If you’re looking for eco-friendly t-shirts printed with fun, somewhat strange and totally original designs, you’ve got to check out the PartyBots Etsy shop. PartyBots t-shirts, hoodies and tote bags are made from 100% organic cotton, printed with renewable soy printing solvents and low-impact color dyes.
Owner and founder Karl Addison creates all of the rad artwork himself, from the pirate ships and bicycles to the tuna fish and robots. Original art and stationery are also available in the shop.
Check often – there’s something new posted every day!
Are you sick of being labeled a ‘consumer’, with all that it implies? We still have to buy stuff, but perhaps if we thought of ourselves as people instead of consumers, we’d start behaving like conscious individuals instead of a mindless mob.
A company called USELESS – that is, use less – is dedicated to reducing the impacts of irresponsible consumerism and helping those in the developing world who lack the basic necessities to lead healthy lives. Wait a minute – a for-profit company that sells products, telling people to use less? Does that even make sense?
Max Gladwell got some details in an interview with USELESS co-founder Mark Simmons:
Two years ago I was working with Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection trying to work out what to say about climate change that would get people from all walks of life involved to help solve the crisis. I saw that, while many people thought of climate change as a left wing conspiracy, they all felt, regardless of their political views, that we Americans use too much stuff. The thought of “use less” lodged in my mind and a year later when I was trying to develop a brand around reducing use of disposable water bottles and bags it struck me that “useless” would be a perfect name because on the face of it, while it is quite negative, if you scratch just below the surface you see it’s not negative at all, it’s a positive way to message about the desire to use less. And if on the one hand we in the developed world are using too much stuff and that’s contributing to climate change, on the other hand there are people in the developing world who are going without the very basics of life such as clean water and sanitation. In fact, 2.6 billion lack proper sanitation and resulting diseases is the biggest killer of children under five. So there is a natural counter-point to use less, which is to give more. The pieces then all fit into place for me. The brand would be called USELESS and its mission would be to help people USE LESS and GIVE MORE in a cool, thought-provoking way.
The point is, we can buy things that were made responsibly and will last a long time, thus reducing our own waste output and helping to improve the lives of other people around the world. USELESS sells t-shirts, hoodies, hats, messenger bags, reusable water bottles and other items that are made to last in the USA from organic, recycled or recyclable materials. 10% of the profits from USELESS sales go to water and sanitation projects.
Our words have such a big impact on how we see the world and how we interact with each other. This is a key to treating the environment well also, and it’s an important message to impress upon children as eary as possible so they grow up to respect other people, themselves and the world at large.
We’ve all seen those rather disturbing kids’ message t-shirts and clothing emblazoned with rather, um, inappropriate words and phrases. It seems like they’re everywhere, and who wants their 8-year-old daughter running around with shorts that say ‘Juicy’ on the rear end? Not to mention all those onesies
A company called ‘Speak Nicely’, founded by the mother of four young children, seeks to remind us all of the power of our words and provide items for children and adults with uplifting messages. ‘Speak Nicely’ items are printed with sayings like ‘Honor People’, ‘Say Nice Things’ and ‘I Am the Future’.
“In my own search for children’s clothes, I am amazed by how our culture invites us to use our children to inappropriately promote companies, or worse spread messages that can be hurtful to others. I developed this line to help build up our children. We need to give them the opportunity to use words to make their own little worlds, as well as a grander one, a more beautiful and peaceful place to live.”
Check out the website for girls’ tees, unisex tees, baby items, hoodies, ladies’ tees, backpacks and shoulder bags and friendship bands.
If you’re tired of how your dress looks, don’t throw it out! Instead, wash it and draw on a new design!
That’s the concept behind Fernando Brízio’s renewable clothing line. The video below shows how placing colored felt-tip pens in the pockets of a dress changes its appearance over time. Within one hour, the colored ink bleeds into the fabric and creates a one-of-a-kind design for each occasion. The owner can then clean the dress and color it in a different way for each time they wear it.
No word yet on whether the dress is made from sustainable fabrics or if the ink is eco-friendly but it’s a good start toward some innovative green design!
You’ve been working so hard lately trying to ‘save the world’. You feel it’s time to let your hair down and have a healthy, precious dose of passion. It is Valentine’s Day after all. Whether you want to keep your own ethics in check or are on a mission to woo the greenest batchelor(ette) in town, EarthFirst.com offers you exclusive green-hued sex tips!
Staying in is the eco going out:
1. Woo with some homemade sexual desire-laden dishes. You will automatically cut your carbon emissions by limiting your travel to the restaurant. It’s time to make your kitchen the sexiest eco diner in town. Buy good quality food from a local, organic store that can provide you with all the aphrodisiacs nature offers. Avoid the oysters as that increases the shortage burden on seafood stocks. Instead, go for the seasonal options of pumpkin and squashes in winter and get busy on the strawberries in summer. Always have a healthy dose of onion and garlic, and make sure you finish with a serotonin-laced fairly traded chocolate dessert for that stimulating alkaloid sugar rush. Dark chocolate is thought to have more anti-oxidants and boost blood antioxidant levels by nearly 20% and is not as energy intensive in its production!
2. Set the sensual scene. Make sure you’ve set up a sexy Eco Boudoir before the meal and turn off those electricity guzzling lights and whisper sweet nothings by candle light. Purchase some lovely sustainable, vegan soy candles that won’t disturb your dinner with black smoke (unlike most tea lights). Soy candles burn cooler than other candles so they last longer to help keep the anticipation thrills of the evening running strong. If you want some sparkle, LED solar powered fairly lights will also do the trick. Turn off the telly (at source, not standby) and get some world loving chilled tunes on. Digital radio station Chill FM has some very happy vibes, or if you really want to impress, hire a local quartet to serenade you at the table. Prepare to make your own music as you surprise your lover with the Pants to Poverty good pant world of Fairtrade, organic cotton underwear.
3. Get wet. Save water and bathe together or have a shower a deux. Why not use a timer to really notch up the gear into something quick and steamy? Indulge in some organic pleasures with essential oil based products that stimulate your senses, such as rosemary, bergamot, patchouli and fresh citrus scents. Tea tree and mint can add to the tingling sensation too. For other ways to stay moist why not reach for the lubrication? British company Yes! bring you the world’s first and only Soil Association certified organic range of intimacy products that are also Vegetarian Society approved. Using pure plant gums to replace the usual glycerine or silicone ingredient base, they are available in both oil and water based formats and perfect for green glideability.
4. Protect yourself, protect the planet. If you’re not ready for an organic sprog bounding around just yet and not too sure about the au naturale withdrawal method, then you will want a latex condom, made from the sap of the rubber tree. Cut out condoms containing additives that thwart biodegradation and those with toxins such as polyurethane (also known as PU). Why not give the rubber tappers in South Asia who make your condoms a fairer deal by purchasing some brightly coloured French Letter condoms? Condomi have also got Vegan Society approved (occasionally coconut flavoured) condoms in their Virtual Skinwear range that is also biodegradable. Whatever you do, don’t flush the remnants of your evening’s passion down the bog. Other contraceptive measures such as The Pill have been reported by the University of New Brunswick to alter the hormones of fish in the water, so you may want to look into other options such as the coil or diaphragm.
5. Get frisky with nature. Avoid plastic, sweatshop manufactured sex toys and opt for ethical wooden objects instead, such as FSC certified spanking paddles from UK based Coco-de-Mer. You can even recycle your rabbit and other sex toys if you so please. If you fancy sharing further thrills, then why not embark in some eco porn? German based activists have created F**k For Forest (FFF), a registered, not-for-profit online website where erotic activists all over the globe will give you some frisky forest fun and ensure all the money goes back to various ecological projects.
Words: Jen Marsden Eco sexpert Jen Marsden is a UK based writerand author of the Green Guide for Weddings
Did you know line-drying your undies might get you a slap on the wrist by your condo association? Point blank, it’s “unaesthetic”. (Not that McCondo’s are anything for the architectural record books). According to a Los Angeles Times article,
“Homeowner associations recognize that if people throw their clothes
over their fences and patio walls that their homes won’t be as
aesthetically attractive,” said Richard S. Monson, president of the
California Assn. of Homeowners Assns. “We’re criticized for this, but
what it’s doing is protecting home values.”
Many homeowner associations seem to believe that the act of air drying clothing present their developments as being low-income:
“In some minds, though, clotheslines connote a landscape of poverty
rather than flowering fields. Opponents of the proposed legislation
say homeowners’ groups have the right to protect property values by
forbidding practices they consider unsightly, such as storing junk
cars in driveways – and hanging wet laundry outside.” [Boston.com]
Strong statements for a simple household act humans have engaged in since the start of time. According to line drying advocacy group Project Laundry List, dryers account for 6% of US energy consumption. They’re working to change homeowner’s associations rules by supporting a Right to Dry bill which has been in the political arena since 1999. Afterall, in lean times, line-drying is an easy way to cutback on your energy bill and air drying preserves the quality of your clothing much longer.
The electric dryer is yet another industrial age invention that may be ready for an overhaul since the design and general mechanism has not changed in over 100 years. In hard times, don’t we find that sometimes the simplest solutions are the best? After all, microwaves cook food fast and make it convenient, but is it ever really “good”?
- Carole Snow Wefler
This is our first post from guest blogger Carole Snow Wefler. If you’d like to write for us, send an email to dorothee@see3.net.
If you’re looking for some badass new t-shirts to add to your closet, Meatspace Tees has just what you need. The new company is the project of our very own Shea Gunther, so naturally there’s a green angle. Shea, a longtime eco-entrepreneur, combined his love of screenprinting with his green sensibilities to create awesome t-shirt designs like the one pictured above (which is my favorite for obvious reasons).
We only print on American Apparel’s 100% organic cotton shirts, made in downtown LA by well compensated workers with better healthcare than we have.
We one print with green ink- the Gen IV ink series from International Coatings does not contain PVC, Phthalates, Organo-Tin Compounds, AZO, Heavy Metals, PCP, APEO, Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls, or Pesticides. It blows my mind that regular (and cheaper) plastisol inks have all of those ingredients.
We buy wind credits to offset 100% of our energy use from our office and shop as well as from all our travel.
We include wind credits in the sale of every shirt to offset the emissions used in shipping it from us to you.
We use all natural citrus based cleaners and supplies in the shop. Our ink cleans up with just water, removing the need for nasty solvent cleaners used in standard plastisol printing.
Shea’s commute to the Meatspace Office: walking downstairs. Miles driven: 0.
We only have things shipped to our shop via Ground and we buy wind credits to offset the impact
We recycle like fiend
Tidal turbines turns us on.
Gotta love it when you can find t-shirts with slogans like ‘To the Blog Cave!’ AND they’re green. Meatspace Tees is also home to the one and only sanctioned Nerdfighters t-shirt. Check out all the designs at MeatspaceTees.com!
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