What
What is tastythreads?
This site is the organic t-shirt design site. At tastythreads, we host a continuous design contest while being as environmentally sustainable as possible.
The winning designs are printed exclusively on 100% organic cotton t-shirts, from American Apparel, in both men’s and women’s styles. These shirts are really soft, have a fashion fit, and are super high quality. Although we are now only using organic cotton, as the community grows, we will be expanding to print designs on other eco-friendly fabrics, such as hemp, soy, and bamboo.
Members of the open community submit their designs to tastythreads, where we publish the designs on the web site. The community then votes on the design, and gives the artist feedback. The artist can submit new versions of his design at any time based on the feedback. Then tastythreads chooses which designs to print based on the voting and feedback. (We use a fancy algorithm on a NASA supercomputer for this.) Tastythreads sells the printed organic t-shirts and awards the artist cash for the winning design.
What can I win?
If your design wins, you receive your choice of either $250 or 10% of revenue including from reprints of the design. You can find more detail of the winning prize here.
Winners are chosen four times per month. As the community grows, both the value of the prize and the number of winners will increase.
What are tastythreads' goals?
Give artists exposure to the growing eco-conscious community
Tasty threads is created to connect graphic designers to the eco-firendly community. There is a large and growing group of consumers who buy their goods conscientiously. Whether they are looking for organic food, organic clothing, hybrid vehicles, or energy-efficient appliances, these folks (including us!) are choosing to spend their money on things with minimal environmental impact, as well as things that are produced ethically, outside of sweatshops.
Supply organic cotton t-shirts with sweet designs to eco-consumers
Use of pesticides and fertilizers to grow cotton normally puts 2/3 cup per shirt of chemicals into our environment, as well as into the cotton. Growing cotton organically eliminates the use of these damaging chemicals. Read more about the advantages of organic cotton here.
Also, according to the Organic Trade Association, there has been double digit growth in the production and use of organic fibers for clothing. Eco-conscious buyers with the money to make a difference are looking for products like the ones offered by tasty threads. Please join us and be a part of this effort to preserve our natural resources for future generations.
Spread the word about the importance of sustainability
We hope that through the tastythreads community, word will spread about the importance and benefits of making steps in our everyday lives toward sustainable living. Community members can use the forum (we call it "dumb things were said. we're not proud of it") to blog about both the artwork and sustainability issues they face.
If you like the ideas at tastythreads, tell your friends.
We're offering the simple "thank you" of giving you credit on 2.5% of all purchases ever made by friends you refer to the site. You will receive this commission for as long as your friend buys products from our site. Read more about our referral system here.
Also, to help spread the word, tastythreads has labeled each shirt (on the back, just below the neck line) with an OG symbol, about 1.5 cm big. That is to show that the garment is "approved for the environment."
Generate funds for environment-focused non-profit organizations
10% of all profits will go to non-profit organizations. The choice is yours as to where the funds go. After you make a purchase, you will be asked, via a poll, where you want the money generated from your purchase, to go. As the community grows, so will the funds that flow from tasty threads to the groups dedicated to preserving the environment for future generations.
Connect people who love art and the environment
Tastythreads is also a place to meet people with similar interests to yours. We are hoping that people who love artistic expression and the environment will be on the site, sharing ideas.
Make a profit. Well, at least enough to have an occasional beer
We started this project with the goals above. But, it would be awesome if we're able to profit enough to make it a full time job, addressing issues of sustainability while having fun doing it.
What is the sustainable process for making t-shirts?
Tastythreads prints only on organic cotton t-shirts from American Apparel, although we plan to expand to other interesting sustainable materials. Tastythreads uses a printing process called Rehance, that does not employ plasitsols or pthalates, both of which are poisonous to humans and the environment.
There are other nice benefits to the Rehance process: the clothing fibers themselves are colored, instead of leaving a plastic "hand" print on the shirt itself. This means that the shirt breathes through the print, and doesn't crack over time. This compares favorably to the normal screen printing process, which uses plastisols and phthalates to print a plastic design on the shirt.
Also, the plastisol coating cracks over time, doesn't stretch or shrink with the shirt, and doesn't breathe. Tastythreads prints using the Rehance process look and feel great, last longer, and are environmentally responsible!
