It’s no surprise that consumers are more eco-conscious than ever before abouth their spending habits. Sustainability has become just as important of a factor as product quality and price. As more consumers purchase eco-friendly products, they are also increasingly prioritizing spending their money with brands who value environmental stewardship and embrace sustainable practices in their business model.
As a leading print on demand company, Gooten takes sustainability seriously–from the products we carry in our catalog to the packaging our vendors use during fulfillment. Here are a few of the ways we incorporate greener actions in our business.
Eco-Friendly Products
At Gooten, we’re proud to carry over 150+ print on demand products in our catalog–we’re even prouder the majority of the apparel brands we offer (which are the most popular!) have eco-friendly alternatives. So what some of the ways that make these apparel options more sustainable?
- They use ethically harvested and sustainability grown cotton
- The cutting scraps are recycled into fiber and used in new products
- The energy used to manufacture the products comes from renewable resources.
Here are some eco-friendly print-on-demand apparel products you can add to your store today:
Packaging
Sustainability doesn’t just stop at the product itself. We also take a greener approach to the entire process of fulfilling an order. In the Gooten Network, a majority of our vendors incorporate sustainability in how they pack and ship your orders. Here are the few ways they do that:
- Shifting from plastic packaging to cardboard which is a recyclable material
- Using paper tape instead of plastic tape to secure boxes
- Utilizing pre-consumer recyclable cardboard
- In cases where a more pliable material is needed, they will use biodegradable plastic sleeves
Ink
One of the most factors of a print on demand product is the actual ink used to print your custom and creative designs! At Gooten, our vendors use world-class machines in their facilities to ensure your products not only are the best quality, but also are eco-friendly. One of the brands our manufacturers partner with is Kornit.
Kornit’s non-toxic inks and fixations are Eco-Passport certified and GOTS-approved. These certifications are designed to meet rigourous industry standards for sustainability. Additionally, Kornit employs a wet-on-wet printing method which eliminates the need for external pre and post treatments by applying fixations directly to the apparel–meaning there is less water waste and pollution.
Fulfillment Model
At its core, the PoD model is inherently anti-waste. Products are only produced once a customer places an order, eliminating overproduction of inventory. Because PoD eliminates the need for inventory, there is less physical waste in general. You won’t be stuck with boxes of unsold or outdated products that eventually find their way into a landfill.
Company Culture
Prior to global pandemic in 2020, Gooten was a distributed company with teams primarily in the US and Europe. In the past couple of years, we have double-downed on a remote-first culture and fully support our employees to work from anywhere, reducing the need for costly and unsustainably commutes. We’re proud to have team members all over the globe, safely and sustainably working from home.
Gooten's Approach to Sustainability
The bottom line: Print on demand represents a business model that’s built on sustainability. By embracing print on demand, you can not only curb wasteful tendencies, but also make a good-faith effort at better ecological stewardship.
As a leader in the PoD industry, we’re happy to help our partners meet their sustainability goals, and to show them production models that are leaner and more efficient than they may have thought possible.
If you’re interested in learning more about how print on demand can be a sustainable practice, we’d love to chat with you. Our print on demand experts are ready to address any of your sustainability questions or concerns.
