Three main reasons you should use custom reusable bags for your promotions
Disposable plastic bags are causing an environmental crisis
Your company can be a part of the solution, which is a great promotional opportunity for very little cost; your company can create long-term “green credentials”
The Crisis in Brief Why custom reusable bags? Plastic bags are a problem on the planet. Each year, there are 500 billion to 1 trillion disposable plastic bags.
An average person uses between 350 and 500 disposable plastic bags each year, or at most one bag per day.
Plastic bags do not biodegrade. Instead, they photo degrade. This means that plastic is broken down into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces are just as toxic and artificial as the original bag, but they are less harmful and can be used to enter the food chain faster.
Even photo degradation takes up to 1,000 years to happen in a landfill – imagine what the world would look like if the garbage produced by your great-(40-times)-grandparents, and everyone born since their time, was still sitting around.
Plastic bags are rarely reused, with less than 1% in some countries. Even in areas that are most environmentally friendly, 90% of plastic bags are only used once and then thrown away.
Millions of plastic bags are made each year. Nearly all end up in landfills or worse, our rivers and waterways. Plastic waste kills more than 1,000,000 sea animals (fish, birds, mammals) each year. 70% of disposable plastic bags end up in the ocean.
Crisis and Opportunity
Meanwhile, the situation is dire, there are still things consumers and businesses can do.
Although most bags cannot be recycled, many people want to recycle them. Over 90% of Americans recycle at most some plastic bags. They are driven to make things right.
The two most popular responses to this problem are “let’s ban plastic bags” or “let’s switch to papers”. Bans on plastic bags only encourage consumers to use paper bags. Paper bags are more harmful to the environment than disposable plastic. Plastic bags do eventually degrade, but they also cost more to make and use more energy. They also require more fuel when being transported. Paper is better than plastic.
It is possible to place costs on disposable plastic bags and encourage consumers to use reusable bags.
Consumers are looking for reusable bags. They would reuse disposable bags more often if they were stronger than flimsy.
In Ireland, and other countries, some companies have made a lot of money selling reusable bags to customers.
These bags are sought after by consumers who want to use them again and again. A reusable bag can be seen by many other people every time someone goes shopping. Any corporate logo or message printed on the bag is also visible.
Eco-Friendly Promotional Reusable Bags made of high-quality material and displaying a compelling message or company identification are the best way to advertise products or services.
Be Green, Make It Green…But Not Spend Green
Reusable bags that are durable, high-quality, and long-lasting are often less expensive than you may think. Outstanding shopping bags, which last for years, cost only.49 cents per piece when purchased in quantities greater than 1,000.
A giveaway bag with a promotional message will have a huge impact on your image.
Even greater are the long-term rewards. Numerous studies have shown that repeating marketing messages is more effective than a single message. The “golden number”, depending on whom you ask, can be anywhere from 5-20 times.
Your customer is a potential advertising impression every time they take their bag shopping or use it to store things, or simply look at it in the car. Your customer can get dozens to hundreds of impressions every time they carry their bag around in public.
Customers won’t think that they are doing you a favor by carrying your advertisement around. They will see it as a gift to you, and they will be grateful for the bag. Market research shows that people who feel they’ve been given something of worth are far more likely than others to do business with a generous company and to recommend that company to others.
It’s low cost, high impact, and extremely effective. The question is not “Should my company give away promotional reusable bags?” The question is “Why haven’t we?”
This innovative, cost-saving, and highly effective marketing strategy is the right time to promote your company. Consumers are increasingly turning to green living, which includes sustainable lifestyles and the reuse of materials. You can associate your company with this new way to live for just pennies per customer and reap huge returns on your advertising investment as an added benefit. You have never had a better opportunity to promote your company with durable, high-quality reusable bags.
