Why Sustainable?

Since 1992 we've been manufacturing cotton-based products for some of America's largest companies, such as Nike, Pepsi and Speedo. At the time, we didn't realize how damaging cotton is to the environment. The more we learned about the problems with conventional cotton, the more uncomfortable we became. Growing conventional cotton causes harm to people, wildlife and the environment. You probably know this or you wouldn't be at our website now. We moved away from conventional cotton, to organic t-shirts in order to feel energized and passionate about our products.

Problems with
conventional cotton

Okay, we like a soft cotton shirt too. But growing conventional cotton is particularly rough on the environment. Cotton is the largest crop behind corn in the United States and consumes 10% of the world's pesticides (that's two billion pounds) and 25% of the world's insecticides (we don't know what that weighs but it's a lot). Cotton growers typically use many hazardous chemicals including aldicarb, phorate, methamidophos and endosulfan. There are at least 20 types of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, many of which were originally developed as toxic nerve agents during World War II. These chemicals harm people, wildlife and the environment. In addition, conventional cotton requires a tremendous amount of water to grow: 106,000 cubic feet of water per acre. That's a lot of water. Can you see why we can't get excited about using conventional cotton? To read more about the problems with conventional cotton, click here.

Cotton and water. The two usually go hand in hand, but organic cotton is usually rain-fed, not irrigated, so it uses a lot less water. Organic cotton, as you probably know, is grown without the use of pesticides and insecticides. How is this done? Farmers use composted manures and cover-crops to replace synthetic fertilizers. Innovative weeding strategies are used instead of herbicides. Beneficial insects and trap-crops are used to control pests. Nature's frost and water inducement prepare plants for harvest, instead of using toxic defoliants. We like organic cotton. To read more about organic cotton: click here.

Bamboo is a grass, and grows like a weed. In fact, it's the fastest growing plant on the planet. It can grow up to three feet in a day. It doesn't need help from pesticides or insecticides, and it usually grows on rain water. Just think of the strength, power and self-sufficiency of this crop. The Donald Trump of crops; the Bill Gates of the jungle. If all this excitement has you feeling faint, don't worry, bamboo generates more oxygen than trees. We really love the stuff. The pulp from bamboo is ground up, and the fibers are spun into yarn. The resulting fabric (or t-shirt in this case) is great. Softer than cotton, with superior performance, bamboo wicks moisture, keeps you cooler, and is naturally antimicrobial so it doesn't retain odors. We know we're repeating ourselves, but we love bamboo. To read more about bamboo: click here.

Industrial hemp is also a grass and grows like a weed, because it is one. Like bamboo, it doesn't need any help to thrive. It has no need for pesticides or insecticides, and it grows on rain water. Like bamboo, it offers superior performance compared to cotton: hemp fibers are more durable, provide better UV protection, wick moisture, and are anti-microbial. (Please note that industrial hemp differs from its illegal cousin, marijuana, in that it contains almost no THC, the substance that gets you high). Until the late 1930s, hemp was widely grown and was America's fiber of choice. Popular Mechanics, in February 1937, predicted hemp would be the world's first "Billion Dollar Crop" that would support thousands of jobs and provide a vast array of consumer products from dynamite to plastics. Hemp is technically superior to cotton for fabric, trees for paper, and corn for biofuel. The first draft of our constitution was written on hemp paper, and George Washington grew hemp on his land. How did America come to favor cotton and trees over hemp, when hemp is superior in so many ways? To find out what happened, click here.