Here at Printable Promotions, we’ve fielded a lot of questions about eco-friendly shirts, jackets and caps but very few people ask if the printing method is green as well. Using an environmentally responsible screen printing shop is just as (if not more) important than choosing an eco-friendly garment!
Our primary screen printing factory in Chicago has gone to great lengths to reduce their environmental impact:
What does being green mean?
Being green, sustainable, socially responsible, and overall just a great place to work has always been at the heart of our family. When we started this company over 25 years ago, we didn’t realize how progressive our actions were. Good business practices and common sense have always been guidelines by which we conduct ourselves. When we discuss the things we can do to become a stronger company we do not separate green initiatives from production and service efforts. We have developed a culture that incorporates environmental impact and social responsibility as key success factors in everything we do. From choosing the paint color on the walls (soy-based paint), to which chemicals we use on the production floor (citrus-based, not solvents), we are always looking for alternate ways to do what we do better. We believe that it’s not enough to just understand the products we are using, but it is also important to know how responsible the company is that manufactures them and how those products will effect our staff and nature. We support many small start-up chemical and consumables companies with very innovative natural products.
Types of cleaners:
In the printing industry the primary chemicals that both employees and the environment are exposed to are traditional thinners and solvents used to clean up inks, tools, screens and even the floor. We have replaced any dangerous chemicals with a product that is citrus- based and completely safe for both bodily contact and disposal. And the shop smells like oranges!
Types of inks used and disposal of waste:
As a screen printer, it is impossible to get around using plastics. That said, how to dispose of that solid waste is a huge area of concern for us. We have contracted with a company that picks up our plastic ink waste and sells it to a company that further refines the sludge to make roofing tar for homes instead of putting it into a landfill. This means NO LANDFILL for our sludge, making a hugely positive impact instead of a dramatically negative one. Drums of chemicals that sit in landfills for years and years have major seepage issues and end up contaminating the earth around them.
Any new and amazing techniques that are earth friendly?
Currently in research and development are 2 great innovations we are excited to bring to the t-shirt printing marketplace. The first is a line of sustainable and organic shirts. Organic cotton apparel has been around for a while, but have you seen 60% soy? Or how about 60% bamboo, 40% organic cotton? These fabrics encourage fewer pesticides in the cotton industry and are incorporating sustainable, not just organic, components into the textile world.
The second is the development of fresh inks. There are small companies out there making 100% organic plant-based inks for t-shirt printing. These inks, however, are so unstable that they cannot be shipped because they spoil so quickly. The only way to get an organic ink in the shop is to make it right here. We have just begun the development of natural ink chemistry and are excited to have samples to show soon. How would you like to buy a t-shirt made of soy and printed with inks made from vegetable oils?
How does your company recycle?
We have been recycling for years but we’ve really stepped up our game in the last 24 months. We implemented departmental goals with incentives to decrease landfill trash and came up with innovative recycling options.
It’s working! We are proud to say we have gone from needing 2 huge trash containers picked up 3 times a week to needing only 1 container picked up once a week. We now have 2 different recycling containers, which are picked up twice a week. We have not only transitioned more to recycling than landfill use, but we have also decreased our overall waste in a time of increased production.
In what ways is your company working towards a more sustainable business?
We have invested in new highly energy-efficient equipment that recycles up to 90% of the hot air needed to dry ink on shirts back into the dryer. This has reduced our consumption of electricity and lowered the overall temperature of our employees’ work environment.
We started a corrugated re-use program to cut 50% of our waste and reduced our new corrugated purchases by 70%. We have also developed custom packing solutions for regular customers which provide boxes strong enough to send product back and forth up to 10 times before the boxes have to be recycled.
We are 100% focused on creating a great place TODAY for each of our 125 employees in Chicago and an even better world TOMORROW for our children, grandchildren and yours!
For a tone-on-tone look on fleece jackets and vests, consider laser engraving. A laser is used to burn your logo or design into the “fuzzy” top layer of the fleece, leaving only the fabric base. The resulting garments have an upscale “retail” look with this method, and make great business gifts and employee apparel.
Laser engraving can be more economical than embroidery, while giving you more freedom with the size and placement of your design. Watch the videos below for a peek at the process:
We have the ability to laser engrave a single garment sample for you…let us know when you’re ready!
More and more companies are turning to eco-friendly apparel for their promotions and staff uniforms. It’s easier than ever to go green with a multitude of new shirts, hats and jackets made from organic cotton, coconut fiber, recycled plastic and bamboo.
Back in the day, printing on t-shirts involved either messy, expensive screen printing or artistically limiting digital transfers. And lots of labor. You may not have known that, but as people who do custom printing for a living, we were all too aware of it.
But now with our super-advanced system we can print from a digital art file on the computer directly onto a shirt…skipping all the middle steps (the messy, laborious steps mentioned in the previous paragraph that you were probably blissfully unaware of.)
Best of all, this new technique will reproduce photographs, illustrations and multi-color logos in full-color with stunning clarity. Ahhh, technology is the best.
Watch these videos to be mesmerized by the printing process:
WARNING: Before we get started, I would like to point out that sequins are only appropriate for promotions targeting little girls and certain women. Any attempt to pass off sequined embroidery to a mixed or all-male audience will result in abject failure. You will waste your promotional budget and will probably get fired. So girls only, ok!
Sequined embroidery is created on standard embroidery machines, using sequins (duh!) instead of embroidery thread. Although only one color of sequins can be used in a design, you can achieve a multi-color look by combining sequins with traditional embroidery.
Watch the videos below to see the decorating process in action, and examples of some finished garments.
Our Ultra Club organic cotton shirts come in a rainbow of fruit flavors (like Skittles, but you can’t eat them. The shirts, I mean. Go ahead with the Skittles.)
The same fabric is available in both men’s and ladies styles of polo shirts, t-shirts and long-sleeve t-shirts. Here’s what the manufacturer has to say about them (again, the shirts, not Skittles. I didn’t ask the manufacturer about candy preferences):
“It starts in the fields, of course, with no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. To help it grow, they use only natural means like crop rotation and composting. They even use ladybugs to help protect the cotton from harmful insects. And in manufacturing, everything from dyeing the fabric to cleaning the machines is all done with natural materials. It’s all sustainable, environmentally-friendly agriculture and manufacturing.”
“UltraClub Organic is unique not just because it’s the first private-label organic in the industry, but because the shirts are organic, affordable and they’re great shirts. All the styles have a great price-point, come in a variety of colors, and are really comfortable. In fact, both the tees and polos are ring-spun, which makes them even softer than most non-organic styles.”
These shirts will be available on our website soon. In the meantime, just call us if you’re interested.
Madeira, a global leader in the production of embroidery thread for the decorated apparel and home fashion markets, relies on the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 to guarantee that its products are safe for humans. The company’s Classic Rayon, 100% polyester Polyneon, FS/Supertwist, and wool-blend Burmilana threads are all certified as free from harmful levels of more than 100 substances that are known to be dangerous to people and to the environment.
“We have provided the Oeko-Tex guarantee to our clients for many years,” says Hajo Voeller, Madeira USA’s president. “Now our clients in the USA recognize the importance of textile safety and are requesting embroidery threads that meet the highest international standards. We assure them that our Oeko-Tex certified threads deliver a comprehensive and verifiable safety guarantee that they can pass on to their customers.” Dr. Manfred Wentz, US Director for Oeko-Tex confirms the growth in safety textile awareness. “Decorators in the USA are reacting to consumers’ demands for safe textiles in their apparel and their homes. Madeira, a long time Oeko-Tex certificate holder, has been a provider of safe textile products for many years and sets a high standard for other suppliers to the decorated textile market.”
The International Oeko-Tex Association’s 14 independent facilities test textile products for substances that are prohibited and regulated by law, as well as for chemicals that are known to be harmful to humans, but are not yet regulated. The Oeko-Tex restricted substance list (RSL), which is updated annually to reflect the latest in international textile chemistry, includes unsafe chemicals such as formaldehyde, pesticides, and carcinogenic dyestuffs. Textile products that receive Oeko-Tex certification are guaranteed not to contain harmful amounts of these or other dangerous elements. In order for a finished embroidered product to receive Oeko-Tex certification, all its components must pass the same stringent tests. Using Madeira’s Oeko-Tex certified threads puts embroiderers one step closer to being able to certify their decorated product lines as safe for humans.
These Oeko-Tex certified Madeira threads are available on almost all of our embroidered garments. Make sure to request them when placing your order (there is no extra charge for this.)
As the summer season approaches, companies across American start gearing up for all of their warm-weather activities and promotions – golf outings and picnics, music festivals, block parties, marathons and charity walks. The quintessential gift for participants in these events is a t-shirt.
But if your organization is thinking “green” this year, traditional cotton shirts might be a cause for concern.
According to the Institute of Science in Society, cotton production uses more chemicals per unit area than any other crop and accounts in total for 16% of the world’s pesticides. Pesticides and other agrochemicals not only pollute land and water but have been linked to health risks for farm workers, and residual chemicals in cotton clothing can irritate skin in some individuals.
So what’s a responsible company to do? Organic cotton promotional t-shirts are a responsible solution to these concerns. Each time you choose a T-shirt made from 100% organic cotton, you’re saving one-third of a pound of synthetic fertilizers and farm chemicals.
To be certified as “organic”, cotton must be grown on land that has been free of chemicals for three years. According to the Sustainable Cotton Project there are four components to growing organic cotton:
SOIL
Organic farming starts with the soil. Compost, frequent crop rotations and cover crop strategies replace synthetic fertilizers to keep the soil healthy and productive. Fields must be free of synthetically-derived chemicals for three years to achieve organic certification.
WEED CONTROL Weeds are controlled by innovative farm machinery, hand labor or flame devices rather than herbicide applications.
INSECT PESTS
Rather than attempting to eradicate all insects with chemicals, organic farmers cultivate a diversity of natural enemies which prey on insect pests, and lure pests away from cotton by planting trap crops. Insect pests can be effectively kept in balance with well-timed introduction of beneficial insects to fields.
HARVEST
In warmer growing regions, where the cotton plants must be killed or defoliated to pick a quality crop before the onset of winter rains, organic growers shut off water early, and apply certified materials to promote cotton boll opening and leaf dropping, readying the fibers for harvest. In the U.S., both conventional and organic cotton are machine-picked; in some developing countries, cotton is still harvested by hand.
Some people still think of organic cotton shirts as bland, natural beige colored garments reserved only for hard-core environmentalists…which is not always the first choice when marketing their companies. Fortunately, organic cotton now comes in a rainbow of colors, and new fashion-forward styles to match any organization’s image.
