9 Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Corporate Gift Ideas for Employees, Clients, & More
September 5, 2024
With over 85% of people shifting their shopping habits towards sustainability over the past five years, sustainability is clearly a movement that's here to stay. That's why more and more businesses are responding to consumer demands by going green. As your company or school continues to adopt eco-friendly practices in the workplace, you'll be looking for innovative ideas to ensure your brand is a leader in the movement for a greener planet. One way to incorporate sustainability into the workplace is with eco-friendly corporate gifts for customers, clients, and employees. Eco-friendly corporate gifts are a great way to say thank you during the holidays or any time of year while giving back to a planet in need.
But what gifts work best for your audience, and what makes a corporate gift eco-friendly? Get inspired with our nine freshest and greenest ideas to help you choose.
1. Send Out Easy to Mail Eco-Friendly Corporate Gifts
If your staff is fully or partially remote, or you have clients and customers dispersed across the country, make gifting easier with items that are easy to mail. You can also reduce your company's impact on the environment by burning fewer fossil fuels with green promotional gifts that are small and lightweight. A bonus is that these gifts tend to be less expensive, so they're an excellent strategy for stretching your holiday budget.
- Gift cards are a staple of any holiday giveaway, but you can take it to the next level by tucking one inside a unique ornament like a Holiday Stocking Ornament or a Keepsake Wooden Ornament – two cute and thoughtful ways to send holiday greetings in the mail.
- Amp up the impact by choosing recycled corporate gifts that are also flat and mail friendly like the Eco Friendly Jotter or an Eco-Friendly Pen & Journal Set.
- Employees and clients will be thinking of you when they receive a Bamboo Media Stand or a Bamboo and White Marble Coaster Set in the mail for their home office. Created from renewable bamboo, these green holiday gift ideas will shine on a desk or table.
Don't stress about packaging and shipping. Sustainable corporate gifts – both small and large – can be mailed out in time for Christmas through Crestline’s special gift services, personalized with your holiday message straight to your employees' and clients' doorsteps.
2. Reduce Waste with Food Gifts
Looking for eco-friendly gifts that won't be wasted during the holidays? Branded snacks and treats sit at the top of the list!
- One way to get more mileage out of your food gifts is to send them out in a reusable bag. Fill the Arctic Zone® Repreve® 25-50 Can Expandable Cooler with treats to delight your audience. Your purchase of this luxury cooler made from recycled materials also benefits green causes with a 1% donation.
- Reward employees with tasty gifts that will make them smile like the Happy Holidays Treat Box and the Batch & Bodega Hello There, or encourage them to stay in for a movie night with the POP of Magic Box.
Once these sweet and salty treats are gobbled up, they're completely gone and won't be left behind to pile up at local landfills.
3. Choose Recycled Corporate Gift Items
Businesses that promote environmental responsibility and schools that teach about sustainability can benefit from green promotional gifts that increase the life cycle of a product while reducing waste. After all, one person's trash is another one's treasure.
- Ensure old products don't go to waste with eco-friendly gifts for employees that will keep them warm during the holidays like District® Re-Fleece™ Full-Zip Hoodies made from 60% recycled cotton and 40% post-consumer recycled polyester.
- Or, keep them cozy when they get home from the office with the Slowtide® Cotton Blanket designed completely from recycled post-consumer waste.
- Eco-friendly gifts for students – like the Recycled Bonded Leather Hardcover Notebook – are a great way to recognize hard work and dedication after a difficult semester. Pair these notebooks with a Field & Co. Fireside Eco 15" Computer Rucksack to get them excited about coming back in the spring.
4. Give Eco-Friendly Gifts that Encourage a Green Earth
A green Earth is the backbone of sustainability.
- Green corporate gifts – like the Tree Seed Matchbook and the Modern Sprout® Tiny Terracotta Grow Kit – will pump even more life into your brand.
- Plant a seed with customers and clients with the Ceramic Planter Set or the Wooden Planter Block – excellent eco-friendly personalized gifts that will help grow your company’s good will when customized with your logo.
5. Customize Sustainable Gifts Made from Renewable Resources
Preserve the planet by reducing your footprint on the environment with sustainable gifts for employees and clients that are made from renewable resources.
- A big part of sustainability is maintaining the great outdoors. Encourage employees and clients to get outside for a picnic with a Wheat Lunch Box and a Harvest Utensil Set and gift them in a Buffalo Plaid Print Jute Tote for the holidays.
- Work from home is here to stay for many, and you can make remote work easier with useful home office gifts. Any home office can use a 5” x 7” Wheat Straw Notebook with Pen – a notebook constructed from wheat straw to reduce plastic use – and a set of Woodlands Coasters made of natural Poplar wood.
- Bamboo is a renewable resource that grows quickly, which is why it's a popular feature of many sustainable promotional gifts. Get eco-friendly executive gifts designed with bamboo to really impress like the Power Mantle™ Wireless Charger, the Bamboo Soy Candle and the Bamboo Cutting Board with Handle.
6. Erase the Need for Disposable Products with Reusable Items
Choose eco-friendly corporate gift ideas to replace disposable products that would end up in the garbage.
- Custom water bottles and tumblers like the 21 oz Tipton Stainless Steel Bottle or the 20 oz Two-Tone Himalayan Tumbler are easy to carry on the go, reducing the need for single-use plastic bottles and Styrofoam cups.
- Paper sacks and plastic bags will be a thing of the past with the Igloo® Repreve™ Lunch Pail Cooler and the Recycled Cotton Market Bag – two eco-friendly bags for lunch and groceries.
- Add in a Satsuma Bento Lunch Box and a Reusable Straw with Case to encourage a healthy lunch routine that's more than just a meal.
7. Give Useful and Attractive Items with Staying Power
Don't let your eco-friendly Christmas gifts go to waste. Choose beautiful and handy items that will be used and enjoyed time and time again. Great eco-friendly gifts for teachers, students, customers, members, and future business partners, these sustainable branded gifts are a unique and attractive way to associate your brand with long lasting quality.
- Make employees' commutes easier with personalized eco-friendly gifts like the Igloo® Seadrift™ Snap Down Cooler, the Corporate Commuter Gift Set and the Solo® Re:store Laptop Tote.
- Studying can be draining. Restore and refresh students with the 20 oz CamelBak Chute® Mag Copper Bottle or the 18 oz Thermos™ Guardian Stainless Steel Tumbler.
- For students, mix in Illuminating Earbuds or a Woodgrain Wireless Charging Pad and Speaker that will play their favorite tunes and a RocketBook Letter Flip Notebook for jotting down notes, and a night of studying will quickly turn into a creative adventure. The Rocketbook is not only a sought after piece of tech, it is also a digital notebook that can be used indefinitely, eliminating the need to turn trees into paper.
8. Give Back to the Environment with Meaningful Gifts for Employees
Giving sustainable corporate gifts isn’t just about what those gifts are made of. It’s also about what the people who make those gifts are made of. Many companies that offer impressive corporate gifts also give portions of the proceeds to environmental causes. You can shape your marketing campaigns or employee appreciation programs in a meaningful and socially responsible way with corporate gifts that give back.
- Meaningful gifts for employees like the Temblor™ Speaker + Wireless Charger and the Modern Sprout® One For One Tree Kits are a great way to reward hard work and build morale while helping the environment since trees are planted with every purchase.
- Support the planet with the Field & Co. 100% Recycled PET Sherpa Blanket – a blanket that features an eco-friendly take on a classic look and style. On top of that, one percent of the revenue is donated to an organization that protects the Earth through a partnership with 1% For the Planet.
- Encourage eco-friendliness while giving back with the 10 oz Miir® Vacuum Insulated Wine Tumbler. With these Miir tumblers, 1% of the revenue is given to trackable projects that allow you and your recipients to follow the story behind each purchase.
9. Decorate Eco-Friendly Corporate Gifts with Green Sayings & Slogans
Messaging goes a long way when it comes to sustainability, so liven up your gifts with inspirational phrases. Make sure the items you print on practice what they preach with eco-friendly selections.
- “Say no to Single Use” - Straws don't have to go to waste with reusable options like this Reusable Silicone Straw Set In Pouch.
- “May the Forest be With You” - An appealing journal with organic paper made from ground apple peels, the Apple Peel Journal is the perfect giveaway for businesses striving for sustainability.
Check out other green sayings and slogans for more custom eco-friendly corporate gift ideas.
Crestline is committed to environmental corporate responsibility, and offering eco-friendly promotional products is only a small part of it. It sure is a fun part though, so from our business to yours, happy green gifting!