At the same time, around 40% of our waste burdon tends to be paper. 40% of what we throw away. What does that suggest happens to all these flyers, catalogues and other materials? . Why not try offering customers a catalogue on a USB stick? Or your students their course materials on usb rather than in thick folders that will end up at the top/bottom (delete as appropriate) of their wardrobe? Why not file internal reports on USBs rather than in giant stacks of paper that’ll end up in the shredder tomorrow, and the bin the day after? .

And why not go one step further, and look into buying some of our eco-usbs for the job? Made from bamboo, probably THE most renewable sources of wood on the planet, they are both renewable and environmentally friendly in production, and save the planet one tree at a time by keeping all your documents in an electronic form. . What do you have to lose? Other than Earth, of course. .

One thing we have a lot of in this office is USB Sticks. However, most of them are our own. The other thing we have a lot of is catalogues, none of which are ours. So, what’s the difference?

Well, for one thing, catalogues are generally 30CM long, 20cm wide and… Wait, maybe that’s a bit too obvious? What’s not so obvious may be the difference they can make to your business.

What do you do when you receive a new catalogue? Personally, I have a very clever filing system. The ones that look sort of interesting go into the bottom draw, until I finally get around to cleaning it out. One or two superb ones may make it onto my desk, to eventually be glanced at when bored. The others go straight in the bin.

Now, compare that to a USB Drive. Who would throw a USB Drive in the bin? The first thing you do is plug it in, che3ck the memory, and have a browse through what’s on it. Then it goes on the keyring, in the pocket or next to the monitor. It’s prime advertising real estate, right there on your best prospect’s desk, on his keys, or in her purse. Where else would you want your name? Not only that, but your catalogue is also there, weightlessly sitting in their pocket, by their side, or more often than not, plugged into their computer. With it around, all the time, you can be sure it’ll be in reach if they ever need anything. You can also be fairly sure they will have at least browsed through it once. Curiosity killed the cat, but it also led them to open that .pdf on the stick and have at least a quick look through.

So, where do you want your logo? Decorating their bin or sitting on their desk for all to see?