One of the concerns with buying large quantities of promotional items is the damage that so many plastic, metal, and other products made of non-renewable resources can do to the earth. These materials are not sustainable and once they have been used they are gone. Even paper products are not quickly renewable, since it takes trees decades to grow to the size required to produce paper pulp. Yet, businesses rely on promotional items as part of their marketing strategy; there are fewer more foolproof means of getting an organization's name and contact information firmly into the eyes of the public.



This leaves the responsible business marketer in something of a quandary. How can they continue to promote their business with large quantities of promotional products without doing more than their fair share of damage to the planet? This is an especially significant question when you, the business person or marketer, are aware that your clients also care about environmental issues; the last thing you want is to appear insensitive to these concerns—because of course you are quite aware of them.

One solution for the conscientious business is to concentrate your marketing efforts around products made of bamboo. There are many such products; entire lines of ecologically friendly promotional products are made from bamboo. Bamboo is a very sustainable resource because it grows so quickly and plentifully wherever it is, and bamboo products are biodegradable. Bamboo is both flexible and durable, making it ideal for a wide variety of products.

An excellent example of a popular promotional item made from bamboo is bamboo lanyards. A lanyard is a strap of sorts that is usually worn around the neck. Bamboo fibers are woven into thick and durable straps, then dyed bright colors that reflect your company's brand. Your company name, phone number, logo, and website can easily be printed in a contrasting color. These lanyards are about an inch wide, and the natural bamboo fibers are comfortable to wear and keep the lanyards from irritating anyone's skin. They have plastic or metal clips attached to the ends for affixing the things they are intended to hang.

Lanyards have several practical uses. For clients who wear security or identification badges, they can be clipped to the plastic end of the lanyard, hanging conveniently around their neck in plain view of anyone who needs to see them. This is also a convenient way for people to carry credit cards or cash when they go shopping, or passports and identification in the airport; it keeps those important objects close to their bodies, easy for them to reach but hard for thieves to get to. Shorter lanyards can be clipped to belt loops to hold keys, and longer ones can hold people's glasses when they aren't wearing them.

Bamboo lanyards with your organization's name personalized on them are visible to everyone who sees your customer wearing them. They are a bright and earth-friendly way to get your information in public view.