Companies in the promotional products world have been taking significant steps to aid environmental efforts. Many are producing safe, reusable water bottles. Apparel companies are focusing on sourcing and manufacturing items ethically. In the case of German outerwear Brand Vaude, which exists solely in the B2B world, focusing on a green supply chain is one thing, but educating clients and end-users is just as important.
The company introduced a new project called DeveloPPP, which works to implement environmental management into its supply chain to create self-sustaining systems and cut down on wasting resources like water, and limiting chemical and energy waste.
For the customer and end-user, the company is hoping that their environmentally-sourced products are the items they hold onto for years and years.
“We encourage our customers to use products for a long time,” Vaude manager Hilke Anna Patzwell told Sourcing Journal Online. “We repair every product. Even if it’s 20 years old.”
Though the company will repair its items and reuse old items to create new ones, Patzwell says the company encourages its customers to take matters into their own hands by fixing products themselves, recycling material or just holding onto them for longer than they otherwise may.
By partnering with an online platform called IFIXIT, Vaude customers can order new parts for items and look at instructional videos that show them how to repair their things.
If they want to simply sell the items, customers can go to a specific eBay platform to sell Vaude goods. This allows Vaude to have some control over the third-party sale of their items, and gives the customers the assurance that the products they’re buying are legitimate, rather than knock-offs.
“Now, retailers buy brands, brands buy retailers, everything is mixing up,” Patzwell said. “The industry is really tightening up. Many, many companies, especially the fast fashion brands say they are really trying to close the loop. They put collection bins and ask consumers to bring their stuff. For now, we are trying to slow the loop, to really prolong the life of our products.”
It goes without saying that prolonging the lifespan of a promotional product is paramount for brand visibility. This is a process that could be very helpful in the promotional products space. Think about when your end-users receive a T-shirt. It could be one of their favorite T-shirts, but one walk through a thorn bush could ruin it. If they had the tools available to repair the shirt themselves, that’s even more brand visibility for your clients, and a huge impact on the environment.
