MaineBusiness.com

Sometimes companies go out looking for ways to be more environmentally responsible, and sometimes sustainable solutions come in through the back door.

For Affordable Exhibit Displays Inc., a Lewiston-based company that manufactures and distributes tradeshow displays, doing business more sustainably began almost by accident.

Five years ago, the family-run business, which began operations in 1994, was looking for a new supplier for the fabric they used in their displays. Their previous supplier was overseas, and the company wanted to find a local source.

“We were spending too much on shipping, and wanted to cut costs,” explained Dena Wing, who runs the company with her parents and sister.

During their search, the company found a New Hampshire-based company that not only made an affordable, high quality fabric, but also made it out of recycled PET plastic bottles. Buying from a New England-based supplier also meant reducing the carbon impact of shipping the raw materials.

Though Wing and her family had always recycled at home, and tried to do their part for the environment, they hadn’t considered making their displays out of recycled materials before. Finding a high-quality recycled fabric they could afford was an eye-opener.

“This fabric is just as good and long-lasting as anything made from new materials. At first, we didn’t even tell our customers we were using recycled fabric. We didn’t realize how important that might be to them,” said Wing.

“When I started telling customers that the fabric is made of recycled bottles, their eyes would just light up. It made them feel good to know they were doing something for the environment. Once we understood how special this was, it prompted us to look at each of our products individually, to see where we could be using more sustainable materials.”

Shortly after switching to the recycled fabric, the company began phasing plastic components out of its displays, opting instead for slightly more expensive, but recyclable, aluminum. Other components are made from cardboard, which can also be recycled.

“We make sure to tell our customers that, once they don’t need this display anymore, it doesn’t have to go into a landfill. They can break it down and recycle it,” said Wing.

The recycled displays led the family to think about other ways they could be more environmentally responsible. Not long ago, Affordable Exhibit Displays stopped producing the paper newsletter it once sent out to customers, replacing it with a digital version.

Not all of the company’s efforts have gone quite as smoothly as their initial foray into green business, though. Recently, Wing became excited about the idea of expanding the company’s line to include displays made from bamboo, one of the most abundant renewable materials on Earth. Unfortunately, all of the samples the company ordered from the supplier showed up broken.

“I thought it would be wonderful to have this attractive, renewable alternative to our aluminum displays, but it just isn’t going to work out right now,” said Wing.

“Broken parts are huge for us. If we put a customer’s banner in there, ship it off, and it arrives broken, it’s a major hit for us. Not only do we have to make it up to them, but that customer might not come back to us next time.”

Wing hasn’t given up on the idea of bamboo displays, but thinks the market may take a little time to catch up with the demand for a higher quality product.

“Across the board, people are paying more attention to sustainability. As the demand for these items increases, we’ll see the number and quality of affordably-priced environmentally-friendly products increasing,” she said.

“We’re always on the lookout for the next great innovation, but we try to be smart about it. We don’t want to put out a shoddy product, so we wait until the quality of the materials is as good, or better than, what we use now. The suppliers know we’re interested, so they'll keep bringing us things to try.”

For more information on Affordable Exhibit Displays, visit www.affordabledisplays.com.

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For more info on what Maine businesses are doing to be more eco-friendly, see the MaineBusiness.com green guide.