It’s Easy Being Green – What to do with leftover event swag
Think back to all of those times you have been given swag at an event. Or all of those times you as an event organiser have ordered branded collateral to give away at an event. Do you wonder where all of that “stuff” is now?
Now, we’re not saying that you shouldn’t provide any collateral at events – it can be a great way of spreading brand awareness at the event and for a while afterwards.
But what to do with the leftovers? There are a number of Brisbane based organisations that will gladly accept what you may think is waste and resell it or upcycle into something else. The LOUD team have worked with these wonderful companies in the past to try to reduce the impact of our events.
This wonderful organisation have been instrumental in reducing Brisbane’s waste for over 13 years. WAY before it was trendy. They gladly accept donations of leftover conference signage, satchels, pens and other bits and pieces. Collection can be arranged for large items or you can also pay them a visit to drop off smaller items (and check out their inspiring Reverse Emporium).
2. GIVIT
If you haven’t heard of GIVIT yet, where have you been? The Duchess of Cornwall and Oprah are both on board! They have made the process of donating items super easy. Only organisations that can benefit from your donations will accept them so you know they are not going to end up dying a slow death in the back of an op shop.
If you are wanting to donate a large number of the same item (eg. leftover conference satchels) to an op shop, consider donating to one of the larger organisations who can distribute across their many stores. So many items donated to op shops actually end up in land fill and cost the organisations millions in waste disposal fees every year.
And don’t forget local kindergartens and schools just LOVE old boxes / signage / offcuts and stationery for their creative play activities.
Photo courtesy of The Bub Hub
So the next time you’re thinking about just throwing leftover event materials in the bin, think twice about whether there might be someone else who would not only give the item a second life, but would benefit from it.
