Hey, Nonprofits and Schools! Tired of fundraisers with low return on investment? Here’s your chance to WIN a reusable bag fundraiser, and the proceeds are 100% yours to keep!
Bulletin Bag [.com] is giving away 200 Drawstring Latitudes Foldaway Shopper bags—printed with YOUR logo–-to the winning school or nonprofit! The suggested sell price is $10 per bag, but the winner ultimately sets the price based on how much they want to earn. If the bags sell for $10 each, the nonprofit could make $2000!
Every week we pick two of our reusable bags and have our staff members put them through the wringer. We’ll comment on the outcomes here (and encourage our clients to do the same!). This week, we’ve chosen our Folding Snap Nonwoven Tote and Large Nonwoven Folding Reusable Bag.
These two bags are popular due to their budget-conscious price point and portability. The Folding Snap Nonwoven Tote is a bit smaller (16″w x 14″h x 3-1/2″d) than the Large Nonwoven Folding Reusable Bag (15″w x 18-3/4″h x 7-1/2″d), but that’s where the differences end.
Every week we pick two of our reusable bags and have our staff members put them through the wringer. We’ll comment on the outcomes here (and encourage our clients to do the same!). This week, we’ve chosen our best-selling Little Thunder Grocery Tote and Big Thunder Grocery Tote .
We love the “Thunder Totes.” They are by and large our most popular bags due to the quality of the material, durable design and budget-conscious price point. The Little Thunder Grocery Tote , (12”w x 13”h x 8”d), is smaller than the Big Thunder (13”w x 15”h x 10”d), but that’s where the differences end.
The Little Thunder and Big Thunder are made from heavy-duty 100 GSM non-woven polypropylene. Most non-woven polypropylene reusable grocery bags will weigh between 70 and 100 GSM (the larger the number, the higher the density and durability). It’s also worth noting that not all nonwoven polypropylene is the same. While GSM is a measure of density, it’s not a measure of the quality of the polypropylene itself. The Big Thunder and Little Thunder totes use the highest quality, most consistent polypropylene we’ve seen.
You, our loyal Bulletin Bag clients, have increasingly searched for eco-friendly products that compliment your reusable bag efforts, and many of you turned to water bottles. Well, we’ve been listening to your requests, and we are very proud to announce the launch of Bulletin Bottle [.com]!
We know your time is at a premium, and in this economy your marketing dollars need to stretch as far as possible. We have filled Bulletin Bottle with quality products that won’t break your budget. Rest assured that we only include products that have been tested and are safe for you and your audience–and that are manufactured by factories that value social compliance as much as you do.
We are very excited about our new division, and can’t wait to hear your thoughts! As always, if you have any questions or feedback, or if you’d like for us to offer some suggestions for your upcoming project, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We are here to help you!
Earth Day is April 22, and it’s not unusual for retailers to offer special incentives to encourage their customers to think about the environment. As usual, we love to hear about reusable grocery bags as vehicles for these promotions!
Here are a few Earth Day-related promos that have hit our radar.
Chicago: Big Bowl restaurants are handing out free “Earth Matters” grocery totes on April 22 with every takeout order. Every time you reuse the bag to pick up food, receive $0.50 off for the life of the reusable bag.
Texas: H-E-B is giving away 250,000 custom printed reusable shopping bags on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Customers who bring in five or more plastic bags for recycling will receive a coupon for one free reusable H-E-B shopping bag. Last year, H-E-B and its customers recycled 3.87 million pounds of plastic bags across the state!
The Lantern, Ohio State University’s campus newspaper, reports that OSU Campus Dining Services joined the campus-wide effort to go green this fall by making the switch from plastic bags to reusable polyester bags. Prior to the start of the 2011-2012 school year, plastic bags alone were available at most campus dining locations for students to carry their meals home in.
Last fall, more than 10,000 reusable grocery bags were distributed to students—at no cost—in an effort to eliminate plastic bags. OSU has been toying with printed reusable grocery bags since last year, when orange reusable bags could be purchased in residence dining halls.
The orange bags were purchased with Campus Dining Services money, as were the black reusable grocery bags. Sustainability committees are reimbursing the money as part of campus’s sustainability project.
They’re doing it in Europe. They’re doing it in Asia (Reusable Bag Day). And, they’re doing it in America.
The 13th Annual America Recycles Day is on November 15. This is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging people to recycle and buy recycled products. Last year, America Recycles Day featured 750 registered organizations conducting 2,375 events!
Why is this day so important? The amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum and steel cans, plastic PET and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging in 2008 alone was equivalent to:
* The amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in one year
* The amount of gasoline used in almost 11 million passenger automobiles in one year
* 7.9 percent of electricity generation from fossil fuels in the U.S. in one year
It’s a great time to start planning for winter fundraisers, promotions and holiday gifting. Here are some ideas on how to use custom printed reusable grocery bags to green Mother Earth through the New Year. 
Jumpstart retail sales by having customized reusable bags for sale (or free with purchase) in your store. Shoppers can use them to carry holiday gifts, and you can create an incentive to shop in your store with a reusable bag promotion. Try offering a percentage off when customers bring in your reusable bag, or offer a free reusable bag custom printed with your logo for a sale over a certain dollar amount.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that reusable bags are popping up everywhere as an eco-friendly marketing vehicle. What better way to increase awareness of your organization than to put your branding on reusable grocery bags for everyone to see…over and over and over again?
So, if you’ve been on the fence about purchasing custom printed reusable grocery bags, we have the perfect opportunity for you: our two most popular reusable bags, the Big Thunder and Little Thunder, are on sale for the remainder of 2010! Made from durable, 100 GSM polypropylene, they feature wrap-around handles and roomy gussets (with bottom inserts for extra stability), and come in nine popular colors.
According to a recent study by Nexus Collections, reusable bags are the most effective way to promote your brand at a conference or event. Twenty-three percent of respondents selected conference bags as the promotional item that created the biggest exposure.
Longevity may have a lot to do with it: by investing in reusable bags as tradeshow giveaways, you gain loads of exposure at the event—not to mention the residual effect by the bags’ reuse after the conference is over. Your logo or message on a custom printed reusable bag is akin to a walking billboard, providing impressions every time it’s used.
