Last year, all too aware that sales of CDs were dropping, Douglas Allsopp of Buffalo Records went along to the annual fair of promotional goods at Tokyo's Big Sight to look for a possible additional venture.
"I already knew about Greensticks, made by an Australian company. It was the lack of interesting new products — 400 companies all pushing the usual stuff, tissues, bags — that helped convince us to start doing Greensticks in Japan."
As a product, Greensticks is the eco-equivalent of a giveaway matchbook. The difference is that instead of a match head that strikes a light, there is a seed. You simply tear out the greenstick, turn it upside down and plant it in a pot or flowerbed.