As consumers' "green radar" heightens, one company has found an environmentally friendly way to thank its customers. New Hope Natural Media of Boulder, Colo., a natural products trade show producer, sent its sponsors, speakers and exhibitors a thank you note card that can be "planted."

DM News, the newspaper for direct marketers, recently reported that after New Hope held its 26th annual Natural Products Expo West in March, it sent note cards printed on handmade recycled paper embedded with organic seeds. The recipients can plant the card (after reading it, they hope) in soil and watch it grow into an assortment of wildflowers.

"When someone planted the cards and watched these flowers grow, it became more of an experience," Scott Sherpe, marketing project manager at New Hope, says in the article. The seeds were produced in collaboration with The Ballantine Corp.

Other aspects of the company's marketing efforts going "green," says Sherpe: They've created trade show marketing materials printed on paper using at least 30 percent post-consumer waste (PCW), and are increasingly using mailing pieces with 100 percent post-consumer waste. Sherpe's banking on it increasing the campaigns' effectiveness.

"If a postcard indicated it had 50 percent PCW, I would definitely look at it twice," he says. 

--Kori Kamradt
kkamradt@safnow.org

 

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