Green Trade Show Displays FAQ

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General Trade Show Booth Planning Info

What makes a trade show display booth green?

An Eco-friendly booth is one that takes into consideration the materials, weight, shipping, and storage needs of the booth at all levels of design and construction. When the booth is built the materials used are recycled and or recyclable, compostable, reusable, and generally biodegrade faster than traditional materials used in the trade show booth industry. The paints and inks used in the booth are also non or low VOC emitting. Transportation with biodiesel, vegetable oil, or carbon neutral trucking companies also helps. Sourcing locally also reduces the carbon footprint.

How do I know for sure that a display booth is green?

The best way to be green or “eco friendly” is to educate yourself so you can make informed buying decisions. Research materials and fabrication methods. Find out what the local recycling options are in your area. Choose expert vendors that you can trust. A lot of being green is common sense.

What does “frankenstein-ing a design mean?

This is a great term that we sometimes use during the design process. It means when you take unrelated things that you like individually and put them together. What you get is not always a great design. For example you may like a Victorian lampshade and a modernist desk – that doesn’t mean they go well together though.

Are there standards or certifications for green booths?

Not at the moment. There are efforts underway to certify booths but none have been established. In the mean time, we are setting our own standards, and challenge anyone to find a company that utilizes innovative green materials like we do.

Why does Boothster use cardboard tubes?

Because they are durable, interesting looking and much greener than other structural materials like aluminum.

What does “drayage” mean?

Drayage, also known as material handling, is the term used to describe the labor cost of transporting your booth from the loading dock at the convention center to your booth space. In the USA it’s quite expensive. It’s usually calculated by a complicated formula relating to the pounds and measurements of your crates. It applies to small packages too. We recommend that our clients carry small items into the convention center by hand, to avoid expensive drayage charges. As a rule, we try as hard as we can to design light and for small shipping.

How is cardboard a green material?

Cardboard is made from recycled paper fibers, and it is biodegradable.

What is different about the plywood that Boothster uses?

We use FSC certified soy glue plywood whenever there is a need for plywood in our crates and booths. Soy glue plywood is special in that it does not use formaldehyde based glues. Instead the glue that bonds the layers together is made from soy, a very renewable resource that is non-toxic and very durable.

Isn’t aluminum eco friendly?

Kind of, but not totally. It’s recyclable, but in fact it causes a tremendous amount of damage to the land when it is extracted. Waterways are polluted, fish die, and farmers lands are destroyed. Boothster has kept our use of aluminum at a minimum (less than 10% of our projects). The aluminum that we do use is for our rolla greens (with biodegradable, non voc ink) and is part of our rental inventory, which is re-used time and time again.

What does low VOC mean in printing?

VOC is volatile organic compounds. In English, they are the fumes from the inks used in printing. When a petroleum based ink is used those vapors are extremely toxic. When an organic material is used to make the ink such as soy or other vegetable those fumes are significantly decreased. Most printers today use inks that are high in these toxic substances. At Boothster we have gone out of our way to make sure that everything we print in house—on our large format printer—is done with the lowest VOC inks available.

What is eco cotton?

Eco cotton is an artist canvas – literally, that Boothster specially developed for large format printing with non VOC inks. A natural product, its biodegradable and has a nice warm texture and prints beautifully.

What is the greenest form of banner printing?

By far, it is our bamboo banner material which is made from pesticide free, organically harvested and REACH certified bamboo fiber. The workers earn living wages.

Why is eco board better than traditional sintra (plastic) graphic panels?

Eco board is a marriage of locally produced honeycomb cardboard and our eco cotton. The two are fused together in holy matrimony with eco mount, a natural glue that actually smells like honey. Ecoboard is another product specially made by Boothster.com.

What is green washing?

Green washing is when a person or company touts how green they are; when they really aren’t. It takes a lot of research to know what is green and what is not. We recommend that people become aware of how to live sustainably so that they can make informed choices. We make it our business to research and continue learning as new and interesting raw materials become available.