Sales of Green Gifts for Grads Spikes

Sales of “green” grad gifts spike over 200% since 2008, according to EcoSmart Products, distributors of the AusPen eco-friendly dry erase markers.

What was only an emerging trend a few years ago is now a full blown movement, as recent data compiled from distributors of the AusPen eco-friendly markers show a huge increase in the giving of green grad gifts.

“After analyzing our 2010 sales data from Spring and speaking with other green product companies it’s clear the latest gift giving trends are being impacted by the heightened awareness of “green” alternatives”, says Kerry Tuttle of EcoSmart Products.

And nowhere has this become more apparent than the annual ritual of giving graduating seniors a congratulatory gift as they prepare for that next step.

“In 2007, our company didn’t notice any appreciable interest in eco-friendly grad gifts, but that has certainly changed, as each year we’ve seen exponential growth in this area, culminating with a real surge in 2010. We experienced a 200% increase in purchases identified as grad gifts over our 2008 numbers,” stated Tuttle.

It makes sense that this increased awareness of eco-issues would appear strongly in the grad gift sector. Every year high school and college grads are increasingly well-versed on the environmental impact of products and are aware of greener alternatives. “Their consumer choices are reflecting their higher standards,” says Tuttle, “and the businesses that innovate and respond to these green consumer demands will best serve this generation of grads.”

“This trend towards eco-friendly products will keep growing,” states Tuttle, who has watched the use of AusPen markers expand due in part to the pressures young people are putting on their parents and teachers to consider green alternatives to toxic markers, “especially as these recent grads will soon reach their own full purchasing power”.

Taking a cue from their favourite grads, gift-givers are focusing on the newest hot green gifts to present to them.

“Our typical gift giver is Mom and Dad who have a child coming out of college and either heading into the educational field, in which they will be using dry erase markers every day, or are moving into an office environment, again, where dry erase markers are used all the time”.

If you haven’t yet picked out a grad gift, here are a few “green” tips:

For the Educator Grad:

Arm your future teacher with a set of the world’s most environmentally-responsible dry-erase markers, designed to last through the years, reduce waste and omit toxic fumes from classrooms. AusPen dry erase markers are non-toxic, refillable, recyclable and they are made of 100% recycled aluminum…these markers never end up in local landfills. AusPen count thousands of loyal users throughout schools across North America.

For the Not-for-Profit Grad:

Honor the desire in your philanthropic grad to make a positive change in the world by donating to a worthy cause in his or her name. Check out the adoption center at World Wildlife Fund to choose your own species and adoption package suited to your budget and the interests of your grad.

For the Corporate Grad:

Outfit your office-bound grad with a bag or briefcase made of sustainable and durable materials, and with low-impact dyes. Messenger bags and backpacks made from hemp or 100% post-consumer waste rubber can be found at Green Earth Office Supply.

It Takes Guts

Credit: Chris Jordan

Credit: Chris Jordan

Confused albatross birds are feeding their young brightly colored plastic from the pacific garbage patch, thousands of miles away from land. Wow.

The photographs are startling and mind-boggling. The message from the photographs is overwhelming and depressing. But this 4^th grade teacher of resource use and conservation felt compelled to take action and move away from disposable plastic markers.

This act reminded me of the following quotation from Adlin Sinclair: “You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.”

Chris Jordan’s photographs of dead albatross chicks show a vast array of colourful plastics in the birds’ guts, from cigarette lighters to golf balls to water bottle caps. For a visual experience that will not leave you, check out the Message from the Gyre by Chris Jordan: http://www.chrisjordan.com/

Butting out…of the landfills

At EcoSmart Products, we love when trash makes the news. In Shanghai, a Chinese PhD student, Jun Zhao, has found a new use for cigarette butts, a way to divert them from landfills and put them to good use.

The scientist has found that cigarette butts soaked in water can help guard against corrosion and rust in steel structures. Since 30% of the world’s smokers live in China, this will prove to be a great way of protecting their environment from one of the world’s most common types of trash.

 As for the tons of plastic markers that are discarded every year, there is, as of yet, no innovative new use for them. In the meantime, until scientists can put all that toxic waste to good use, AusPen refillable, recycled and recyclable dry-erase markers are helping schools and companies fill their pens and not their local landfills.

To read more about the new life of cigarette butts: Smoking is good… for China’s infrastructure | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/none/smoking-or-least-cigarette-butts-good-chinese-infrastructure-015276#ixzz0oTY4bZaR

The next frontier for schools and businesses

I just discovered an interesting survey described on GreenBiz saying that the next big corporate responsibility issue is health. Of the 15,000 people in 11 countries surveyed, 69% said that businesses should be as engaged with issues of public health as they are in improving the environment.

 In other words, the survey suggests that forward-thinking companies or schools should provide the healthiest work environment possible, and make available products that promote health and environmental sustainability.

 Xylene fumes that linger in a classroom or boardroom from dry-erase markers do nothing to create a healthy and safe work environment. Nor do the tons of waste generated each year from these disposed markers help improve the environment.

AusPen dry-erase markers, which are non-toxic, refillable and recyclable, fit the bill for a product that protects human health and the environment. One could say that this eco-friendly product kills two birds with one stone, but that would be too ironic. 

To read more about the survey: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/05/07/three-reasons-why-employee-health-next-big-concern-companies#ixzz0notl8m5K

Green School Supplies

Recently a customer emailed and said that she had dropped her much-used AusPen kit and the clasp on the carrying case had broken off. She asked if EcoSmart Products would send a replacement clasp. Sounds like a simple request, but it got me thinking.  

AusPen users really are behaviourally green consumers. They think and act green. Rather than purchasing a whole new kit, this customer just replaced the part that was needed (free of charge). This is the thinking that AusPen dry-erase markers is founded on. Nibs worn down? Switch them around and double their life span. When that’s done, order a set of replacement nibs ($25 for 20 nibs, or 40 tips-worth). Ink bottle running low? Order another bottle ($7.95 for 40 markers-worth) and keep using the same markers. Not only are resources being saved by replacing worn or used parts, but AusPen users are saving up to 70% on their marker budget. Truly a ‘green school supply’, AusPen markers keep both the classroom and the coffers green.

Choose your marker colors wisely

I’ll never forget the look on their faces, those shocked Korean faces, when I wrote their names on the whiteboard in red. It was the immediate sense that I had done something wrong, and it wasn’t simply the spelling of the names. 

After a few blundering moments, I would find out key information that I would routinely pass on to other teachers with Asian students for years to come. Red is good for writing deadlines, checkmarks, asterisks, happy faces, underlines, but not for names.

 It has been explained to me that in ancient times in Korea the color red was reserved for writing the names of the dead. Plaques, signs and gravestones would be written, painted and engraved in red. During the Japanese occupation in Korea, guards would cross out the recently deceased on their lists in red.  

 While I see the color red as enthusiastic, energetic, bold, and possibly obnoxious, I’ve learned that there’s nothing more obnoxious than having a Korean student anxiously wondering what brought on this nerve-wracking behaviour from his teacher. It’s a good thing the AusPen starter kit has 6 colors to choose from.