As psychologist Nathaniel Branden famously said of personal growth, “the first step towards change is awareness. The second step is acceptance”. This maxim can be applied to any issue that requires change, large or small.
With this new collection of climate awareness shirts, we are focused on the first step. There is no issue more pressing in our world today than the climate crisis, and it requires societal changes unprecedented in human history. How do we help spur these changes? Everyone is familiar with climate change, but it's a subject so broad and multifaceted that few can conjure tangible facts about it. This allows people to downplay it, or describe it in soft platitudes.
This is where our shirts come in. Did you know that we need to reduce our emissions by 50% by 2030 to have a chance at staying below a rise of 1.5°C? Or that the Arctic Ocean will become ice-free in the summer within the next 20 years? Or that more than half of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years?
These are the kinds of facts we’re focused on. Strong, memorable truths that can’t be immediately disputed, and that stick with people once they’ve been exposed to them. They are carefully worded to be as concise as possible, and are paired with legible, bonafide citations from studies backing them up. If someone tries to call you out on your shirt, know that what it says is true and verifiable.
When we see someone with writing on their clothing, we're drawn to read it. Before we even know what it is. We’re curious. We let our guard down. Whether you’re at work, in class, or on the street, your shirt is alive. It’s constantly talking to those around you.
Think of the fact on your shirt as a seed that you’re planting peoples’ minds. You’re letting them know something that they’ll remember, and then leaving it to them to dwell on. Or perhaps start a conversation that leads to something good.
Know too that we are doing everything we can to ensure that each shirt lives up to the message it's displaying. Every shirt is made from a combination of organic cotton and recycled poly rPET (plastic bottles). At least four plastic bottles have gone into every shirt.
For a note on our thoughts surrounding sustainability and the apparel industry, click here.