Green Man Blog - T-Shirt Information

About Bamboo T-Shirts

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:52:00 -0700

We’ve heard talk about bamboo fabrics and decided to look into it for ourselves. We discovered plenty about it, some true, some false, and we want to share that here.

First, the correct term is bamboo rayon, or rayon fabric made from bamboo. We don’t want to go all chemistry teacher here, but to say bamboo shirts are made from bamboo is technically incorrect.

To be more precise, “bamboo fabric” is made from rayon processed from bamboo cellulose. There isn’t any actual bamboo fiber in the finished product.

The process used to convert bamboo cellulose to rayon involves harsh chemicals like sodium hydroxide. These chemicals must be handled responsibly, or dangers to workers’ health and the environment develop.

The finished material runs the risk of residual chemical contamination.

So why sell bamboo t-shirts? Are there any green advantages?

Well, yes. Quite a few, actually.

Here are the reasons we like:

Some facts to consider about the greenness of bamboo would be:

• Bamboo is grown without any pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Bamboo is naturally resistant to bacteria and fungus, making it simple to grow organically.

• Bamboo rarely needs replanting after harvesting because its vast root network continually sprouts new shoots, pulling in sunlight and greenhouse gases and converting them to new green growth. No re-planting means no petroleum-guzzling tractors.

• Bamboo grows incredibly fast and can be harvested in 3-5 years. Botanically categorized as a grass and not a tree, it is the fastest growing grass on Earth and can shoot up a yard or more a day.

• Bamboo is a critical element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Bamboo plantations are like large factories for photosynthesis, reducing greenhouse gases, and absorbing about 5 times the amount of carbon dioxide and producing 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees.

• Bamboo is an excellent soil erosion inhibitor. Growing bamboo improves soil quality and helps rebuild eroded soil. The extensive root system of bamboo holds soil together, prevents soil erosion, and retains water in the watershed.

• Bamboo clothing is 100% biodegradable and completely decomposed in the soil by micro-organisms and sunlight without decomposing into any pollutants such as methane gas.

When we considered the overall pros and cons, we felt bamboo rayon t-shirts were a green positive, rather than a negative.

And we carefully considered our source. Our supplier, Continental, is famous for their environmental initiatives. Quite frankly, we trust them.

All their clothing products are certified to the OEKO Tex 100 standard for residual chemicals. This means their bamboo rayon fabric is free from residual chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Currently, the Oeko-Tex Standard is the most comprehensive certification process to insure that a garment is environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Continental is also a certified CarbonNeutral® Company.

So we made the decision to promote bamboo t-shirts. We think it’s the right one.

You’ll see that we talk about how smooth and great feeling the bamboo shirts are, and how they wick moisture away from the body, and how they make you feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Bamboo fabric is highly absorbent and wicks water away from the body 3 to 4 times faster than cotton. In warm, humid and sweaty weather, bamboo clothing helps keep the wearer drier, cooler and more comfortable and doesn’t stick to the skin.

Plus, they look outstanding. The shirts are blended with 70% bamboo rayon and 30% certified organic cotton, and you have to feel and wear them for yourself to see how soft and smooth they are. It’s like wearing silk, except our bamboo fabric breathes much better, is far less expensive, much more durable, and you can machine wash it.

Personally, we love our bamboo t-shirts. We think you will, too.

New T-Shirt Design: Numbers

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:21:16 -0700

New GMTS T-Shirt Design: Zebra Cave Art

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:16:16 -0700

New GMTS T-Shirt Design: Curl

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:49:12 -0700

Greenman Crashes the Threadless Party!

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:12:00 -0700

The great folks at Threadless came to San Diego yesterday and of course we crashed the party, along with several hundred others at the Station Tavern and Grill, checking out t-shirts, drinking beer,and eating the famous awesome burgers and more. Threadless fans will no doubt recognize long time Threadless guru Charlie in the photo above. He's the one with the beard and graphic t-shirt. On the left.

Threadless, as everyone knows, is the leader in original graphic art t-shirts and they have set up a crew that tours around in a wicked silver Airstream trailer. We had a chance to meet and greet, and the Threadless guys couldn't have been more cool. What a gig, though, eh? Getting paid to travel the U.S. and talk graphic design and t-shirts....we can't imagine it gets too much better than that.

Being the notorious cheap bastards we're known for, we took a gander at winning free stuff by spinning the Threadless Wheel-o-Fortune. We won a copy of the new Threadless Book coming out later this summer, and it will feature the history of Threadless and the graphic work of hundreds of T designers from all over the world.

Those readers who have suffered through any of the GMTS video t-shirt reviews on YouTube might recognize some of the Threadless designers we've given shout outs to.

On the Threadless website they post a schedule of the tour; check it out to find when they'll be in your area.

New T-Shirt Design: Trouble in the Forest

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:10:00 -0700

New T-Shirt Design: Celtic Disc

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:42:00 -0700

New T-Shirt Design: Travel

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 02:12:00 -0700

I Want My Life Back T-Shirt

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:02:38 -0700

BP CEO Tony Hayward might be forgiven for his famous "I want my life back" line; after all, everyone says things they regret and Mr. Hayward knew immediately he gaffed and apologized profusely.

But still, it was an extraordinary thing to say. Especially given that the environmental tragedy was precipitated by the 11 tragic deaths of the oil rig workers aboard Deepwater Horizon.

Of all the comments, however, from all the experts, environmentalists, politicians, and others involved in this unbelievable event, the "I Want My Life Back" comment defines the tragedy is so many ways we had to memorialize it on one of our organic cotton t-shirts.

A Great Source for Scripts: Mooonbaby

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Sat, 15 May 2010 09:48:31 -0700

Anybody doing business online will eventually get involved in website design. Even if you can afford to farm it all out, there are things you'll want to tweak and improve upon yourself.

At Green Man T-Shirts, and also at the Green Man Blog, we find ourselves relying heavily on developers who offer ready-made scripts for use. These are offered at small prices, sometimes free, and sometimes just a donation is asked for.

Recently, we discovered the guys over at MooonBaby. (That's not a typo; they use three Os to spell moon). We wanted to show a pic of the day, with a different picture for every single day of the year. Now, we have used random pic generators before, but this time we wanted specific pics for specific days. Hoildays would get one picture, special promotions for certain days would get another, and we wanted to show off our t-shirt models.

Well, MooonBaby has a script for that, among many others. So we bought it at the staggering price of $2.50. That's not a typo either. It was under $3.00 and well worth it. The script worked perfectly on any site I used it on.

But, as some of you know, when you use a hosting site like GoDaddy's E-Commerce-ready "Quick Shopping Cart," you can run into problems with javascript. You have to tweak the javascript a bit since you usually don't have access to the head section of the website, meaning that you have to put all the javascript into the body, or use an external script and call it with a body onload event trigger. This sometimes gets rejected, won't validate, and makes a working javascript fail.

At Green Man T-Shirts we've gotten fairly good at tweaking work-arounds for the GoDaddy quirks, but this time I was stumped. So I sent off an email to Moonbaby for suggestions. What the heck, sometimes companies even bother to respond, right? Although at $2.50 for a product, I didn't exactly hold my breath.

Well, I got a response right away. Literally within minutes. All day, and into the evening we traded emails to try and solve the problem. I went to bed, and in the morning I found another email, which meant Mooonbaby had been working on it overnight. The problem was solved, and the code was tweaked to work within GoDaddy's ecommerce site limitations.

All this for a $2.50 purchase, which tells me that Mooonbaby is serious about their products and backing them up. These days that's nice to see. Microsoft could take a few lessons from them.

At any rate, we recommend checking out their site. They have tons of info and scripts to look over. They are at: MooonBaby

Hungry

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:44:00 -0700

Dave: This came about while walking around downtown San Diego one afternoon. We found this young lady sitting quietly on a busy street corner weaving her design. We donated some money and asked permission to take her photograph, and this was the final result.

The title refers to man's natural hunger for beauty, even while in harsh circumstances. We tried to find her later and give her the shirt but we never saw her again.

Making Cotton T-Shirts Sustainably

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:30:55 -0700

Note: The following article is from our supplier of Ultimate Statement Organic T-Shirts. For those who wish to learn more about the entire organic cotton industry, this is a great starting point:

There is a negative impact to conventional cotton production. Cotton is grown commercially using a large amount of pesticides and herbicides, toxic chemicals designed, as the name suggests, to kill pests, insects, weeds, fungus, or any other kind of living things.

Most cotton is also grown on poorly managed soils, which would be almost sterile without large amounts of synthetic fertilizers.

More insecticides are sprayed on cotton than on any other major crop. Many problems are associated with this production method. Severe negative impacts include: loss of biodiversity and damage to ecosystems and wildlife, depletion of precious natural resources such as water and soil, and heavy contamination of water bodies.

The ecological devastation of the Aral Sea area in central Asia, one of the most visible ecological disasters on the planet, almost entirely due to cotton production, symbolises cotton’s environmental impacts.

Other impacts include poisoning (sometimes fatal) of farmers, and intolerable indebtedness of poor farmers trapped on the “pesticide treadmill”.

In some areas, the cost of chemicals is now reaching 60% of farmers’ production costs. The use of pesticides on small-scale cotton farms in developing countries has unacceptable negative impacts on the health of farmers and their families, and on their environment.

On such farms, the level of training required to avoid hazards when using pesticides is seldom attainable. The necessary protective equipment is almost never used because of its lack of availability and its prohibitive price, and is inappropriate for use in tropical climates.

The positive impact of organic cotton production

However, cotton can be grown following the strict principles of organic agriculture. Organic agriculture uses no synthetic chemical pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, and no Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO).

Organic fertilizers (such as manure) and plant-based pest management products (such as neem or garlic extract) are used.

However, organic agriculture is not only a mere substitution of synthetic inputs with natural inputs. The major principle is to restore a natural balance within farms, with healthy and well-structured soils, rich in organic matter. In such an environment, the pests (any living things which damage the crop) are not systematically destroyed by poisons, but are kept under control by their natural predators.

Biodiversity (the diverse range of living species: plants, animals, microorganisms) and agro-diversity (the diverse range of crops planted by the farmer, as well as livestock) are integral parts of an organic farm.
The organic cotton fibre that is harvested is similar to most conventional cotton fibres, except that it is guaranteed non-GM, and is not contaminated with pesticides.

The main difference is that the ecosystem where it has been produced has not been damaged, and chemicals have not poisoned the farmer and his or her family.

The cotton produced while converting from conventional farming to organic farming is called ‘organic in conversion’. This is a necessary but difficult stage for any organic farmer, as the cotton may cost more to produce, but cannot be sold at the premium that certified organic cotton can achieve.

Some companies have decided to incorporate this cotton into their conventional cotton production, as an indication to consumers of their support for, and understanding of organic issues, and forward thinking business ethics.

Fully organic cotton fiber is certified as an organic agricultural product, along with other crops on the farm, by a private certification body, which guarantees that the rigorous organic standards have been strictly followed. The UK-based Soil Association, for example, is one among over 100 such certification agencies worldwide, which are accredited and audited by various bodies such as the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement, Control Union Group, which now, at last, are being brought together under a single GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD (GOTS).

Therefore, the certification of cotton fiber as an organic agricultural product is extremely reliable. If the label of your T-shirt claims that it has been made with organic cotton, you can be confident that the cotton fiber has really been grown organically. There is no need for a logo, the word “organic” is sufficient.

However, the word ‘organic’ only refers to a guarantee on the growing stage of the cotton fiber, and not on the processing or the manufacturing, and there is still a long way from the fiber to a T-shirt.

Fiber processing

There are many stages required to process cotton from fibers to fabrics. The fibers are cleaned, carded (combed), spun into yarn, coated with starches or chemicals, woven into fabric (or knitted in the case of a T-shirt), cleaned up from their coating and their natural wax, bleached, immersed in concentrated caustic soda, dyed or printed, and chemically treated for easy care and other properties.

All these stages require a large number of chemicals of various toxicity and hazards. Some of these chemicals threaten the health of workers, while others cause environmental pollution from the mills’ waste water. Finally, many of these chemicals are found as residues in the finished product, and some of them may affect the health of consumers, and are suspected to cause allergies, eczema, and even cancers.

In order to address those processing and manufacturing stages, a handful of organisations, mostly organic certification agencies, have developed their own private voluntary “organic” or “sustainable” standards for textile, and are certifying finished products according to those standards.

Such organic certification agencies and their textile processing scheme include the Soil Association and the Control Union International (aka SKAL International); the new GOTS will encompass those.

And so, what we commonly call in Europe an “organic T-shirt” is a T-shirt made with certified organic cotton fiber, and processed according to those textile processing standards. The certification agency then authorises the manufacturer to add its logo (or mark, or symbol) on the T-shirt’s label or their marketing literature. This is essential in order to recognize an Organic T-shirt.

While the processing and manufacturing are not really “organic” in a similar way that agricultural products are “organic”, what those standards aim to achieve is to maintain the integrity of the organic nature of the fiber as much as possible. This is achieved by using as much organic material as possible, and by adopting alternative chemicals and processing practices that minimize the impact on the environment, and protect the health of consumers, while insuring textiles of high quality that are economically viable. The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Mark is one such standard.

The OKEO-TEX Standard 100 Mark

The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Mark (or Öko-Tex ) is probably the most widely recognised standard in textiles, which sets strict limits on the amount of substances harmful to consumers which can be found in the finished textile product.

The mark states “Confidence in Textiles” is displayed on textile products which have been tested by one of the member institutes. Criteria are even more stringent for baby clothes than any other textiles. Most of the criteria for residues in the baby clothes category are comparable to health criteria of the organic textile standards.

Although Oeko-Tex standards only address specifically consumer’s health issues, the necessity to comply with the criteria induces better environmental practices at the processing and manufacturing level. The standards offer significant environmental benefits. Therefore, when choosing a sustainable T-shirt, look for Oeko-Tex certified T-shirts, made with 100% organic certified cotton.

Ethical Trading

Some companies go further, and open up their manufacturing processes and business practices to scrutiny by organizations set up to promote fair labor conditions such as the ‘FAIR WEAR FOUNDATION’ (FWF).

The FWF exists to promote fair labour conditions in the garment industry world wide; this means it’s member companies have undersigned FWF's Code of Labor practices, and thereby the company has committed itself to monitor the factories of its suppliers, and the Fair Wear Foundation verifies that the Code of Labor Practices is actually implemented and respected at the factories.

The Green Man Blog is written to spread environmental awareness and appreciation of the natural world around us. Thank you for visiting! Stay green, support the organic movement, and be sure to visit www.greenmantshirts.com or www.robjuszak.com for the best in organic cotton and bamboo t shirts!

Men's Cotton T-Shirt Sizing Chart

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:25:00 -0700

Here's a tip for correct sizing: find a cotton t-shirt you currently wear, and measure it as shown. Match that measurement to our shirts.

Men's 100% Cotton T-Shirts

M - 20"
L - 22"
XL - 24"
XXL - 26"

A few notes about sizing:

T-Shirt sizing can be all over the board.The ultra-cheap stuff has so much variance in quality, it's impossible to stay consistent.

So we take care to buy only from reputable manufacturers who make quality products.

Our shirts are pre-shrunk, but they are cotton. So expect a little shrinkage. You can control much of this by how you wash and care for your clothing.

Cold water wash and low heat (or sun-drying) give the best results.

It's pretty easy, generally, for guys to get a good fit. For us, both Dave (5'-10", 185 lbs) and Rob (6'-0", 200 lbs) wear a large in both styles.

Thank You For Your Order!

nospam@example.com (Green Man) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:15:00 -0700

Thank you for supporting Green Man T Shirts!

Your order helps to advance many environmental causes around the world. Not to mention the fact that by purchasing our organic t shirts you are also advancing the organic, sustainable movement. These are good things!

About your shirts: Wash them in cold water and line dry if possible. This conserves energy and carries on the philosophy they were made with.

If you have an original Rob Juszak design t-shirt, turn the shirt inside out before washing. This helps to preserve the design.

If there were any problems with your order, contact us immediately: greenman@greenmantshirts.com.

We’ll take care of you, no worries. Enjoy the t-shirts!

Our Thoughts About the Business

When we started this project, we deliberately focused on keeping things simple. We knew that just about everybody buys t-shirts, so that’s what we decided on. But we also knew we had to commit 100%.

Part of that commitment was starting the Green Man Blog, writing about the Earth and all its wonders, covering environmental issues, and having fun exploring the history and legend of the Green Man.

Another part of that commitment was carefully choosing the products we sell. We felt we could be part of the problem or part of the solution. We chose to be part of the solution. So we sell quality organic, sustainable t-shirts from companies we trust.

And, of course, how we run the business itself is part of the commitment. That’s why we don’t print tons of flyers and brochures and stuff them in with your shirts; we direct you here instead. We don’t pack your shirts in ordinary plastic; we use a special biodegradable plastic. Our shipping boxes are eco-friendly, as they say.

We hope you enjoy the t-shirts! Spread the word to your friends about us. Eventually, we hope, everyone will at some point or another buy a t-shirt from us. Why not; it’s something you can always use, right? You can’t do wrong buying from us, and you can do the world good!

And lastly, we have to lay our brilliant marketing plan on you: Please buy our t-shirts..the world will love you!

FAQ

Are you guys for real?

Yes. That’s really us in those boring videos. We’re as real as it gets. Contact us anytime and you’ll actually get an answer.

What’s the red stapler for?

It reminds us to not act, think, or behave corporately. We’ve both had enough of that in our lives. So have you, probably. So we try not to have "policies" or inflexible rules. We just try to do the right thing at all times. We also refuse to be faceless, anonymous corporate drones.

Where does the artwork come from?

That’s all Rob. He studied formally at San Diego State University, but he’s been drawing Green Man related art for a long time. Originality is the driving force behind his work, so you won’t see the usual grunge skulls and splatter-punk artwork here. His work is always themed-out in several ways; sometimes it’s clear, sometimes it very subtle. If you buy one of his designs and want to know more about it, send along an email. He’ll tell you the inside story on the piece.

What’s with your videos?

Pretty bad, eh? But we’re trying to get better. Maybe one day we’ll surprise everybody and make one of those YouTube videos that go viral….yeah, right. The idea, as far as it is possible, is to be face to face with our customers. The videos allow people to not only see our products in better detail, but also to see us.

Personally, we get tired of the "mega-behemoth corporate faceless all-things-to-all-people and we will crush all competitors brand of business" we see out there. And we think we are not alone in feeling that way. So we make our dumb little videos and do our best to communicate who we are and what we are doing.

I looked at the art gallery, but not all the designs are on the shirts. How come?

The art gallery is just sort of a knocking around place for Rob. He’ll be the first to criticize his own art, and sometimes he’ll just toss things out to get a reaction. He picks and chooses what he wants to go on the shirts in his own good time.

If I want to return something, can I?

Of course. Just contact us and we’ll figure out the best way to do it. Usually, the best way to return an order is to use the original box and mark it “Return to Sender.” When we get it we’ll credit your account, or re-ship if it’s a case of wrong sizes and you just want an exchange. If it’s a partial return, contact us and we’ll advise the best the way. No matter what, though, we’ll take care of you.

How long does shipping take?

The majority of the time you'll get your shirts within a week. If it will be much longer, we'll send you a note. But generally we ship the next business day of receiving the order.

What got you guys into this?

Both Rob and Dave have enjoyed many great adventures over the years. Bicycling from San Diego to Canada, rowing down the Baja coast, motorcycling all across the Southwest, backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, climbing Mt. Whitney, hiking Death Valley, and many others. After a while both felt the urge to give something back to this wonderful world, even if it was in a small way.

Neither one should really be here, after all: Rob survived a terrible motorcycle accident, and Dave survived cancer. So with the time granted to them by good fortune, they're trying to make a difference. With your help, it can be done.