Your Signage Choice Could Save the Planet

The war on plastic continues as plastic signs begin to become a thing of the past for businesses — with many organizations pushing to become more environmentally friendly. Due to the advancements in technology and quirkier forms of advertising, the possibilities to stand out from the crowd are endless.

In an attempt to be much more environmentally friendly, businesses are beginning to place portable gobo projectors outside of their buildings to showcase their company logo, as well as any other marketing materials that they want their customers to see when passing. Unlike plastic alternatives, these illuminated signs can capture anyone’s attention and drive their business message forward.

This approach to business signs isn’t just more aesthetically pleasing on the eye, they’re also extremely cost efficient and don’t require a lot of maintenance time. Plastic signs are notorious for breaking and can become quite a regular expense for businesses — whether this is replacing a missing letter or having a fresh coat of paint.

Two big factors that make Gobos a great alternative is that they are extremely cheap and long-lasting, which are two of the main reasons why businesses now opt for them over plastic signs. As well as this, they’re much easier to dispose of in comparison to plastic!

How plastic is impacting the environment

Growing in threat to the environment each year, plastic is a problem that is having a profound impact on our environment. Made from non-renewable resources, the manufacturing and incineration of plastic pollutes the air, land and water while releasing toxins that can have a harsh impact on the wider society.

The reliance on plastic is huge with reports suggesting that we now produce over 300 million tons annually — due to the cheapness and versatility of the material. But what may seem like a financial positive is outweighed by the countless negatives that come with its use.

Plastic doesn’t particularly have a long shelf life. You won’t be surprised to find that 50% of plastic is used once and then disposed of. But is this then recycled? Apparently not. Studies have shown that only 9% of the world’s plastic is actually recycled and properly dealt with in a way that can cause less harm to the environment. The area that accounted for the highest plastic usage was in packaging — occupying around 40%.

Understandably, this has encouraged businesses to remove the use of plastic from their operations or make it less accessible to the public. In England, for example, stores with over 250 employees have been instructed to charge their customers 5p for a plastic carrier bag to reduce plastic bag use and encourage people to support the ‘bag-for-life scheme’. Since this initiative was introduced in 2015, plastic bag use has dropped by 86%, which highlights the success of such necessary measures.

One of the more pressing issues is that plastic is making its way into our oceans. Dame Ellen McArthur has claimed:

“Given projected growth in consumption, in a business-as-usual scenario, by 2050 oceans are expected to contain more plastics than fish (by weight)”

Worryingly, off the back of that, research has also suggested that eight million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans every year. This has led to one in three marine mammals being tangled in litter. So much so, that 50% of turtles have consumed plastic and 90% of seabirds have had pieces of plastic wedged in their stomachs. But this is an issue that can make its way back to the land. For example, once plastic has been in the ocean for a while, chemicals will be released which could potentially be inhaled by fish — this then has the potential to contaminate our food supply chain and cause greater problems to human health.

What can businesses do to remove plastic?

It’s not a legal requirement for a business to take action, but it’s your responsibility to make more informed decisions around the use of plastic across your business’ operations. There are countless steps that you can take to make your company eco-friendlier in a way that you can cut down costs at the same time.

Starting with little steps can be the best way to get off to a good start. Begin by preventing plastic use where you can. Instead of replacing your old, torn outdoor notice, opt for revolutionary gobos that utilize the finest areas of technology while making your business look good.

Trends can be quite infectious, so why not promote an eco-friendly lifestyle to your employees, too? If you have a water dispenser in your office and find yourself constantly replacing it with plastic cups — why not invest in reusable bottles? From this, you’ll be able to cut down on the cost of plastic cups while helping your staff become more proactive with the use of their products.