Heidi Tolliver-Walker
If you’re looking for “green paper,” throw a dart. You’ll hit something. If you’re looking for green plastics for durable cards, CDs, DVDs, and other marketing devices, you’ve got a bigger challenge ahead.
This is one of the reasons I love LinkedIn. Its discussion groups offer a wealth of information on marketers’ experiences with such products. With vendors hawking the discussions, too, “where can I get this?” often spawns some terrific answers.
Most recently, someone asked about a durable card printed on both sides made of material that the marketer could say is “green.” He wanted something that looks and feels like a plastic credit card, but green angle was very important. The card also had to be durable and have at least a two-year life.
One recommendation? The Laser Clean card (offered by Brandt Affixing), which is made from 40% recycled content, all of which is PCW (post consumer waste.) It measures 9 mils in thickness and is designed to last over two years. Brandt Affixing offers integrated cards with laminates made from corn.
For heavier cards, Teraco offers a recycled product, EnviroCards, which is a plastic card made from a blend of pre- and post-consumer recycled plastic. Teraco claims that EnviroCards perform just like standard plastic cards and meet all ISO standard specifications. One neat feature is that customers can recycle the cards (or encourage their customers to recycle them) and send them back to Teraco to be recycled into . . . you guessed it! More EnviroCards.
Because the plastic used in the EnviroCards is recycled, it has a speckled, off-white look, and the actual shade varies with each run. For marketers who want to maintain the integrity of their colors, Teraco can flood coat a layer of white ink before it prints the artwork. However, you want the recycled look, you can keep the flecks, too.
Rachael Reinert (Martinez), marketing manager for Teraco, even has a blog “Our Culture and Plastic Cards.” Just in case you can’t get enough of the topic!
So, yes, you can have your cards and “green” marketing, too.
Like this post? View all my “Greening Print Marketing” posts.
I’ve been wondering about this kind of product lately. I returned some merchandise to a store & received a store credit on one of their gift cards. Once I used the credit, I asked the cashier if they would reuse the card, and she told me they couldn’t reuse them & it got thrown away. Needless to say, I was unimpressed with this merchant’s policy.
I hope more stores allow for reusing cards before resorting to trashing them, but I’m really glad to see a green option for the card itself. What sort of print process is used with these cards? Just curious.