We Have Merch And Here’s Why It’s Great!

We have merch and we have been eager to tell you about it. Making merch has been an avenue that we have toyed with for a while now, but we did not want to just dive in without making sure that it also fit with our ethos. After a lot of research and discussion, we found Teemill and our journey began. We wanted to start small and grow our merch as our audience continues to grow, both here on the blog and on our podcast. Our hope is to work with artists and designers in the future to offer even more fantastic hipster items for your enjoyment. For now though, we want to share with you why we have opted for Teemill and how it fits with the goals of Hipster at Home. 

Sustainability

We are excited to share with you that all of our Hipster at Home tees and totes are made using certified organic cotton. Cotton, especially organic cotton, is known to be a very thirsty crop. To combat this, the cotton used in our new merch is grown in North India where they are able to take advantage of the natural water cycle of the environment, thereby reducing the need for additional irrigation. By applying organic practices, the cotton can be grown safely and efficiently while preventing damage to the surrounding land. These practices include the use of co-planting, insect traps, and natural fertiliser in the form of cow manure. As you know, especially from our podcast, we are huge advocates of co-planting and the way it helps to support healthy crops while preventing the stripping of nutrients from the soil. It is also handy when trying to make the most out of a space. 

Less waste

Any production will inevitably produce waste, it is what we do with that waste that matters. It was important for us on the Hipster at Home team to try to offer great products without contributing to further waste and environmental impact. Waste materials from processing the organic cotton for our totes and tees, such as seeds and remaining plant products, are not just tossed aside, as the factory strives to use every part of the plant. The seeds are made into cakes and sold as cow feed and the rest of the plant is pressed to produce vegetable oil.

The dye process can be one of the greatest sources of pollution in the fashion industry. Through recirculating the water used in the dye process, Teemill is able to recover 95% of the water to a drinkable level. They then continue using this water cycle repeatedly, in a closed loop system. All of us at Hipster at Home tend towards darker colours and that means dyes play a big part in our favourite designs. Being able to offer these options while knowing that we are not contributing to the increased pollution of the world’s water was extremely important to us. Also, the use of a closed loop system to reuse water got us all levels of excited (in the most hipster way of course). 

We run the Hipster House on all renewable energy, a change we were eager to make as soon as the opportunity presented itself. So of course we wanted to find a producer that felt the same. All of the steps, apart from printing, which we will get to later, take place in the same factory in India. By doing so, Teemill reduces the need to maintain multiple sites both financially and in energy costs. This allows them to invest more in their factory and ensure that they are able to run their factories, both in India and on the Isle of Wight, using entirely renewable energy. They operate their own wind farms and solar arrays, used to power both locations. 

Print On-demand

Each of our designs are printed on-demand, meaning that we do not have to mass produce our designs. As our main focus is producing a fantastic podcast and helpful blog, we did not want to commit to large runs of tee-shirt prints and massive orders of merch that would limit what we can offer and shift all our focus to selling and away from making great content. Our aim with our tees and totes is really just to provide something fun for our audience to show their support and not contribute further to the massive amounts of unused and unworn stock that result from fast fashion and mass production. 

We all agreed that it was important to us to find a company that actively works to reduce the amount of wasted or unused garments while helping to support small designers and brands. We hope that this on-demand system with allow us more creative freedom, as we expand our design offerings in the future and adjusting to what you, as our audience, want more or less of. 

Zero Plastic

Don’t get us wrong, we love plastic. It has saved countless lives and improved the quality of life for millions of people. It certainly has its place. However, that place is not in our landfills and oceans, and it is also not in our garments or packaging. Using blended fibres blocks the ability to recover fibres at the end of a garment’s life, and so there are no plastics to be found in our all organic cotton fabrics. Less plastic in the fabric, means less plastic waste making its way into our landfills and oceans, and that is something we can all get behind.

Of course when it comes to avoiding unnecessary plastics, the best place to tackle change is in packaging. We were eager to find a way to ship our merch to you without contributing to the plastic waste problem. As we are starting small, Teemill will be handling the shipping of all of the orders made through our Hipster at Home shop, and doing so using in sustainable, eco-friendly packaging. This even includes the tape, and we have become very keen on eco-friendly tape in the Hipster House. Do not worry, although the packing is made of paper, it is still rip and splash proof. Also, if you see a Teemill label arrive at your door, know that that is your fantastic new Hipster at Home merch! (Have we mentioned we have merch and how excited we are about it?)

Circular Fashion

This brings us to possibly the greatest reason that we at Hipster at Home were drawn to Teemill for our Hipster merch. The biggest issue facing the fashion industry is what to do with clothing that has reached the end of its life. Whether it is worn out, outgrown, or no longer has a place for whatever reason, millions of tons of clothing and textile waste make its way into landfills every year. The need to replace or buy new clothing is something that we cannot avoid, as we will always need to be clothed, but imagine the impact it would have if we could reduce the amount of textiles that make their way into landfills. If you have not read our reasons for why you should upcycle your old clothing, you definitely should check it out. 

The use of all natural materials, and lack of plastic in the fabric, means that the products we can offer on our merch site can be sent back to Teemill at the end of their usable lifetime. What happens to these returned garments, you ask? They recycle returned garments and manufacture new items from the recovered fibres. This process recovers 95% of the organic cotton, which can then be reused again and again. This is different from your standard recycling process, as the process does not downgrade or down-cycle the materials. The recovery process allows the materials to be reused at the same level as the virgin material, avoiding the need to add to the ever growing textile and clothing waste crisis. This will also open up more opportunities for small creators like us to offer more products made from recycled fabrics in the future.

Offering merch has been a goal that we at Hipster at Home are thrilled to have achieved, but the journey is only just beginning. This promises to be the start of something great and we cannot wait to share more of our brand and ourselves. That we can do so in a sustainable and eco-friendly way is the icing on the cake. So stay tuned and feel free to give feedback on what you want to see next. Let the adventure begin!

Want more eco-friendly tips? Learn how to upcycle old furniture to breathe new life into your well loved wardrobe favourites.