Eco freebies not so green
Betsy Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News
Published November 25, 2006 at midnight
Attend almost any convention and you'll find sales representatives handing out key chains, pen lights and other souvenirs. The reps hope these gifts, also called swag or tchotchkes (pronounced "chotchkeys"), will help you remember their product.
The recent Greenbuild International Conference and Expo at the Colorado Convention Center was no exception. Although the organization's goal is to encourage the greening of home construction, many of the giveaways can't be recycled, says Marti Matsch, communications director for Eco-Cycle, Boulder. Below is her analysis of 25 items:
• Most popular: a small handheld fan with LED display urging people to be green. Operated by three AAA mercury-free batteries; device cannot be recycled.
• Easily recycled: a cube-shaped pad of paper and a pair of steel nail clippers on a key chain
• Made of recycled materials: a box of Fritz Green Tile samples; a chunk of recycled foam insulation
• Landfill material: squeezable stress balls, blinking acrylic ice cubes, rubber wrist bands, a pen light and miniature basketball (could be recycled as holiday gifts)
• Useful: a rubber eraser, three tote bags and a blue spruce tree seedling, although its clear plastic tube-shaped container cannot be recycled
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