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Global waste and recycling initiatives are a hot topic and pressing issue for a country as large and influential as the USA. Though your average consumer is more aware of buying and participating in earth-conscious commerce, larger habits remain for retailers that can leave a significant carbon footprint. Many retail companies use PVC-based signage for one-time-use seasonal displays and fail to recycle their temporary furnishings properly.
Today’s guests said this waste is harmful to the environment and the economy; On this episode of the Retail podcast, we sat down to talk how retail companies can make better signage choices with Bob O’Neill, owner of Competitive EDGE, and Tim Bennett, Chairman & Co-founder of Image Options Companies.
Since Image Options Companies’ formation in 1999, its approach to sustainability has been holistic. Though many companies opt for recyclable signage, it often fails to finish the full recycling process.
“People will say that their product is recyclable and it probably is, but it doesn’t get to the waste stream,” O’Neill said.
Most malls and the communities they reside in have ineffective recycling methods. In this regard, Bennett said, “this is a bigger problem that needs to be in Washington.”
But even without federal intervention, O’Neill and Bennett explained how there are choices companies can make that will help the environment and their bottom line. With Millennials becoming the biggest buyers in the country, this generation is making ethically inspired choices and shopping at companies that make sustainable choices.
“The ROI…the return on any sustainable investment you do usually comes back in multiple folds,” Bennett said to businesses and manufacturers.
Bennett and O’Neill divulged a treasure trove of resources for the sustainably-minded in this retail podcast, while reinforcing the importance of sustainability knowledge and awareness.
“If someone can listen to this, and if we create one person…in the retail design display side of the business to just think about their overall impact, then we’ve done our job,” O’Neill said.
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