Sustainable Corporate Gifting Guide
Sustainable corporate gifting is a great opportunity to demonstrate a company’s sustainability commitments, including environmental and social responsibility. By choosing sustainable gifts, businesses can inspire their employees, build a positive brand image, and contribute to a better world. There is a wealth of small, creative, and sustainable businesses to choose from in Ireland.
The following is our recommendations:
- Define your values: clarify what criteria is most important for your corporate gifts, e.g. environmental impact, supporting local communities or fair trade.
- Local sourcing: support local SMEs and social enterprises, this supports the local economy and reduces carbon emissions from shipping.
- Eco-friendly materials: Choose gifts with a good environmental footprint, such as made from recycled or upcycled materials and consider reusable or recyclable packaging.
- Education: raise awareness with information about the sustainability and ethics of your chosen gift to recipients.
Social Enterprises – here are some examples:
- We Make Good – products are designed by some of Ireland’s best designers and made by people facing social challenges such as Travellers who have been supported to develop valuable skills and gain employment.
- Rediscovery Centre – Eco Store provides a wide range of upcycled and reused circular economy products.
- ReThink Ireland – check out their directory and BuySocial.ie for listings of social enterprises you can support here in Ireland.
Reduce Single-use plastic and waste – Ireland currently recycles 31% of all plastics, but that needs to increase to 50% by 2025 under EU Legislation.
- Reuzi, Faerly, and Pax are just some of the Zero waste businesses in Ireland providing a range of gifting solutions to encourage minimal-waste living.
- Jimmy Eco-friendly Toys is a toy company, retailing and distributing eco-friendly toys. 90% of toys are still made from new plastic.
- Hometree plant native woodland in Ireland to help with land regeneration and biodiversity you can pledge or donate for trees to be planted in Ireland.
- Notions and Lotions handmade soaps, skincare and haircare made in Ireland female run, zero palm oil, plastic or waste.
- Avoid single-use items and consider e-gift cards, experience gifts or donations to a local charity
Ethical Coffee and Chocolate – A winning combo that are often linked to environmental and human rights challenges.
- Moyee Coffee – Fair Chain coffee means more value stays in coffee-growing countries by creating quality employment and providing a living income to farmers. Also available for office supply.
- Tonys Chocolonely – A chocolate brand committed to eradicating child labour in the global chocolate supply chain.
- Imbibe Coffee – Organic socially conscious coffee who is giving back, 1% of all their coffee sales going to Women’s Aid, 1% to projects at coffee origins and a further 1% being shared among their staff.
Sourcing sustainable and ethical corporate gifts may take time and have a slightly higher upfront cost, but it demonstrates your commitment to responsible business practices and can have a real positive impact for smaller business.
We recognise there are MANY more great small businesses and social enterprises not listed, and we encourage businesses to think about their corporate gifting choices a little differently this year!
To find out more about how we can support you with your sustainable procurement please contact your Advisor (for members). If you are not a member you can find out more here Join the network
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