We've started to receive a respectable number of orders from Europe and beyond. This is awesome, because it means that we are growing outside of our NYC backyard, and onto an even larger scene. Thisissoofreakncooool!!
Ok. Now that we're done celebrating, we need to get back to business. We need come to terms with the fact that international shipping doesn't only mean a higher shipping cost, it also represents a considerably larger carbon foot print that we want to learn how to manage better. We do carbon offsets, where we tally up our shipping and work with
carbon fund to off set the carbon foot print. But we've always viewed this as a last resort. We're more interested in how any item purchased at Holstee can travel a shorter distance to reach you. It's something that comes up regularly in discussion, but recently it got a jump start from a Sweden. Then our new friend, Frida from Stockholm chimed in with an email that basically said, 'hey i want your poster, but can you find a way to make them closer to me to minimize shipping and enviromental impacts?'
I love when customers challenge us to raise the bar even further. Yeah we're lucky to have the smartest, coolest customers- but there is a deeper lesson that I think we all should take away from Frida's initiative to email.
When interacting with an organization, the best thing you can do is be open and forthcoming with the things that are important to you. There is a good chance that if it's on your mind, its probably something the company has or is also considering and your nudge could be the one that helps move things in the right direction. At Holstee, we've seen time and again, when a customers harp on an existing idea, it not only allows it to resurface, it helps to validate it in the most meaningful way. This simple recommendation has already led us to speak with folks that will help us to produce and ship some of our most frequently ordered products, the
Manifesto Poster and
Greeting Card closer to their most common destinations outside the US.
We recently received a letter here at Holstee HQ from a woman in west coast who questioned our ecological values and the choices we have made. We love these types of letters as much as we do the ones of encouragement. It is letters like these that will continue to force us to re-examine ourselves and our approach.
I wanted to share our response on this blog, because I think it captured a lot of valuable information about the decisions we have made and the values we have.
Its a long read, but an important one for Holstee history.
Hi B,
I love spontaneous research, questioning things is the first step in forwarding innovation and society at large. You covered some great topics in your email so I will do my best to cover them all and please, do let me know if I missed anything!
The shirts in our prototype round are what are currently shown and described online. We are in the process of transitioning our sourcing of materials as well as our production. First I will give you the back story on our prototype shirts, and our current process for our new shirts.
Prototype shirts: Once we had the original concept to make our shirts about a year ago, we wanted to make the design quickly and see what happened, for us it was more of a side project. So we shopped around to locate the softest, best fitting eco-shirt we could find. We were never blown away by the selection of eco-shirts available, but for what we were looking for Alternative Apparel offered the best option. The Alternative Apparel is firm on its fair working condition policies which were very important for us. Additionally, the shirts used a blend of cotton (6.25% organic), 50% polyester (6.25% recycled) and 12% rayon. Because of the small size of our production and the desired fit, our desired style, and our hope to get shirts quickly to market our options were narrowed to American Apparel or Alternative Apparel. It was a tough decision but we thought Alternative Apparel was the most ecological choice. All the while keep in mind we were learning as we went - we are very new to this :-)
In the past few months, we have decided to take this pet project and turn it into a full time venture. In doing so we have taken a step back to look again at our shirts and production. It seems that you have a very thorough knowledge of the industry and environmental impact and I am eager to hear your thoughts on our new process.
Upcoming shirts: We are still playing with the exact blend, but our new shirts will most likely be of 100% recycled materials. A blend of polyester (post consumer waste / plastic bottles) and cotton (post industrial waste / textile and fabric scraps from production floors). I was surprised to read your concern regarding recycled plastic bottles: “But polyester isn’t a local ingredient. It comes from oil. And it isn’t clean and green for the planet in any way shape or form, even if recycled from bottles or whatever.” As much as I hate soda, there are tons of people who drink soda and throw out their bottles. Rather than letting those bottle accumulate in landfills they are brought back into a functional state as yarn, then fabric, extending their life cycle. I could not agree more that oil is nor clean nor green. But I assure you we are not creating plastic bottles for the sole purpose of making T-shirts. These are plastic bottles that would otherwise collect in landfills.
You make a valid point that organic cotton is great source of fabric creation. Like I mentioned before we are new to this, but in our research we have learned how much water is required to grow cotton (both organic and regular) - I have heard about as much 2,700 liters of water for one shirt. Also as you noted the best organic cottons come from Turkey, India and China, the issue then is the footprint of transporting - which may in the end be worth it, however it is another element to evaluate. As you mentioned, we have come to learn that Soy, Bamboo and Hemp are other alternatives. However, Bamboo and soy as you noted tend to require heavy chemical processing. We love HEMP too! Out of these options we were leaning most towards hemp. If you know any hemp providers please share their contact information, would love to incorporate some Hemp products going forward. We have learned about a few, mostly in Canada. Do you have a name for the American hemp company? What is Romanian hemp?
At the end of the day though, we thought we would be leaving the best impact on the planet by not sourcing “virgin” fibers but rather by reusing materials that would otherwise be discarded to a landfill. I absolutely can not wait until people stop using plastic bottles (hopefully since it may mean people will not be drinking more high-fructose fizzy water!) and switch to a fabric source like hemp.
On another note, I think its important to mention something. We would have never made it to our second round of production without a first. While our second puts the ecological standards of our first round to shame, we would have never been able to run with out walking first. Even now the control we have over our production is, in a few ways, limited by the amount we produce. As we continue to grow we will continue to do what makes sense to continue to make progress for our company and the planet. We have a lot of big competition who have a completely different set of morals than we do, we are trying our hardest to introduce people to a new way of looking at the effects of their purchasing decisions. Having a focus on design will help us in the long term to have a focus on the impact we are making on this planet. I want to thank you again B, for asking such pressing questions and I encourage you to continue asking us, and others how they define their ecology. Knowledge is the power that enables change.
Many wishes with all the passions you are pursuing! Warm regards,
Dave Radparvar
Co-Founder, Holstee
We've started to receive a respectable number of orders from Europe and beyond. This is awesome, because it means that we are growing outside of our NYC backyard, and onto an even larger scene. Thisissoofreakncooool!!Ok. Now that we're done celebrating, we need to get back to business. We need come to terms with the fact that international shipping doesn't only mean a higher shipping cost, it also represents a considerably larger carbon foot print that we want to learn how to manage better. We do carbon offsets, where we tally up our shipping and work with carbon fund to off set the carbon foot print. But we've always viewed this as a last resort. We're more interested in how any item purchased at Holstee can travel a shorter distance to reach you. It's something that comes up regularly in discussion, but recently it got a jump start from a Sweden. Then our new friend, Frida from Stockholm chimed in with an email that basically said, 'hey i want your poster, but can you find a way to make them closer to me to minimize shipping and enviromental impacts?'I love when customers challenge us to raise the bar even further. Yeah we're lucky to have the smartest, coolest customers- but there is a deeper lesson that I think we all should take away from Frida's initiative to email.When interacting with an organization, the best thing you can do is be open and forthcoming with the things that are important to you. There is a good chance that if it's on your mind, its probably something the company has or is also considering and your nudge could be the one that helps move things in the right direction. At Holstee, we've seen time and again, when a customers harp on an existing idea, it not only allows it to resurface, it helps to validate it in the most meaningful way. This simple recommendation has already led us to speak with folks that will help us to produce and ship some of our most frequently ordered products, the Manifesto Poster and Greeting Card closer to their most common destinations outside the US.
