The Mission: To significantly decrease the amount of sign and exhibit material that reaches US landfills and act as stewards of the Environment by tracking their responsible disposal and recycling.

The Origin: EcoShowpiece Founder Lia Lucero developed the Million Pound Plan after wondering what happens to promotional marketing collateral like signs and banners once they are retired? If 10,000 pounds worth of recyclable signage ends up in a landfill, what was the point of buying Green in the first place?

The Ultimate Goal: to be able to report at least one million pounds of promotional and event signage material being recycled instead of thrown into a landfill on a weekly basis. That’s 52 million pounds a year!

Products included in the Plan: temporary signage and banners from live events, trade shows and retailers.

The Pledge: We will invite companies and organizations to make a pledge to recycle retired collateral and report their results on an ongoing basis. A national PR campaign will be launched when we hit the million pound mark and all participating companies will be recognized for their contributions. As companies and organizations report on their recycling efforts, their results will be posted on www.millionpoundplan.org . Companies that pledge to the Plan will be featured on the site and tell the world about their company initiatives to operate in a more sustainable way.

The Million Pound Plan team can also arrange collection and responsible disposal for a fee for companies that otherwise do not have the resources to recycle the material themselves.

Why Participate? How long is the average trade show or retail promotion? Days or maybe weeks and then forever in a landfill. Recycling has many more benefits than reduced landfill use, the chief of which are the conservation of natural resources, reduced energy consumption, and the pollution and environmental impact associated with them (clear-cutting, oil drilling, mining, burning coal to melt steel, etc.).

By recycling, you are conserving natural resources and reducing the amount of pollution and greenhouse gasses released into the environment. Also the impact of landfills is greater than simply the space they take up. As organic matter breaks down in a landfill, it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By reducing the amount of organic material sent to the landfill, by composting, paper recycling, etc., you are helping to reduce greenhouse gasses.