Sustainability Announcement

Swag Company Raises Green Standard with New Sustainability Initiative

Social Imprints – a swag company based in the Bay Area – is raising the standard for sustainability in the promotional products industry. The company curated the world’s largest collection of eco-friendly promotional products, launched a tree planting program, and is equipping customers with data and reporting to help them meet their SDGs.

SAN FRANCISCO (January 2023) – The clothing industry is the second-largest polluter in the world, second only to the oil industry. Social Imprints – a company with a dual mission to produce eco-friendly swag, while also providing job opportunities, training and support services to at-risk adults – wanted to do better.

Realizing companies need a greener option for their branded merchandise and gifts, Social Imprints curated the world’s largest collection of eco-friendly products in the swag industry, is compensating for its carbon footprint by sequestering carbon with an expansive tree planting program, and is empowering companies with data and reporting capabilities to help them meet sustainable development goals (SDG). Branded products are an important way to unify employees, show them you care, and drive awareness. However, historically the industry has been more destructive than it has to be, says Kevin McCracken, Social Imprints’ co-founder and chief operating officer.

“As far as I know, there is no other swag company that has a more comprehensive environmentally friendly program than we do,” said McCracken. “While no eco-friendly solution is perfect, we’re proud to be a cleaner and greener promotional products option for our customers. Social Imprints is setting the standard for sustainability in the industry.”

The Sustainability Initiative has three major components:

Largest collection of eco-friendly products – Social Imprints’ carefully curated product catalog is the world’s largest collection of eco-friendly swag (apparel, bags, drinkware, tech, and more). Each offering either reduces water use, carbon emissions or traditional plastic waste and / or has a one-for-one charity model or contributes profits back to the health of the earth. Social Imprints seeks out vendors that are female, BIPOC or LGBTQ+ owned, and then produces high quality gear and wear that will stand the test of time, thus reducing landfill waste. By 2024, Social Imprints aims to make environmentally conscious, socially responsible suppliers more than 75% of its supply chain. You can view and download the full sustainable product catalog HERE.

Tree-planting partnership through veritree – Social Imprints is partnering with veritree to regenerate the world’s forests and create jobs for planters. As part of the partnership, Social Imprints has pledged to plant 40,000 Mangrove trees (20 hectares) of forest in Mombasa, Kenya in 2023. Each tree planted sequesters about a ton of carbon per tree, helping compensate for carbon footprints produced from their swag. The tree-planting will also generate 260 work days for local workers planting and taking care of trees. Social Imprints has plans in place to allow its customers to join in the sustainability initiative and track their positive contribution to the earth. Through veritree, Social Imprints will create a shareable database that displays how working with the swag company positively impacts the earth. As a thank you for partnering with Social Imprints, the company will “gift” trees to its customers, adding to the customer’s sustainability metrics.

Sample of Social Imprint’s impact dashboard.

"Trees change people's lives. Through job provision, food security, habitat restoration and more, reforestation can, if done correctly, serve as one of our most scalable, reliable tools for combating climate change and positively affecting the world,” said David Luba, co-founder of veritree and tentree, a Earth-friendly apparel company. “We're proud to welcome Social Imprints to our family of partners making a verified impact."

Photo of Social Imprint’s tree restoration site in Kenya. (Courtesy of veritree)

Community Engagement Score for customers – The Community Engagement Score represents a real-time comprehensive evaluation of each customer’s social and environmental impact. The scoring system measures a variety of factors including support for diverse vendors, eco-friendly product choices, jobs created, trees planted, and more. It is intended to help clients gather the data to report as they strive to meet their SDG goals. Scores are accessible to SI customers through their customer portal.

“Our customers – many of which are some of the world’s largest and recognizable tech companies, such as Dropbox, Oracle and Stripe – seek not only to be at the cutting-edge of tech, but to help advance social and environmental progress,” said Jeff Sheinbein, CEO and co-founder of Social Imprints. “We’re excited to be able to offer this multifaceted approach to sustainability and branded swag. We look forward to partnering with them in reducing landfill and water waste, lowering our collective carbon emissions, and restoring forests tree by tree.”

For more about Social Imprints’ products with purpose, please visit socialimprints.com.

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