Green Story

As the old saying goes, “you are what you eat”. But certainly the same argument can be made about what you wear. With the prominence of outsourcing, sweat shops, and harmful environmental practices ubiquitous in the apparel industry, it’s good to know there are still some outliers who challenge the status quo, and make you look as good as you feel wearing their products.

Take The Green Tee, a Portsmouth-based company at the forefront of sustainability in the apparel industry. Truth be told, the owner of The Green Tee began his journey working at the other end of the spectrum, in a decidedly non-green screen-printing business. Witnessing first-hand how the business was run, he was astonished by how wasteful the process was. As products like organic shirts and non-PCV inks emerged The Green Tee saw a real future for sustainable screen-printing. With clients ranging from Phillips Exeter, to City Sports of Boston, The Green Tee's message is certainty being heard and received by a wide range of clients eager to send a message with what they wear.

The company originally sourced their already-made organic cotton tee shirts from existing companies. Since then, the company has done an about face, in the process improving by leaps and bounds their entire green approach. The “new” Green Tee will still use 100% organic, Fair Trade certified cotton tee shirts. Only now that cotton will be grown – and the fabric spun – on a totally organic Texas cotton farm. The fabric will then be shipped to Pennsylvania to be cut to specifications, then sent north to Somersworth, New Hampshire for dyeing before making their final stop at The Green Tee’s headquarters in Greenland for custom design and printing.

Because the cotton is only taking one continuous trip north before it’s ready to wear – instead of being shipped literally all over the world for different parts of the manufacturing process, as with many other so called “green” apparel companies – the environmental impact of the garments is drastically minimized.