Environmental Scholarship

Our Environmental & Social Values

Payless Promotions is committed to respecting all people and preserving our natural environment for future generations to enjoy as we do. We will work to ensure every aspect of our business incorporates social and environmental sustainability principles.

We recognise that many elements of our industry contribute to damaging the environment. It is our responsibility to be a leader within the promotional industry and address the issue head-on. We are offering this scholarship to start the discussion and find creative solutions for future generations most impacted by our choices today.

What We Are Offering

We are thrilled to be able to offer a ‘Sustainability’ scholarship to university students across Australia. We designed this scholarship to encourage students to consider the environmental and social impact of Australia’s uniform and promotional product industry. We’re offering university students the opportunity to suggest changes that Payless Promotions can implement to improve our sustainability practices. These can relate to any element of our business and may not be specific to our industry. Examples include: Policies, sourcing and buying, storage, transport, labelling, promotion of particular product types or alternatives, office location and layout, office heating and cooling, use of appliances within our office, office waste generation and disposal, office recycling, means of staff travel, packing of staff lunches etc.

We will reward:

$1,000 plus 3 x 1-hour goal and career mentoring sessions with our founder and CEO, Guy Dawson (valued at $750) annually to the best suggestion from an enrolled university student.

$250 to ANY student who can recommend an immediately actionable change that will improve our sustainability and provide a monetary saving to our business of at least $250 over 3 years (eg. Reduced energy bills, reduction in consumables).

How To Apply

To apply for this scholarship, we ask that interested university students write a short essay, up to 500 words, with at least one ‘actionable’ idea as to how Payless Promotions and other organisations in our industry can improve our environmental or social sustainability practices.

Please include:

• The current situation surrounding the topic of your idea
• The current environmental and/or social impact surrounding the topic of your idea
• The proposed change
• The people and/or systems that need to be involved in making the change successful
• The approximate monetary cost of making the change
• The expected improvement in sustainability
• List any monetary or other benefits also achieved through this change
• How will the gain be measured?

What We Are Looking For

We hope to be inspired by some ideas that will spark action from within our own organisation and across our industry. Your ideas may be innovative, but you can also impress with simplicity or ease of implementation.

Scholarship Timeline

Entries are always open. On World Environment Day (June 5), we will announce a winner, and immediately begin accepting entries for the following year.

Who Can Apply

Any student currently enrolled in an Australian university.

For further clarification you can email your queries to scholarships@paylesspromotions.com.au

What Else Do I Need To Know

• Payless Promotions are the ‘middleman’. We buy from our suppliers who import, hold and brand stock. We take orders, design the branding, and manage the logistics, but we rarely touch or see what we supply.
• The vast majority of stock is made in Asian factories by employees on low wages.
• Most of what we sell is branded (e.g. Embroidered, screen printed) in Australia by our local suppliers.
• Our industry and the products within it are subject to greenwashing. Many promotional products with questionable sustainability features are promoted as ‘eco-friendly’.
• Much of what we sell is given away, meaning the recipient has not sought or requested the item, and it may be discarded with little or no use.