Promo With Purpose: How the Industry Is Redefining Sustainability

When it comes to sustainable promotional products, many people’s first thoughts go to reusable totes and drinkware – two categories that can help consumers dramatically reduce single-use plastic waste.

And promo suppliers have certainly been delivering in both of those categories. “There’s a lot of cool drinkware,” says Hal Sheppard, owner of Philadelphia-area distributor Better by Blue Star (asi/141977), a certified B Corp. “We’re seeing more recycled stainless steel being used.”

For example, this summer, Counselor Top 40 supplier Logomark (asi/67866) partnered with sustainable drinkware brand topl to offer a line of bottles made from 90% recycled stainless steel, with lids made from 50% recycled plastic. Counselor Top 40 supplier Goldstar (asi/73295) offers Ocean Bottle (asi/74713), a U.K.-based B Corp that crafts drinkware with a 90% recycled steel body. For each product sold, Ocean Bottle funds the collection of 1,000 ocean-bound plastic bottles (roughly 25 pounds) and has facilitated collection of more than 45 million pounds of plastic since its founding.

Industry suppliers are also taking the humble tote bag to new levels. Counselor Top 40 supplier Gemline (asi/56070), a certified B Corp, has partnered with Aware, a company that adds a physical tracer to products, allowing users to scan a QR code and track the supply chain journey of the sustainable components used in production. Gemline offers a whole collection of budget-priced tote bags, made of recycled materials, that feature Aware transparency technology. “We firmly believe that sustainability should not be a luxury, but an accessible choice for all,” Gemline President and CEO Frank Carpenito said when the line was released.

Gemline (asi/56070) offers tote bags, made from recycled materials, that include Aware supply chain traceability technology.

Counselor Top 40 supplier PCNA (asi/66887) counts the FEED convention tote among its lineup. Proceeds from the sales of the 100% GOTS certified organic cotton bag help to provide meals for kids worldwide without access to food.

However, it would be a mistake to think that sustainable branded merch begins and ends with those two product categories. “We’re all a little toted out, and people have their cupboards stuffed with reusable water bottles these days,” says Lindsey Cole, director of marketing and communications at Sutton, MA-based Ethix Merch (asi/189731), a promo distributor focused on building ethical supply chains in the industry.

Ethix Merch’s clients, she adds, have been very focused on sourcing items from natural materials to help reduce their reliance on synthetics. One such client, Climate Town, a sustainability-focused media company, was looking for hats made without any plastic in the brim, Cole says. So, Ethix Merch collaborated with a brand called Rustek to create a plastic-free hemp hat, with a brim made from a layer of bamboo with cork on either side.

Ethix Merch (asi/189731) helped its client Climate Town source a hemp hat, with a plastic-free brim.

Another Ethix client, Climate Hive, a marketing company dedicated to supporting climate innovators, was crowdfunding to expand its podcast and wanted to offer backers meaningful merch. Ethix helped them put together a swag box featuring a pen made in Canada from recycled materials, an FSC-certified notebook made in the USA from sugarcane and bamboo, and a made-in-the-USA ceramic mug.  “They wanted a thoughtfully curated selection of items that were free from greenwashing and wouldn’t end up in the landfill,” Cole says.

Going Beyond ‘Brandfill’

Historically, the promo products industry has gotten a bad rap for peddling “trinkets and trash.” It’s a perception that the industry still pushes against. This year, for instance, 39% of promo distributors with annual revenue above $5 million said they’re worried about clients developing negative attitudes toward branded merch, according to ASI Research. (Contrast that to 2024, when only 24% of extra-large distributors had the same concern.)

Promo firms have worked to address this image problem in a variety of ways, from undergoing regular sustainability assessments and publishing annual impact reports to partnering with well-known retail brands to offer higher-quality, more coveted products to end-buyers.

“I’m really impressed with the supply chain in recent years,” Sheppard says. “The top promo suppliers have been embracing retail brands and doing their due diligence.”

Distributors, for their part, often assume a more consultative and creative approach when clients request items that are likely to end up as “brandfill.” Brenda Speirs, CEO of Bend, OR-based Buzztag (asi/186668), sees those moments as a chance to spark conversation and share expertise. “We’re not salesy or pitchy or anything; we don’t try to push people outside their budget,” she adds. “But we really try to get them to think about not giving out something to everyone at the conference. Limit your numbers and choose a nicer item, so it’s the same spend, but you’re giving them something they’re going to hang on to and value.”

Promo firms are also taking responsibility for products at the end of their life, whether through creative upcycling projects, donation, or recycling efforts. For instance, Toronto-based Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) worked with Preloved, a garment upcycling company in Canada, to transform single-use street pole banners from the 2015 Pan Am Games into functional, handcrafted bags.

Redwood Classics Apparel (asi/81627) worked with Preloved to turn single-use street pole banners from the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto into functional, handcrafted bags.

For another upcycling project, Redwood Classics turned umbrellas into unique, branded pillows, recycling the metal umbrella frames.

“It’s not a gimmick, but a long-term strategy for responsible branding,” Redwood Classics President Kathy Cheng said of upcycling during a recent Promo Insiders podcast episode.

SwagCycle, a sustainability platform founded in 2019 by Ben Grossman, co-president of Somerville, MA-based distributor Grossman Marketing Group (asi/215205), has also been active in helping companies responsibly dispose of obsolete or unwanted branded merch.

Over the last six years, SwagCycle has facilitated more than $10.9 million in charitable donations and diverted more than 3.13 million promotional products from landfills through donation, recycling, and upcycling initiatives.

SwagCycle partnered with Delivering Good to solicit donations from promo industry companies, including Counselor Top 40 distributor Kotis Design (asi/244898), to support California wildlife relief.

“We’ve always believed sustainability shouldn’t be complicated,” Grossman says.

What Consumers Crave

Consumers, particularly in younger generations, are increasingly holding brands accountable for the impact of their products. Consider that 72% of Gen Z consumers say it’s important that the promo products they receive are environmentally friendly, and 78% of Gen Z consumers have the same desire to receive socially responsible promo, according to ASI Research. The majority of millennials are also adamant about sustainability: 69% say it’s important that they receive environmentally friendly promo, and 74% say the same about socially responsible promo.

Those desires are becoming evident among promo buyers as well. Half of distributors with more than $5 million in annual revenue said clients asked for more environmentally friendly products in 2024, according to the 2025 Counselor State of the Industry report. Three-quarters of large suppliers (with more than $25 million in annual revenue) reported that clients in 2024 requested more environmentally friendly products compared to the previous year.

“Clients are constantly asking for solutions that are better for our planet,” says Kris Robinson, co-founder of Jackalope | The Kreative Lure (asi/233246) in Boise, ID. “Budgets are being based around the demand and needs of these sustainable ideas and projects.”

So far, however, 2025 has been a volatile year for the sustainability movement. President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement (the international treaty that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) for the second time, and his administration has been rolling back clean air and water protections, and proposing deep staffing and budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Add to that ongoing economic instability and a shifting tariff strategy. It’s natural to worry how such headwinds will affect spending on eco-conscious branded merch, but promo companies remain cautiously optimistic.

“Our sustainability projects haven’t gone away, but are now competing for time and attention as we react to the changing tariff landscape,” says Kate Nash, director of business development and promotional sales at B Corp-certified supplier Raining Rose (asi/80489). “Companies that were already committed to these efforts will stay committed, but efforts might slow as distractions increase.”

Grossman, who began blogging about sustainability two decades ago, puts it this way: “Sustainability, like most other movements, is a marathon, not a sprint – it’s just one step at a time.”