Here are Some Green Giveway Suggestions for Dealerships

When giving out promotional, thank-you or loyalty-program gifts to customers, Denise Mahnick, owner of 3Sixty Direct in Troy, MI, encourages car dealers and others to choose eco-rewarding offerings.

Among them:

Sing and grow

Seeded digital interactive cards are available with an optional custom landing page that can capture information, offer surveys or promote sweepstakes with your clients. The paper is 100% recycled. When planted and watered, the paper biodegrades away and the seeds are left to germinate. You can load it with music cards, ring-tone downloads, DVDs and more. ($3.99 apiece, minimum order 500.)

Ultimate handy cloth

The 100% natural-biodegradable wipes — two per pack — come in a recyclable pillow box of 50% bamboo. Wipes grow when exposed to water. Trade on the desire for sanitary wipes at dealer-sponsored concerts, events. (70 cents apiece with quantity of 1,000.)

Corny kind of key chain. Affix your dealership name, phone number and website to a key tag made of biodegradable corn resin with metal split ring. (72 cents apiece for 250 units.)

Water powered clock

A little water or any liquid poured into the tubes powers this clock with LCD displays for time and date. ($7.60 apiece for 50 units.)

Global t-shirts

Next time you sponsor a soccer team, select earth positive t-shirts made of 100% organic certified cotton supplied by fair trade farms and manufactured in fair wear factories. Only comes in black. ($8.78 apiece for 100 units.)

Green inspirations

When you complete your “green” renovations on your dealerships, offer the first 50 customers a soft covered “Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time.” Readers find hundreds of solutions from small to mighty. ($10.85 apiece for 50 units.)

Deliver the mail pouch

Host a Gen Y event for a new hybrid vehicle at your showroom and look for an item people will savor long after the lights go out. A sling backpack featuring a cell phone pocket, flaps and construction out of 100% recycled material looks hot, especially with your logo. ($14.58 apiece for 48 units.)