Sorting through a bag of giveaways I collected at a recent business conference to decide what I’d keep and chuck in the trash, I was shocked that the only pen a corporate exhibitor had given me did not light up or glow in the dark. In fact, it was wood. I mean rough wood, no finish or flourishes. I was also pleasantly surprised by the chunk of ecorock, an environmentally friendly drywall substitute — with a logo stamped on it that I came across.

As green becomes the new paradigm, boy are businesses changing the way they brand themselves!

It seems like only a few convention centers ago that business was still just about, well, business.  The more professional a presence a company had the more serious attention they got.  But that’s all old school now.

As the world becomes more eco conscious, I as well as growing numbers of consumers worldwide like to know that the companies we’re buying from support eco consciousness if not in practice at least in spirit.  Green business is more people friendly business.  It’s business that connects commerce with culture.  Soy based ink on recycled paper is automatically what comes to mind – or no paper — at all but a business can create a green identity by just putting a bamboo leaf or sunflower on its business cards.

It can speak to green through packaging that creates a physical connection between its ‘users’ and nature.  If can communicate a green message by expressing a commitment to tradition that translates into social responsibility – or a passion for creativity that translates into a passion for life.

So while a cream linen card with some well placed angle brackets or a double helix with contact info once effectively made the point that you were ‘all business’, being all business now without conveying broader social awareness can hold you back. Take it from me.  Companies who give me green friendly promotional matter, are unforgettable.  The ones who pass out junk tchotchkes, not so much.