Since I'm taking a huge leap back into writing for the blog, I thought I would post a little something for Earth day. What better day to waffle on about how good my hand printed tshirts and hoodies are! Seriously, they are good for the earth, and here's why:
Sustainable Clothing
Each geeky T-shirt, gamer hoodie and every piece of anime clothing I sell is sourced from a supplier who practices sustainable garment manufacturing. I will soon post a "Why choose Zen-oh-tee" article that will list the suppliers and their policies and standards so you can see for yourself. :)
Ethical Clothing
I ensure all the manufacturers of the blank T-shirts have high ethical working and living standards for their workers. My suppliers help their local communities and believe in safe and fair working conditions and wages. Sometimes helping the environment can begin with something as simple as taking care of your fellow man.
Made to order, not mass produced.
That's right, I only make what is ordered. This is why items can take a few days to be posted. Your gamer T-shirts are being made just for you! They are not mass produced on the cheap and stored in a warehouse to sit and rot, and so there is no way any unwanted designs are going to end up in a landfill when the latest fad has been forgotten. This also means less energy and materials being wasted.
Better printing materials
The printing media I use is PVC free and so it's better for the environment, its also perfect for my made to order policy. Printing and the chemicals involved can have a huge affect on the environment, I save every off cut and again as I only make clothing to order, this further reduces the negative impact that printing textiles has on our planet.
Degradable mail bags
I bet you didn't know this one! Yes that is right, all gaming t-shirts and geeky hoodies posted are sent in a mail bag that is degradable. It took me a long time to source these but to me they are worth every minute spent trawling the internet. I also don't bag items individually in garment bags. I mean what's the point of putting a bag in a bag?
Seriously though, these are beautiful selling points for my geeky t-shirts and hoodies that I hardly touch on. I must admit I'm not sure how many people out there care about this sort of thing, or even look for it. But I know I'm one of those people, so hey! There's at least one :)
So there you have it, sustainable geek T-shirts, organic anime clothing, environmentally friendly gamer clothing. Geek and gamer clothing that we can be happy to wear! I've always been a sort of casual hippy I guess. In my circle of friends I am the most eco-conscious, I care about being wasteful and recycling, I like the planet I live on and the animals I share it with. So its something that is always on my mind, in a way a sort of hobby, and something I wanted to incorporate into my little business.
When I first worked for one of my suppliers, one of the clothing manufacturers came in and did a presentation on a new brand they had introduced. The brand was, plain and simple, organic clothing. They explained that for every T-shirt there is a cup of pesticides used, we're talking a cup the size of one you might get from the water cooler at work, so when you consider the amount of clothing in the world, that's a lot of dangerous chemicals going into the soil, and some of that cup of pesticides stays in the clothing, and ends up on our skin.
It was something I had never considered. You never do consider things like this until you are actually told about it. As a species we produce a lot, and sadly we are wasteful. So when you think about all the clothing out there, all the damage done to produce it all, it's something to consider when you are looking to help the planet.
When I started my little clothing company, being green is what I wanted to do. That brand that produced some of the worlds first organic T-shirts was an inspiration. I could actually make a conscious effort to have an environmentally friendly business. And so my Etsy shop started out with sustainable and organic geek and gamer clothing.
As time goes on things do change, and the brand that I used for my organic and sustainable T-shirts no longer produce those specific items I sold all that time ago, or in one particular case they stopped making the women's styles. I wasn't happy. But that didn't stop me!
So anyway that was about 4 years ago now, and today I can celebrate Earth day in my own little way, knowing I've built a little company that cares about our planets future, and I certainly wont stop here. I'll always be sure to keep an eye on my suppliers and their practices, and every time I find a new supplier that is green I will introduce a bit more to my geek and gamer clothing range. Happy Earth day people! I hope you are all doing your bit :)
Thanks for the post. You point out the points that are practical and really cool. I had T Shirt Printing shirts that are really cool. Thumps up for sharing such an informative article.
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