Dr. Jack Martin’s ACC class
Dr. Jack Martin recently completed his first semester class from Alamance Community College’s Green certificate program, the first in the state. The program focuses on “Alternative Energy Technology,” and trains students in concepts of environmental sustainability, renewable energy, and wind-solar-hydro power systems. Dr. Jack’s classes were taught in the large conference room at TS Designs.
Creative ways to recycle our cotton T-shirt scraps
Sheryl from Twisted Limb Paperworks converted some of our organic cotton scraps to paper. A combination of manila folder folders and the t-shirt scraps were used to create cards. The T-shirt scraps were in the Hollander beater for seven hours before they were broken down enough. Usually, her recycled paper is in this beater for only an hour. Twisted Limb Paperworks sustainably produces handmade 100% recycled paper. Below is a photo of a mold for the paper pulp.
The Downtown Burlington co-op grocery took several hundred pounds of scraps and packed them into the open side of a rolling partition wall, then covered the side with chicken wire to hold the scraps in. The wall is now sound absorbent, drastically improving the acoustic quality of the building.
Eric Henry named a Sustainability Champion
Eric Henry receive the Sustainability Champion Award from Sustainable North Carolina. The SNC Awards honor businesses, organizations, and individuals who have demonstrated leadership in promoting a sustainable economy in the state. Eric was one of two individuals who were selected as Sustainability Champion, an honor which recognizes individuals whose efforts are advancing sustainable “triple bottom line” approaches through creative leadership and dedication.
Eric is standing between Chuck Swoboda, CEO of Cree, and Katy Ansardi of Sustainable North Carolina after accepting his award.
Harvest ’09 Tour
The Harvest ’09 Tour was a great success! Thanks to everyone who came out to see Ronnie’s farm and hear about our plan to bring consumers back to the farmer of their clothing and everyone in-between.
Check out this video by the NC farm bureau to see a bit of footage of the tour; we have our own video on its way!
NCSU students helped develop a landscaping plan for TS Designs
Tom has been working with 19 students from Professor Will Hooker’s Permaculture Design Studio class at NCSU to develop a landscaping plan for TS Designs. This plan will include a conversion of our landscape to more edible plants like nut and fruit trees, berries, grapes, etc. So far we have built 3 trellises and planted pecan trees, magnolia, choctaw, pawnee, kiwi, and much more. In the photo above, the students are hanging up their designs to be critiqued. Stay tuned for updates on how everything is growing.
Tom has been working with 19 students from Professor Will Hooker’s Permaculture Design Studio class at NCSU to develop a landscaping plan for TS Designs. This plan will include a conversion of our landscape to more edible plants like nut and fruit trees, berries, grapes, etc. So far we have built 3 trellises and planted pecan trees, magnolia, choctaw, pawnee, kiwi, and much more. In the photo above, the students are hanging up their designs to be critiqued. Stay tuned for updates on how everything is growing.
Tom has been working with 19 students from Professor Will Hooker’s Permaculture Design Studio class at NCSU to develop a landscaping plan for TS Designs. This plan will include a conversion of our landscape to more edible plants like nut and fruit trees, berries, grapes, etc. So far we have built 3 trellises and planted pecan trees, magnolia, choctaw, pawnee, kiwi, and much more. In the photo above, the students are hanging up their designs to be critiqued. Stay tuned for updates on how everything is growing.
Healthcare at TSD
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for our small business: healthcare shopping time! TS Designs is looking at yet another health insurance rate increase this year. The private sector healthcare system is not working for us.
Ever since Tom and I started the company we have offered our employees healthcare. We pay for 50% of the individual’s cost and as the years have gone by and rates have increased so have the number of employees who have had to drop out.
We’re getting squeezed from a couple directions. First, we are a very small group; less than 20 people compared to the 100+ employees we had before NAFTA. Second, we are an older group with some serious pre-existing conditions – even a COBRA ex-employee that has health issues in the family is hurting our rate. It looks like we will be staying with Blue Cross & Blue Shield North Carolina, the largest in our state.
BCBSNC is a nonprofit healthcare company but is making so much money on their plans they paid their CEO, Bob Greczyn, almost $4 million last year, a $750,000 raise from the year before. They are planning an 11% rate increase this year. Why not give that excess back to their customers?
I would have no problem with his compensation if this were a competitive market, but in the US healthcare is not competitive. We need to remove the exemption from anti-trust laws the healthcare companies enjoy. Traditional market competition ideals do not apply to an industry that bases its decisions on risk pooling. In our system, the goal of profit-driven healthcare companies is not to provide healthcare, but to deny as many claims as possible to maximize profit. As economist Paul Krugman wrote, “The most successful companies are those that do the best job of denying coverage to those who need it most.”
Unless something is done, healthcare at TS Designs, and thousands of other small businesses, will become a casualty. And we’ll all share in those losses since the health issues will not go away. The number of uninsured will rise, bankruptcies due to healthcare will increase, and healthcare costs themselves will continue to creep higher and higher.
We need a public option to bring competition to the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry and their lobbyists clearly have the bucks to compete with it.
Introducing our Rebranding
We have created a clearer distinction and better cohesion between our three products. We are now providing our customers with three different, but equal routes to sustainability, depending on what they value most. Organic, local, or recycled–you choose which path to take.
We have created a clearer distinction and better cohesion between our three products. We are now providing our customers with three different, but equal routes to sustainability, depending on what they value most. Organic, local, or recycled–you choose which path to take.
Real Cost
With all the discussions going on about potential changes in healthcare and energy costs on the rise, we at TSD are looking back at how we started working to mitigate those upcoming challenges years ago.
Not a day goes by that we aren’t asked why our t-shirts cost more. Our NC-made, organic cotton, responsibly-printed/dyed shirts are about $12/piece versus an overseas-manufactured, conventional cotton, PVC/phthalate-printed shirt at about $8/piece.
Part of the journey to be a more sustainable company is understanding your real cost, to people, planet, and bottom line. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which businesses do not have to recognize all their external costs and consumers don’t understand how those costs are ultimately passed on to them. Here’s to the hundreds of our clients who have figured it out, and support us with their business.
Wanted: Sales Representative [FILLED]
THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED TS Designs is looking for a full-time sales rep for custom print t-shirts to expand its customer-base. The position will be mostly in-house, with occasional travel. Requirements: • At least 4 years sales experience • Experience with a...
Vote for Land 2009
TS Designs is proud to help sponsor Vote for Land 2009, a $3000 grant program put together by our friends over at Great Outdoor Provisions to aid in the protection of the lands, water, and wildlife of North Carolina.
This year’s winner is the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust. Coastal Land Trust works with the state and other organizations to permanently protect Masonboro Island, the largest undisturbed barrier island along the southern part of North Carolina’s coast and host to a vast array of wildlife.
Greenpeace Opens T-shirt Exhibit in Japan
Greenpeace recently opened up a Communication Center in Japan’s Aamori District to tell the people the truth about commercial whaling. The entrance of the Communication Center is now hosting a Greenpeace T-Shirt Exhibit, to display Greenpeace’s history through thirty-eight years of campaign t-shirts, including some of the historic reproduction T’s made by TS.
Click here to check out Greenpeace Japan’s website (don’t worry, you can view it in English).
First Look at Harvest ’09
Wes Morgan of Rolling Hills Gin was kind enough to send us some early photos of the Cotton of the Carolinas Harvest ’09 up-and-coming crop. The photos were taken at Ronnie Burleson‘s (Wes’ uncle) farm over in Richfield, NC.
According to Wes, so far this year’s crop is right on track. Now we just need a hot damp summer, which in North Carolina is a pretty good bet!
Cotton of the Carolinas Shirts Available at Local Retailer
Great Outdoor Provisions, a Raleigh-based outdoor clothing and equipment retailer and long-time sustainability partner of TS Designs, is now offering Cotton of the Carolinas t-shirts in all of their retail outlets. To see GOP’s own blog post about this exciting new offering, click here.
If you’re in the area, drop by one of Great Outdoor’s several NC locations and pick up a 100% local t-shirt today!
TS Designs Featured in Printwear Magazine
TSD was featured as “Printwear’s Planet” in Printwear Magazine’s May 2009 edition.
New T-shirt: The Econscious Value T
TSD is proud to announce it will soon be offering the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified econscious value T alongside our other sustainable t-shirt offerings. The GOTS certification verifies the value t's 100% organic cotton content and its compliance...