PPB December 2019

committed to creating a healthier planet. PCNA has agreed to donate one percent of sales from all EcoSmart products directly to environmental nonprofits. Liz Haesler, PCNA chief merchandising officer, says PCNA has seen an increased demand for EcoSmart products despite the belief that eco-friendly products are more expensive. “From a bags standpoint, we have a good, better and best approach,” she says. “We’re trying tomake sure we’ve got options at all price points.” But EcoSmart is about more than just products, says AJ Dickson, PCNA global category director. “As a company, we responsibly source and responsibly manufacture our products, and we take great care with the selection of our vendors. EcoSmart is a movement within the company. It’s how we source, manufacture, package and ship product. It’s going to be an evolution.” This eco-friendly evolution offers an opportunity for distributors who want tomake some green by selling green. “People want to work for companies that care about the environment and give back,” Dickson says. “The opportunity for distributors is to align with that message. It makes good business sense for distributors to have that as part of their offering.” Sustainable Packaging Packaging is an element that goes hand-in- hand with products and has recently come under fire from consumers because of the excess inherent in all kinds of products from cosmetics to toys. It’s in eco-friendly packaging where Norwood, New Jersey-based supplier AAA Innovations is trying tomake a big difference. Through an upcoming initiative called Bag the Plastic, the company is eliminating the plastic bags and nylon sleeves that come with their umbrellas. “Umbrellas frommost companies usually come in plastic bags,” says Jeff Nanus, president of AAA Innovations. “Many umbrellas also have a nylon or polyester sleeve that no one ever uses. The polyester sleeve also comes in a plastic bag. That all goes in the garbage.” AAA Innovations is eliminating all the plastic packaging on their umbrellas. “We have replaced that with a biodegradable Kraft paper sleeve that looks like a gift bag,” Nanus says. “On one side of the bag there will be an eco-friendly message. The other side of the bag will be left blank for the end user to print whatever eco-friendly message they want.” Nanus says the new umbrellas, to be introduced at The PPAI Expo in January 2020, will be offered at the same price point. “We looked at what we could do tomake a big difference without raising our price and still help the end user accomplish their goals,” he adds. While the initiative will start with AAA’s umbrella packaging, the plan is to begin eliminating excess packaging on their bags and possibly other products in the line. “Our canvas bags will be next, and one by one they’ll all go,” Nanus says. The inspiration for the Bag the Plastic initiative came fromoutside the industry after Nanus read an article about how the toy company Hasbro is attempting to reduce the foam and plastic used in its packaging. “I think we’ll start the trend, and within a short amount of time many suppliers will follow us,” he says. “They’ll look at their business and realize it just makes sense.” Along with the movement to reduce, reuse and recycle, consumers and companies are rethinking many of the products they use to lessen the amount of trash that eventually finds its way into landfills. Plastic straws and single-use plastic bags, of course, are some of the high- profile items being replaced, but for professional meeting organizers everything is fair game when working to reduce landfill waste at conferences, conventions andmeetings of all sizes. A recent article in Convene magazine outlined some smart practices for reducing waste, such as not putting registrationmaterials inside an envelope and providing all handouts online instead of in print. See the sidebar on p. 53 to learn more ways meeting pros are rethinking their meetings. | DECEMBER 2019 | 43 GROW