As a business, your bottom line is a contributing factor to any decision regarding stock. Whether you’re a theme park or a zoo, a gallery or a concert venue. A key revenue stream for many leisure and hospitality venues is merchandise sales.
However, it’s important to remember that poorly chosen merchandise can come with a steep price tag; not in the form of how much of your budget it demands, but in the environmental damage inflicted due to how it is manufactured, the materials it’s made from and what happens when that item needs to be discarded.
As we continue to feel the effects of global warming and plastic waste, it’s important that BrandArt; a branded merchandise provider, takes sustainability into account when we source and manufacture our ranges, doing what we can to find high-quality, eco-friendly and long-lasting solutions.
Typically, a lot of merchandise you find at attraction sites is made of plastic or low-quality materials, our ECO range uses recycled plastic and plastic alternatives that not only help to reduce environmental impact in production but also impacts on the carbon footprint over the lifetime of the product, such as being biodegradable or made from RPET materials that can be recycled over and over again.
Here’s why attraction sites should be choosing eco-friendly and sustainable souvenirs.
Why is sustainability important?
We all know that many of our actions have had a big impact on the planet. From overproducing plastic, increasing our use of fossil fuels, and the rise of large corporations over-using materials and resources. Each of these takes its toll on the wellbeing of our planet, causing issues such as pollution, deforestation and the loss of habitats.
If we want to keep our planet safe from serious damage, it’s important that we work together as a community to address these issues. BrandArt wants to help every visitor attraction create a balance of sustainability and products that sell well and create memories.
As a business, we think that we have even more of a duty to provide our customers with sustainable and eco-friendly products. By reducing our dependence on materials like plastic, we can make a big difference and reduce our environmental impact.
Sustainability is all about living and working in a way that doesn’t deplete the natural resources that future generations will need. Eden Project in the UK has adapted quickly to this, stocking a large number of eco-friendly plant or recycled material based merchandise along with reusable and locally sourced products ranges. Sustainability is something that we here at BrandArt are very passionate about, driving us to find more high-quality, sustainably produced brandable merchandise products.
What are the most sustainable products?
You may think that choosing the right souvenirs for your gift shop all comes down to aesthetics and the products that are most popular with your customers.
However, we would encourage all attraction sites to strive to create a balance in merchandise products made from virgin materials and those made from recycled or alternative materials. We believe that is is important to consider the environmental impact of the products you sell.
Being more sustainable doesn’t have to mean not selling anything to your customers, but it does mean choosing eco-friendly alternatives.
Generally, any product that’s made using virgin material such as plastic or leather is less sustainable than those made from recycled or alternative materials. Both virgin leather and plastics are made using resource-intensive processes that can contribute to unnecessary waste.
Choosing recycled plastic and leather products is the easiest way to get the same quality products, with a reduced environmental impact.
We now offer alternative material based products such as bamboo and cork, which are both natural resources that can biodegrade and be grown in a much more sustainable way than plastic. Bamboo is especially sustainable because it grows quickly, doesn’t require any fertiliser or damaging pesticides to thrive and will re-generate from its roots. This allows you to provide your customers a wider choice of merchandise and will help to appeal to the “green” shopper.
Choosing durable, high-quality materials is also another way to be more sustainable. If you choose to stock virgin plastic materials in your shop you should ensure that they are good quality and can be recycled.
By choosing to stock high-quality products that won’t break straight away, they are less likely to be thrown away in a matter of days.
Sustainable souvenirs at BrandArt
We take sustainability seriously at BrandArt, which is why you’ll find a range of sustainable products that are ready to be stocked in your souvenir shop.
We have created our own eco-friendly line of products to create more of a balance for our customers and yours. The range consists of items that are made from recycled plastic, recycled leather, cork, and bamboo.
They are still made to the very high standards as all of our other products and come with a similarly competitive price, but you can order them without the guilt of contributing further damage to the planet.
