Happy Earth Day! With sustainability being a core priority of how we operate at Lob, we wanted to compile the best of the best advice for bringing sustainable practices into your direct mail marketing.
We’ve combed through our most popular blog posts on sustainability to pull out key takeaways and things you should consider to be more eco-conscious in today's marketing landscape.
Let’s get down into the weeds and talk about eco-conscious direct mail.
The highlight reel: Sustainability best practices for direct mail marketing
This popular Lob sustainability blog shared tips on being more eco-conscious with print and design choices. Some of the key takeaways include:
- Choose more environmentally-friendly materials like recycled paper, chlorine or chemical-free paper, or paper made from non-wood-based pulp
- Look for paper with a high-post consumer recycling content
- Choose an eco-friendly font, like Century Gothic is less ink intensive than Times New Roman
- Be a chameleon and change your color. Did you know that black printing can use up to three times more ink than any other color? Speaking of ink, vegetable-based and soy-based inks are biodegradable
Want to deep dive into the best practices? Read the sustainable direct mail marketing blog post.
The highlight reel: Buyer's guide for choosing eco-conscious mailers
Direct mail doesn’t require a large carbon footprint when you invest in sustainable paper products and opt for eco-conscious mailers. Let’s pull out the key takeaways from this piece:
- Think of your targeting: Use address verification to ensure your mailing list has addresses that are legitimate and deliverable. A smart, targeted and verified campaign list is less wasteful and has a stronger ROI
- Recycle reminder: Add a small line of text asking people to recycle the mailer when they’re done with it
- Mind the materials: Use eco-conscious print materials like recycled paper, chemical-free paper, pulp-free paper, or lighter-weight paper
- Partner with a responsible printer: Look for a printer that uses Forest Stewardship Council approved sustainable paper
Get the full picture of eco-conscious mailers by reading the blog post.
The highlight reel: How to recycle your direct mail
Learn some best practices to ensure that your direct mail is easily recycled or upcycled by the person receiving it.
- Share the message: Add a disclaimer to your mailer showing that this piece was made with renewable materials or printed on recycled paper, and ask the end-user to recycle it too
- Be mindful of plastic: Fake credit cards or other plastic items should be removed before recycling but many consumers aren’t aware of this fact. Let them know to remove these pieces of plastic, as well as foil seals before recycling the paper product
- Seed it: Instead of using recyclable paper, use seeded paper that can then be planted when the consumer is done with the mailer
- Skip the window: Send a reusable and plain envelope instead of one with a plastic window to allow customers to reuse the envelope in another capacity
Go green and learn how to recycle your direct mail.
Sustainable direct mail marketing
Not only is Lob focused on sustainability and being responsible stewards for our home planet, we’re also focused on easily sustained direct mail campaigns through automation for our business partners. Experience Lob and what we can do for you in a custom demo with a direct mail expert.
