Social Conscience T-Shirt Competition @ DistrictCotton.com

Submit to Your Social Conscience - Submit Your Eco Tee!

I was immersed in a “PHP programming hell” of my own making, desperately trying to install a directory script for TshirtPrinter.org* , when a very welcome distraction arrived in my inbox from Brett Novick of DistrictCotton.com. Brett wanted me to bring everyone’s attention to the latest round of their Ethical T-Shirt Design Competition - The theme is “Big City”, and it will benefit a very worthy cause, the charity “Brooklyn’s Trees Not Trash.” You can vote for any of the designs here or if you’d like to submit a t-shirt (read the guidelines first buddy!), you can email them here. This May/June the contest will benefit Trees Not Trash in Bushwick (or East Williamsburg) - Submissions are accepted until June 20.

The Prize is $300 cash, plus a $100 gift certificate to DC, plus $250 every time they reprint the shirt.

I can actually markup a few personal Karma points with this review, even reviewing this store is making me feel less guilty about the state of our environment, human rights, and the general collapse of civilized society. If only more people like Brett and his people could consider “higher priorities” than hard and fast profit margins, we’d have a far better time on this planet. The world, mainly thanks to the Net, works in mysterious ways these days. The commercial successes of the Internet Age have at the very least left the establishment dumbfounded, be it YouTube or Google (even that began as a few guys in a garage with a pile of old university servers). I can feel it in my bones, here’s a vanguard in action, a trendsetter, someone who sees the same vast chasm of an opportunity available to forward-thinking ethical teeshirt designers

District Cotton - NYC based apparel manufacturer featuring socially and environmentally responsible clothing, utilizing innovative materials from recycled mosquito netting to old vinyl billboards. They are dedicated to providing high quality organic streetwear, a percentage of their profits to a range of deserving charities and non-profit orgs., and yet commercially their designs are absolutely gorgeous, it is great to see ethical people with “smarts” and a true eye for good design, taking on the big ‘n’ dirty global fashion labels! They have a growing and dedicated (if not fanatic) consumer base, I can see big things on the horizon for District Cotton, working from the ground up they still have a way to go, but even at this early stage they are offering designers a chance to hop on board with them

Bikes Not Bombs! Winning Tee Design at District Cotton
Designed by Dylan Kahler right here in NYC, 10% of the proceeds of this limited edition print will benefit Bikes Not Bombs in Boston. Printed utilizing our new PVC-free process on our signature 100% organic cotton blanks.
Factory Farming Stinks! Winning Tee Design at District Cotton.
Designed by Erin Hessler of Vancouver, Washington. Printed on our signature “tagless” black fitted T. 10% of proceeds to Northeast Organic Farming Association.
Designed by Frank Chlarson of Costa Mesa, California. Printed on a raw cotton Fitted T with “tagless” label. 10% of proceeds to Northeast Organic Farming Association.

I’m very very tempted to enter the latest competition myself! It’s a great way to put something back into the Global Community and of course the money would come in handy. This store uses a perfect variation of the Threadlless theme; let the people design, let the people decide, let the people wear. The vital difference is that District Cotton use Fair Trade Organic Cotton T-Shirts, they are one of a very few t-shirt labels seriously considering the impact they have upon the environment, and I wholeheartedly think they should be applauded for that.

I’d love to see more designs on offer, but of course that will depend on all of you. Unlike sites such as Spreadshirt.com, District Cotton has a far simpler submission process. They accept both Adobe Illustrator (Vector) and high quality Jpeg files at a resolution of 300 DPI (dots per square inch). Most laptops with Photoshop can easily handle that, so if you’re a dab hand at design but have never considered t-shirt design before, or if you’re an old pro who wants to give something back, here’s your chance!

Now I’m torn, shall I get back to the PHP (gulp) or get on with my submission for DC’s “Big City” T-Shirt Design Competition? I’ll have a coffee and then decide, but I’m sure you can guess which direction I’m leaning… It’s fun, it could be profitable, and it’s sure to clear my social conscience for the day. Let’s all go down to District Cotton and clean up the T-Shirt Industry’s act once and for all!

* TshirtPrinter.org - a new site I’m hoping will increase the use of local t-shirt printers by t-shirt designers and in some small way reduce our industry’s carbon footprint.