Why Sustainable Corporate Gifting Will Shape the Future of Engagement

Sustainable corporate gifts are a great way to empower people to make more ethical choices, and one that we personally use on our platform, via our partner, Ecoswap. In our latest Awareness to Action Livestream we spoke to Ecoswap’s Co-Founder and CEO, Antony Gutsa, about how sustainable corporate gifting will move from niche to norm and why organisations that act now will lead the way.

You can watch the full conversation here:

At Team Jump, we work with businesses, universities, and councils to drive measurable sustainability engagement. The clients we have worked with, over fifteen years, have told us that the way you reward and recognise people matters. If your ESG strategy promotes climate action, but your rewards promote overconsumption, the rewards feel redundant. Using a sustainable corporate gift partner, like Ecoswap, closes that gap.

What Are Sustainable Corporate Gifts?

Sustainable corporate gifts are rewards that align with your environmental and social values.

Ecoswap offers a multi-choice gift card focused entirely on certified sustainable and ethical brands . Rather than sending a physical item that may go unused, you give your employees, customers, or members the power to choose from brands that are purpose led.

This approach tackles two major challenges Antony highlighted:

• Greenwashing: many brands claim to be sustainable, yet lack any credible certification.
• Incompatibility: Even genuinely eco friendly products can be too niche for a wide audience.

Why the Gift Cards Market is Growing Rapidly

The gift card market is expanding at pace. In the UK alone, gift card sales reached £8 billion in 2025, with continued growth expected. Globally, it is a trillion dollar industry.

Alongside this, consumers increasingly expect brands to prioritise people and planet over profit. Research from the IBM Institute for Business Value shows that a majority of consumers are willing to change purchasing habits to reduce environmental impact.

As a result, sustainable corporate gifting with a multi-choice gift card like Ecoswap’s is the best way to capture this market, without costing the earth.

How Ecoswap Verifies their Sustainable Corporate Gift Cards

The foundation of sustainable corporate gifting is credibility. Without robust vetting, it’ i’s easy to fall into greenwashing.

Ecoswap assesses brands through:

• Certification checks such as B Corp, 1% for the Planet, and Climate Neutral
• Impact statements and Scope 2 emissions commitments
• Registered UK charity status where relevant

This ensures their gift cards genuinely align with their values and ESG objectives.

Behaviour Change That Lasts

One of the most powerful insights from our conversation was the idea of a sustainability multiplier.

When someone receives a sustainable corporate gift card, they discover new impact driven brands. That exposure encourages future sustainable purchases. Over time, these small swaps become habitual.

This aligns directly with our approach at Team Jump. Our programmes use gamification, education, and rewards to empower people to choose sustainable actions. When the reward itself reinforces sustainability, the impact is multiplied.

That alignment matters. Otherwise, as Antony described, reward schemes risk becoming “flash in the pan” initiatives . They generate short term buzz but fail to create lasting behaviour change.

If you want to explore how we embed habit forming sustainability into organisations, read our blog on employee engagement and climate action.

Reducing Waste Through Sustainable Corporate Gifts

Unwanted items sit unused or end up in landfill. Some estimates suggest a significant proportion of Christmas gifts are discarded within months .

Digital sustainable corporate gifting offers a practical alternative:

• It eliminates unnecessary packaging and transport.
• It reduces the risk of unwanted products.
• It empowers recipients to choose something meaningful.

From Awareness to Action

Our conversation with Antony reinforced that behaviour change begins with awareness, and scales with action.

Giving a gift card from sustainable vendor is an easy gateway to better purchasing habits, stronger brand alignment, and measurable sustainability engagement.

If you are ready to align your rewards with your ESG commitments and motivate your people through purpose led engagement, we would love to support you.

Book a demo with our friendly team and see how sustainable corporate gifting can power your next sustainability programme.