Oxo-biodegradable plastic is often referred to as “degradable” plastic, since it does not require a biological process to degrade.  Microorganisms will speed up the degradation process, but they’re not required.  This gives oxo-biodegradation a distinct advantage over prior methods for degrading plastic.

The degradation time varies depending on the amount of exposure to degradation promoters (sunlight, heat and microorganisms).  This is an optimal situation for consumers.  It degrades quickest in the exact situation we want it to: when it becomes litter.  If the plastic is used properly it will last many years, once it becomes litter it could degrade in under 12 months.

In a landfill oxo-biodegradable plastic will degrade quickly if oxygen is available to assist the degradation process.  However, unlike other types of degradable plastic, oxo-biodegradable plastic will not release methane as it degrades!  This is another advantage over prior forms of biodegradable plastic.

Benefits of oxo-biodegradable plastic:

• There is no difference in print quality, texture, or strength between regular and oxo-biodegradable plastic.
• Oxo-biodegradable plastic has a long shelf life.  It will last for many years if stored indoors away from one or more degradation sources ( sunlight, heat and microorganisms).
• Oxo-biodegradable plastic is recyclable (if it has not degraded substantially), other forms of plastic are not.
• Oxo-biodegradable plastic will degrade in a landfill and the degradation process does not release methane.
• Degradable plastic is an insurance policy against litter.

Contact your Proforma representative, Susan Tate 205-981-3500,  to learn more about degradable plastic.

Have you ever wondered how much power your computer consumes when you’re at lunch, on a break, on the phone, in a meeting – or overnight, when you forget to turn it off? 

Computers and monitors can acount for over half the electricity used in a typical office.  One monitor, left on overnight can consume the same amount of energy as a laser printer, printing 800 4/4 printed copies.

According to a recent survey, there are over 104 million office computers and over 60 million home computers in the U.S. alone! Of this, over 30 million of those are left on regularly overnight and sometimes, even through an entire weekend!  This means that over $1.7 billion dollars and almost 15 million tons of CO2 emissions are wasted each year in the USA!

Many companies have tried to incorporate standby initiatives with their computers, asking their employees to put their computer into “standby” mode, in an effort to save them energy and in turn, money.  What they don’t realize is that during sleep mode, the computer may still use up to 6 watts and the monitor, another 3-6 watts.

Others try using the “screensaver” thinking that it not only saves the screen, but also energy.  In reality a screensaver does nothing to save energy.  It might prevent your screen from having a picture burned into it, but if a screensaver is running, that means your computer is running, which equates to absolutely no energy savings.

The largest challenge with a “standby initiative” is that it is subject to human behavior.  We are a society that is in a hurry.  We’re always running late and most times after a couple weeks, employees get tired of taking the steps to move the computer into standby mode, so they just stop doing it.

Enter the Eco Button!

              (photo to be added here soon)

The Eco Button is an illuminated desktop button that plugs into your computer through a USB device.  Once the software is installed on your system, all you have to do to put your computer into serious energy saving mode is to push the button and walk away!  The energy saving mode, called Eco-Mode, is a deeper sleep than the simple standby mode and uses a low 1.8 watts total.

Taking the computer out of Eco-Mode is a simple process; just hit the spacebar and the computer will come back up where you left off. Your Windows password will be needed to log back in, which is a nice feature for protecting your system from unwanted access while you are away.

When you install the software, you have the ability to enter in statistical data regarding the cost you pay for your electricity.  Once entered and saved, the software will show you how much money you save during each use, as well as how much CO2 you prevented from being wasted.  As you continue to use the Eco-Button, it also keeps track of the combined usage from the day it was installed.

Now that we have covered the importance of the use of the product, let’s talk about the very powerful branding capabilities.

The Cco-Button sits on top of the desk with it’s bright green glow contantly drawing attention.  This makes it a great marketing piece.  Desktop space is valuable and to have your brand in front of your target audience on a daily basis is priceless.  What better way to create brand awareness than to have constant daily exposure?

The Eco-Button costs $15.98 per button for a 100 piece minimum, which includes a one color imprint on the face of the button.  Most companies like to know what their CPE (cost per exposure) will be, so figuring that your recipient will see the button on average of 8 times a day, which is very conservative, with an average of 22 business days in a month, that comes to 176 views per month!

Using those conservative numbers for one month would put you at $0.90 per exposure, meaning the first month it would be costing you $0.90 per view.  But after three months, your CPE would be down to $0.03 per exposure and at six months your CPE would be down to $0.01 per exposure.  This kind of cost for your marketing efforts is a dream come true!  You won’t get these results with any other form of media or advertising out there.

Yes, success still ultimately relies on human behavior, but it is much quicker and easier to push the button and walk away than it is to move your computer in and out of standby mode manually.  No matter whether you have started a standby initiative, or are looking to start one – make sure you’re doing something!  I highly recommend that you look into this product!

The holiday season is upon us once again.  A season of colors, all of which have significance.  Here’s a guide to holiday colors….

Red/A primary color of light, pigment and Christmas, red is the color of Santa’s suit, candy canes and the ribbons on packages and wreaths.  This traditional holiday color is also the color of financial losses.

Red is also the color of hope.  If you can see the red lights on the back of the train as it disappears into the night, it means the train probably didn’t run over you.

Green/The opposite of red, green is the first color people associate with the holiday season. A secondary color of light, green has been the operatng “fad” word of 2008.  What might Santa leave on your carpet after sliding down your chimney? Carbon footprints!  Don’t get the joke? I’ll bet you still listen to Perry Como albums.  On vinyl.

The word “green” is already falling out of vogue from overuse, to be replaced by the more accurate term, “ecofriendly.”

Green is the opposite of red in more ways than one, for it is  the color of money, which is high on my wish list every year. “Peace on earth, good will toward men” are my prayers, but continued positive cash flow and access to operating capital are important.

Black/ For the Druids among us, black is the color of the winter solstice, the darkest evening of the year. More cheerfully, it is the coal dust on Santa’s face.

Being in the black means being profitable! I hope we all are in the black this year!

Gold/ Gold is also a Hanukkah color.  In fact, every tradition lays claim to gold, the ultimate color of success.  In uncertain financial times, gold is often used as a hedge investment against everything from inflation and currency fluctuations to nuclear war and ingrown toenails. A commodity bellwether, gold prices were dropping like a rock as of this writing.

Silver/Speaking of commodities, does anyone remember the silver crisis?  In the early 1980′s brothers Herbert and Bunker Hunt of Texas, heirs to the Hunt Oil fortune, cornered the world silver market by buying up, but not selling, silver futures.

They lost their shirts.  These were the guys who inspired the joke, “How do you make a small fortune in Texas?  Start with a large fortune!”

They also damaged innocent bystanders, as skyrocketing silver prices created chaos in all industries that made use of  industrial silver (including print). The whole crisis was over in less than a year, but for one holiday season, your silver ornaments were worth more than the presents under the tree.

Blue/Blue is another Hanukkah color. And in other traditions, blue has become the advent symbol of hope and anticipation.  Maybe that is why blue is the color of the Chicago Cubs.

Who can ever forget Irving Berlins’s pleasant refrain:

Blue skies, Smiling at me, Nothing but blue skies, Do I see.

May all your skies be blue (cyan) in 2009!

Happy holidays from Susan &  Robert Tate @ Proforma Print It

A fine leather portfolio, for example, may lose some of its appeal if presented in a less-than-appropriate way.  Rather than leaving on the clear plastic wrap in which the portfolio arrives from the supplier, remove the plastic and nestle the gift in custom logoed tissue paper in a nice box.  Opening the package becomes part of the experience that affects how the recipient perceives the gift!

“Kitting” – a trend made popular by celebrity gift baskets at events and awards shows.  A kit involves gathering several gift items together and adding thematic custom packaging.  Containers could be a basket, bucket or special box with “filler” then wrapped attractively.  Customized tags or enclosure cards personalize the kit and deliver the brand message.

Budgeting tip - Take the amount you have budgeted per item and then allot 5-10% of that amount for packaging.  Packaging “bells and whistles” can often only add a few more cents per piece.  If you have a $5 per item budget, and the product you’ve selected costs $4 per piece, gift tags or ribbon (under $1 per package) will still fit within the budget, but increase the impact of the gift to the recipient.

Packaging Ideas Deliver Results

• CD tins distribute more than music. Use them to deliver training software or to provide media that will be used for distribution channels.
• Lunchboxes come in a variety of shapes and materials.  while excellent gifts in themselves, they are even more pwerful as part of the delivery for a luncheon meeting or dinner event.
• Totebags have long been a tool for tradeshows, but consider them as packaging opportunities as well.  They can be used for themed events, such as filled with a beach towel, flip flops, and sunscreen for a room gift awaiting the winners of an incentive beach trip.
• Donut boxes make excellent packaging for breakfast meetings, and could contain a coffee mug, a package of cocoa, a notepad or a T-shirt.
• Popcorn boxes in the traditional red and white striped pattern make a dramatic statement and can be tied to a message such as “Do you need to make your sales pop?”.  Don’t be limited to including only popcorn inside, T-shirts rolled up fit nicely.  Paper shreds could cradle any number of items, such as a stopwatch – with a note that says, “Time to pop in for a visit”.

Think “outside the box” and watch faces light up!

Suppliers now have the opportunity to provide promotional products that have a higher social impact and ecological value.  Growing media and political attention to issues of global warming has brought attention and an urgency to going green – and this has occurred quickly.  A year ago, there was very little demand for recycled products.  Now, recycling is all the rage and the hottest new trend.  Green and the environment are literally all over the news.

Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” brought this social issue to the forefront as discussion among the general population, not just in higher echelons of the intellectual set.  Just like changing your house to be “greener” – why not choose a product for your promotional programs that is made from recycled product if you can?  Doing so gives the positive effect of your company being socially responsible.

Because of recent campaigns to raise awareness for saving the environment, going green is the politically correct thing to do these days.  As the environment continues to be a major concern, consumers grow more sensitive and responsive to the issues inherent, and companies continue to join the cause, promoting green practices and products.

I read that the world’s consumption of plastic shopping bags is in excess of 500 billion bags!  If we take plastic bags out of production and just re-use other recycleable bags, literally we will be cutting down on litter, waste, and these earth choking bags.

Another fact:  plastic bags so prominently litter the countryside of South Africa, they are referred to derisively as the national flower.

When buying recycled print products, one key is to know what percentage of post-consumer recycled content is actually in the product.  Post consumer content is recycled paper that was already used.  The difference between post-consumer and pre-consumer content is that pre-consumer has never been in the marketplace or used by consumers.  If the paper does not specify post consumer, it simply may be paper a mill or printer had left over and re-tasked to another job.

With the proliferation of plastic card programs such as gift cards, loyalty cards, membership cards, ID cards, and hotel keycards, as examples, these plastic products have the potential to end up in landfills and beaches.  In an effort to prevent this from happening, several manufacturers have made cards from innovative materials that include a blend of post-consumer recycled plastic.

Another realm of excitment is the use of innovative sustainable materials, giving a nod to modern technology.  In fact, a common food staple is now being used to imitate plastic!  100% corn plastic, made from U.S. grown corn.  The use of this all natural plastic helps relieve the U.S. dependence on foreign energy and uses a renewable U.S. agricultural product.  Corn plastic generates a market for one billion bushels of American corn each year.  It can be used in a wide variety of promotional products ranging from mugs, pens, and T-shirts to a veritable host of others, and – corn plastic breaks down naturally by composting.

In many cases it is better if a product can be reused, rather than disposed of.  In many cases, it is not.  The science is unclear and depends on the product, the number of disposables it replaces, the energy that is burned, and the environmental impact of production and disposal.  And whatever the science, it also is a matter of personal belief – which do you prefer, create more greenhouse gases from a kiln-fired coffee mug or use 365 styrofoam coffee cups that last forever?  And even if a reusable product is “greener”, the product owner must use it in place of enough products the owner would otherwise buy and discard.

Before “going green” self education is a must.  Know the terms, know how conventional products and their greener counterparts impact the environment.  There are some instances where it may not make sense for a company to pay a premium in order to implement something green. But sometimes paying that little extra to go green can make a big difference in terms of good PR.

It is our responsibility to take steps to help prevent further depletion of our world’s natural resources and to help stop global warming.  Recycling is a small step that is easy and can be done by everyone. Other actions to help the environment include reducing the amount of waste used each day, reusing items instead of buying new, and recylcing glass, metal, plastics, and paper.

Green is no longer just a pretty color, it’s a way of life!

Of all the present day decorating technologies, screen printing is by far the oldest.  And it is relatively inexpensive, especially if you need 24 pieces or more. 

Just about any fabric can be screen printed, but the cost of the job will vary based on what you need printed.  Traditional garments such as T-shirts, caps and fleece can be printed with plastisol ink, which is the most commonly used.  If you need specialty fabrics like performance wear, Lycra spandex, or nylon, printers must use different inks and different techniques that are more labor extensive, and most likely will increase the cost of the job.

Another factor that may increase the cost of the job is whether your garments are light or dark.  Darker garments will require a layer of white ink onto which the design is then printed, which is more labor intensive and requires the printer to “flash” (dry) the white layer before printing colors on top. This increases the cost of the print.

Water based ink  is used for towels.   This process is more labor intensive, and the inks are more expensive, so this type of printing will cost more than traditional plastisol.

Other issues that may influence screen printing prices:   you may be charged more if your artwork does not meet the criteria to be screen printed; if you need to use inks other than plastisol; if the shirts are dark; if the design needs to be flashed; if the design is to be printed in more than one location; if you need the design printed in more than one size (youth and adult for example); and if the project requires any special packaging or shipping.

While most printers offer price breaks for quantities, the discounts apply only if the exact same garment is printed.  You cannot combine different types of garments for a quantity discount (such as T-shirts, caps, nylon jackets and performance shirts).

EMBROIDERY

Embroidery does not cost more per color, but it does get more expensive as designs get larger (more stitches are involved and often different machinery).  Embroidery takes longer to do and in general costs more than screen printing.  However, it typically has a higher perceived value.

It’s highly valued for its upscale appeal, which is its biggest advantage over screen printing.  There is a one time cost to get your artwork or logo digitized, which is the process of converting the artwork via a software program so the computerized embroidery machine can sew it out.  Once the design is paid for, subsequent orders will cost less, as long as you use the same design.  By the way, the design can occasionally be made smaller or larger to some degree.

Almost any fabric can be embroidered, the only limitation is whether it will fit in a hoop.  Garments, caps, bags, and other accessories can be embroidered.  Most embroidery shops have a minimum of at least 12 pieces.

The cost of embroidery is dictated by the garment, but to a lesser degree than screen printing.  Leather and Lycra spandex are more challenging to sew on, but performance wear and nylon do not cause undue difficulties – although, if you are getting a waterproofed garment embroidered, keep in mind that the needle punctures in the fabric may let water in.

TRANSFERS

Custom trasfers are made using a variety of methods, but the basic concept involves printing ink, whether it’s with a screen printing press, an offset press, or inkjet print, onto a carrier paper and curing it.  This design can then be applied to a garment with the use of a heat-seal press, which melts the ink on the paper and transfers it to the shirt.

Transfers also, in general, provide better image results than screen printing.  The paper provides a more stable printing surface than a knitted T-shirt, allowing for a more consistent, high-quality image.

Screen printed transfers, when manufactured and applied correctly, are every bit as durable as direct screen printing.  They can be applied to practically any cotton or cotton/poly blend item.  Transfers are especially suited for hard-to-screen-print items.  Custom transfers are priced based on quantity, type of transfer, size and number of colors.

• A 7 inch pencil can write an average of 45,000 words
• A 7 inch pencil can draw a line 35 mles long – or across the state of Rhode Island

The first wooden graphite pencils date back to the mid 1500′s, following the discovery of a graphite mine in Keswick, England.  Prior to the discovery of graphite for making pencils, soft metals such as lead were often used for writing.  Graphite then became called “black lead” – despite it not being lead at all.  This is the reason that many people still incorrectly think that pencils can give you lead poisoning.

And what’s a pencil without an eraser?  Did you know that bread crumbs were originally used as erasers?  This practice continued until 1770 when the first rubber eraser was made. 

Today there are approximately 2.8 billion pencils used in the United States annually.  Worldwide, 14 billion pencils are produced each year, enough to circle the globe 62 times!  The trend today is sparkly and fun, bright colors to grab attention and to make a statement.  They’ve even become  collectible.  Most collectors collect imprinted advertising pencils, and those with a full company name as well as an address, rather than a company name alone or a logo.  Some old national brand imprinted pencils, such as vintage Coca-Cola pencils, can command a high price – in the $50 range!

The truth is that some of the promotional product industry’s most classic and basic products are as fascinating as they are enduring.  You might want to re-think the lowly pencil!