Eco in Action: TS Designs

This is the final article of three about TS Designs.

Over the last 35 years, a Burlington, NC  company, TS Designs, has created - with boldness, invention, and a bit of dramatic flair - a viable product line, an innovative printing process, and an enterprising approach to altruism that might - as word gets around - redefine the standard of corporate citizenship.

 Home-Grown Organic

In March, a North Carolina manufacturer spun the first yarn from the first - ever - certified organic cotton crop grown in North Carolina. Part of an age-old growing tradition, it's gone on to be knit, cut and sewn into TS Designs' latest manifestation of historic change.  

"We're now in the manufacturing process," Eric Michel, Vice President of Operations, said.

"We expect we'll be able to start delivering printed shirts to customers sometime in June," he said.

The Impossible: Been There, Done That

"The journey of growing organic cotton in North Carolina began about five years ago, when we were told it couldn't be done," said Henry in a recent press release.

"We want[ed] to work with domestic organic cotton producers," he said. "It [wasn't] available. So we're going to places like Pakistan and India to get our organic cotton." (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, 2010) "Most organic cotton is grown overseas, and 50 per cent of North Carolina's cotton gets shipped abroad."

"The global marketplace determines where cotton goes," Henry said. "You don't know if it goes to South America or North Carolina.

We started by making T-shirts from cotton grown in the state with a line called Cotton of the Carolinas,  knowing that eventually we could do the same thing with certified organic cotton grown here."

According to a 2011 CNN Report, TS Designs/Cotton of the Carolinas made 8,500 shirts in 2009, and made 26,000 in 2011.

The Impossible: Doing it Again

"In December, in Nash county, they harvested 40 acres and turned in 25,000 pounds of good quality cotton," Henry said. Two North Carolina farms - Hickory Manor Organics and Parrish Enterprises - harvested the state's first substantial crop of USDA Certified Organic cotton. 

TSD and fellow dirt-to-shirt participant, Mortex, supported the farms in an effort to provide the missing link in their fully-local, transparent supply chain. One aspect of that support was finding a buyer for every single pound. In order to keep it local, TSD hit the street , offering the crop to a few local groups and organizations.

Their goal was to sell enough cotton to make yarn for 3,000 T-shirts. According to the TSD web site, that number would ensure "demand to run a fabric lot...custom made."

"We committed to enough cotton to make about 5,000 shirts, and have pre-sold almost all of them," said Michel.

"It's exciting to see the finished product," Henry said. "To see it, we need to start locally."

The shirts will be "printed with our own, incredibly soft, environmentally-firiendly inks, and dyed with  low impact dyes," the web site said, promoting them as the most sustainable commercially-available shirts on the planet - a piece of history representing "over 700 jobs in NC," the web site said.

"How can people support TSD?  Buy our t-shirts!  We are a custom printed wholesale t-shirt provider that offers the most sustainable t-shirts and the most sustainable t-shirt options.  People can submit a quote from our Web site."  - Eric Henry, president, TS Designs

To purchase individual T-shirts, visit http://store.tsdesigns.com .

Eco Criteria for Clothes

Most people use the term eco fashion to describe clothes created or manufactured in such a way as to contribute to a healthier world. There are fashion shows built on that concept, such as Portland Fashion Week, and many designers are participating in the eco fashion revolution. Funny thing is, eco fashion has been around since the hippy dippy 60's, and we've only recently defined what it means to any particular group of people.

So....how many definitions for eco fashion are there? Well, turns out there are at least eight. Surprised? I was. The eight types of eco fashion are:

• vegan
• ethically produced
• craft
• custom
• fair trade certified
• organic
• recycled/upcycled
• vintage

So what do all these terms mean, and how are they different?

Vegan refers to clothing that is made without the use of leather or animal products. This concept is central to the current debate related to the use of real fur in faux fur, and the inappropriate labeling of faux fur. That's probably a blog for another day.

Respecting people and the environment is the core criteria for ethically produced. It takes a while to become certified as organic or to get the Fair Trade certification, and the companies using the terminology ethically produced are working on getting that certification. The concept is that they are behaving in compliance with Fair Trade or organic criteria, and want some recognition until enough time has passed for them to get certified.

Craft is eco, but only as defined by the segment of the population that wants to preserve hand stitching, piece work and 'homemade' skills. I still have fond memories of learning to cross-stitch, and it's definitely an achievement to create something homemade.

I was a bit puzzled about this next category, because custom made clothing doesn't seem all that eco. The theory is that custom made clothing encourages quality and a slow manufacturing process rather than fashion that is mass-produced. The logic seems to work.

Fair Trade Certified and organic are frequently used interchangeably, but there are distinct differences. Fair Trade Certified is a certification that supports and promotes standards for international labor practices. Organic refers to clothing made from natural fibers grown without the use of pesticides or toxins.

Recycled and upcycled are fairly self-explanatory. If it's made from something already made, you're reducing the amount of trash sent to the landfill. Hoo-rah!

Vintage - same principal applies here as to recycling and upcycling. If you can make it work in your wardrobe, and don't have to purchase new, you're reducing the impact to the environment.

Now that you know what the various definitions are for eco fashion, what do you think? Have any to add? Think one (or more) should be subtracted?