attwood welcomes highest recycling rates". Northern Ireland Executive. Thursday October 13th 2011.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

A London restaurant campaign could encourage other restaurants around the country to use promotional items as part of an effort to cut food waste.

The Sustainable Restaurant Association's (SRA) Too Good To Waste campaign is encouraging restaurants in the capital to offer 'doggy boxes' and convince reluctant diners to ask for something to take their leftover food home in.

Research from the SRA shows that 600,000 tonnes of food waste from restaurants is thrown out every year, most of it filling up landfill space.

But diners are reluctant to ask for a doggy bag – 83 per cent of people polled by the organisation said would like to take leftovers home but don’t think we can or are too embarrassed to ask.

The initiative has proved popular– 80 restaurants, including Michelin-starred Quilon and chains including Wahaca and Leon – have already signed up.

The doggy box, specially created by the SRA in association with 3663 and One Water, comes with green credentials. They are made of 100 per cent recycled and biodegradable materials making them suitable for recycling and composting – all of which minimises the environmental impact.

Other restaurants may well want to mimic the campaign – and promotional bags with their name printed on could really do the trick.

Mark Linehan, managing director of the SRA, added: "Doggy boxes will raise consumer awareness but are only part of the solution. We'll also be helping restaurants think of other ways to cut their waste."

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

A fleet of eco-friendly hybrid buses is being launched in Sheffield this week – and promotional items could help to spread the word about them.

As part of a new campaign by Stagecoach Yorkshire, 21 diesel-electric double-decker buses will travel across the city, offering free Wi-Fi and, it is claimed, cutting carbon emissions by 30 per cent.

Paul Lynch, Stagecoach Yorkshire managing director, told the BBC he hoped the buses would encourage more people to use public transport.

As part of the roll-out, the firm may want to use eco-friendly promotional merchandise to get the message out among residents.

Products like eco-promotional bags could prove successful in letting people know all about the new fleet.

John Grant, a lecturer in sustainable development at Sheffield Hallam University, told the BBC: "It's about driving in an eco-friendly way. At the end of the day it isn't the only influence. I hope the drivers understand how to get the most of the vehicles."

The buses have been partly funded with £2 million from the government's Green Bus Fund, the BBC reported.

"Eco-friendly hybrid buses launched in Sheffield". BBC News. Tuesday September 27th 2011.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

Local councils might want to use promotional merchandise to let residents know about new collection services being offered.

It can sometimes be hard to communicate a message to a large group of people, but promotional items could really help to get the word out.

Shropshire Council recently launched plastic bottles collections in Bridgnorth – the first time the town's residents will be able to recycle from the roadside.

To let people know about the new service, which starts at the end of October this year, the authority will distribute collection calendars giving details of the service to homes in the area over a two-week period.

In addition, the council may want offer promotional pens alongside the posted calendars – a great way to drive a recycling message.

Or, after the two-week period, it could stage a series of roadshows at which it will distribute printed pens and mugs.

"The collection of plastic bottles from the kerbside has already proved extremely popular with residents in other areas of the county and is helping to boost the amount of household waste that is recycled in Shropshire," said councillor John Hurst-Knight, cabinet member for waste.

"Plastic bottle collections to start in Bridgnorth area". Shropshire Council. Friday September 16th 2011.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

A town council may want to use promotional gifts to let residents know about new recycling services running.

One of Immingham Town Council's sites in Immingham, Grimsby, now takes paper, glass, cans and plastic bottles, with two charity banks for textiles and shoes, meaning people can now recycling more items at the site, This is Grimsby reports.

Promotional gifts could be used to help spread the word about the additional services.

Staging an open day or handing out printed pens at the site's gate would help encourage new visitors and persuade regular users to keep on coming.

The new services are part of an effort by Grimsby Council to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

"We want people to use these facilities properly and, with the council's help, it has been given a facelift to bring it up to a suitable standard – we now want people to make good use of it so it remains that way," Dave Jackson, town clerk for Immingham Town Council, was quoted as saying.

"Improved recycling facilities". This is Grimsby. Friday September 16th 2011.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

Wayne Hemingway, the British fashion designer and founder of clothing label Red or Dead, has shown how eco-friendly promotional products can be used to spread green messages.

Hemingway has designed a limited edition umbrella that is made entirely of 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles as part of a sustainable living partnership with Coca-Cola.

Each promotional umbrella is made up from just five plastic bottles, each of which have been crushed and then processed back into yarn.

We like this – a great example of how eco-friendly promotional products can be used to send out a positive message.

"I don't believe in waste, I think we should all be thinking on how we can recycle the materials we all use every day," Hemingway said.

"We hope this limited edition umbrella will get people thinking and ultimately inspire them to play their vital role in recycling their bottles."

The designer umbrella will be on sale in Harvey Nichols stores from September 12th for a limited time.

 "Coca-Cola and British eco designer Wayne Hemingway collaborate to create a unique umbrella for autumn". Coca-Cola. Monday September 12th 2011.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw

Promotional travel mugs have been used to reward environmentally-friendly Loughborough residents.

As part of a recycling scheme in the town a range of promotional items are on offer to people bringing in their old bits and bobs to Harborough Recycling and Household Waste Site.

The centre is operating a prize scheme in which residents receive scratch cards in return for recycling small electrical items.

Prizes on offer include shopping vouchers, printed travel mugs and battery charger packs.

One resident, Sven Deregowski, found his old broken kettle proved to be worth more than first thought when he won £300 in vouchers.

Richard Blunt, county council cabinet member for waste, said he hoped the initiative would go some way to "encourage more people to visit their recycling and household waste sites and recycle old and unwanted small electrical items".

According to a recent survey by Tetra Pak, 95 per cent of people thinking recycling is important – why not tailor your promotional items around this theme?

"Recycling winner claims prize". Inloughborough.com. Tuesday September 6th 2011.

Posted by Carl Blackshaw