Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451361
1 1 0 G R A P H I C S P R O A P R I L 2 0 2 2 G R A PH I C S - PR O.C O M At Everywhere, sustainability begins at the ber level. "e materials are the foun- dation of what we do, why we do it, and how we see design and product develop- ment," she says. "What makes our product special is the materials." Kornbluth says Everywhere upends the obsolete take, make, waste apparel industry standard by producing clothing from 100% GRS-certied recycled cot- ton that would otherwise be headed for the landll. Everywhere designs its garments to be recycled through its closed-loop system. (Image courtesy Everywhere Apparel) "ere's this misconception that organic cotton is sustainable, but when you re- ally dig into the environmental impacts, there's actually a lot of big impacts," she explains. "Very, very few companies, if any, are using certied 100% GSR re- cycled cotton garments. at's our core product – it's the most sustainable and dierentiates us." Recycled polyester may be better than some traditional and more wasteful meth- ods, but Kornbluth feels the material is im- perfect. Every time a cotton-poly or poly- ester shirt is washed, she says, tiny plastic pieces called microplastics are released, con- taminating the environment and peoples' bodies. She points to Everywhere's 100% recycled cotton CirCot as a solution. Everywhere continues to innovate on the continued from page 56 SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES materials side and the nished garment side. "In particular, we have a new pat- ent on a fully-recycled yarn blend, which solves some problems around microplastics pollution," Kornbluth says. "Everywhere launched this product in January to the promotional products space, and we've just had a huge reception to what we're doing. e market is a perfect area to do this sort of innovation because there is so much turnover, production – and overproduc- tion with misprints – so more recycling is really needed." Kornbluth rearms sustain- ability programs are not out of reach for anyone, encouraging businesses to start small and make the easy changes rst. Companies like Everywhere offer a recycling program through their closed-loop sys- tem. Adopt a "consume less" mentality and slowly begin swapping traditional garments for more sustainable options, Kornbluth suggests. Targeting marketing departments with employee ap- parel needs is a productive place to start – and then layer deeper, she says. Sustain- able options, like PVC and water-based inks, make a dierence and impact the en- vironment less. Another option, she says, is to look into partnership arrangements with companies that use renewable energy sources. Kornbluth says the average person would be surprised how a few seemingly small changes in a year can have a large-scale im- pact. "ere is so much knowledge to be gained around conventional processes," she says. "Sub in where you can and do better. Encourage each other to do better." GP STEFANIE GALEANO-ZALUTKO is the president/ CEO of Zalutko Business Services Inc., a marketing agency based in Central Florida. She can be reached at szalutko@zalutkobusiness.com. ect should also be of the highest quality, too. We recently had our kitchen cabinets repainted, and we had an excellent experi- ence with the contractor. ey had great communication, used quality paint, and did a thorough job papering our oors and masking o the kitchen against overspray. All the little things combined contributed to us having such a good experience. We, of course, turned around and recommended them to multiple people, including online to others in our neighborhood with cabinets of a similar age who might be looking for the same work to be done. Workmanship isn't necessarily one thing, but a combination of skill and at- tention to detail that makes all the dier- ence. Workmanship is customer service in disguise. PRICING While pricing is part of the sales process and is an essential factor, it's not the most critical element to earning repeat business. Most of our repeat eet customers don't even ask us for a price before we do another vehicle. We've proven over time that our pricing is competitive. We will oer them an estimate when we have to adjust our pricing due to material price increases, otherwise we keep our pricing consistent. Pricing is more important early in the process of building a new repeat client as you educate the customer and explain what they can expect for the price. Once the customer realizes that the product they're getting for the price is high-qual- ity, with solid workmanship, and backed by excellent customer service, then they're condent that you're taking care of them. GP CHARITY JACKSON is co-owner of Visual Horizons Custom Signs based in Modesto, California. She has been in business since 1995 and has worked in the sign industry for nearly 30 years. You can visit her website at www.vhsigns.com. continued from page 29 BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS Everywhere designs its garments to be recycled marketing departments with employee ap