Eclipse Award’s Win-Win Eco Trophies

Awards denote a sense of pride that is invaluable. When those trophies are eco-friendly and designed with zero-waste methods, the award winners have double the reason to be proud. Eclipse Award’s eco-friendly, sustainable awards amplify the trophy’s message and values while promoting an appreciation for regeneration and support for the circular economy. Each plaque or trophy includes free graphic design, and personalization and is engraved using a solar laser or deep sandblasting. With more 25 years experience creating custom trophies, Eclipse Awards was founded by Toby Barazzoul in Vancouver, BC in 1998 in an effort to develop high-quality, reliable awards that will last a lifetime.

Eclipse Awards uses a variety of wood types to create their handcrafted, sustainable plaques. “We’ve been making our eco-friendly wood awards for over 10 years now, so we’ve learned to take a few things into consideration in regards to the wood we use. First off, the wood has to be readily and consistently available so that we can make repeat orders as needed, year after year. And since we laser engrave most of our awards, it’s best if the wood is light coloured to provide contrast and readability, though in some cases dark wood can look great too,” said Toby Barazzoul, president and founder of Eclipse Awards.

“Dark or light, the wood should also have a clear grain, so no big knots or holes that might affect the engraving. For our live edge awards, we want wood that has an attractive bark as it really elevates the look and feel of the awards. Lastly, we try to work with salvaged or reclaimed wood wherever possible. So for us, this means we use birch, walnut and a lot of western maple, which has beautiful bark/ We source some of our wood from Ontario and Quebec, but the bulk of it comes from salvaged windfallen trees in BC’s Fraser Valley.”

The company’s wooden trophies are one of their most popular. Often used for donor recognition, workplace appreciation, certification programs, student recognition, and conservative efforts, the wooden awards are personally engaged with a solar-powered laser. “In our quest to develop earth-friendly awards and trophies, we explored many materials but we kept coming back to wood because it is organic, readily available, easy to work with, and people simply love holding it, feeling it, and admiring it! These are important qualities for awards because you want people to cherish and covet their awards as something special,” noted Barazzoul.

Sustainable Wooden Trophies Most Popular

“Wood is a beautiful and timeless material that people have always loved to see, hold, touch, feel and smell. So when you’re making awards and trophies, which are ideally things that people will cherish for a lifetime, wood is the perfect material! And because our laser engraver is powered by our rooftop solar panels, our wooden trophies are engraved with clean energy from the sun, and that’s a story many people find irresistible.”

Eclipse Awards’ most popular wooden awards are the Vancouver Awards and Cascadia Wall Plaques which are both made from western maple. “Initially, our clients were mostly companies with a strong environmental or sustainability focus. However these days, virtually all industries take sustainability into consideration to some degree, so we are seeing all sorts of clients using eco-friendly awards now, including high-tech companies, financial institutions and mining operations. There’s something wholesome and unpretentious about wooden awards that many people really appreciate. Plus, lots of companies simply just appreciate the beauty of wooden trophies, especially when compared to traditional plastic and metal award options.”

The production method for the wooden trophies is quite meticulous as well. Eclipse Awards takes their time and commitment to produce premium awards that their buyers will adore. There are two stages in the wooden trophy production process. Barazzoul explains “The first stage can take several months and involves creating the wooden “blanks” that we use for the trophy styles that make up our House Collection. We design a couple of new styles every few years, then we test them for ease of production, stability, and of course appearance.”

“Stage two involves designing special artwork to personalize the awards and make them one-of-a-kind. This stage can take anywhere from four weeks down to one day if the client needs rush service. Usually, we are creating black and white artwork that we will laser engraved onto the award, though sometimes we create fully colour artwork and UV print it, and in some cases, we do both.”

Eclipse sustainable, eco-friendly wooden awards offer a lasting tribute to the awardee. Regardless of what type of recognition the trophy is for, it simultaneously celebrates the award winner’s occasion or program while recognizing environmental leadership and conservation.

Ellie King is the Editor of Wood Industry / Le monde du bois magazine and weekly E-digest. She has years of experience in B2B writing and editing and is empowered by the opportunity to share the marvels, pitfalls and weekly news of Canada’s secondary wood industry with our readers.