How to Produce Sustainable, Ethical Shirts for a Cause
Inspiration
3
min read

How to Produce Sustainable, Ethical Shirts for a Cause

Wearing your heart on your sleeve has never been so easy (or looked so good).

If you found this article while searching for custom t-shirts for a cause, we applaud you! Helping people design charity shirts is one of our favorite honors over at Real Thread. There’s no better feeling than giving back! 

To ensure you approach this feat with the best resources available, we’re outlining four ways you can efficiently and effectively create awesome shirts that support a cause. 

1. Choose a Garment That Was Made or Sourced Ethically 

We absolutely love to see companies prioritize mother nature when manufacturing or sourcing their products. Brands like Known Supply back their business with a mission based on radical transparency. The company works closely with underserved populations to provide consumers with the opportunity to directly impact those who need clothing more than we do. 

BUT, did you know that Real Thread can also source and print on ANY garment available for wholesale purchase? If you have a company in mind that makes shirts for a cause and has an amazing mission behind them, we’d be beyond happy to bring your vision to life with them as the foundation of our operation. 

2. Print With a Company That Uses Sustainable Processes  

The printing process is just as important as the garments we work on. Find a company that understands the weight and impact of printing tshirts for a cause. This means they curate a list of sustainable brands to offer, print locally, and ensure that their carbon footprint remains top-of-mind. 

At Real Thread, we are a tight-knit group that prints in-house, on-site, which allows us to keep a real-time eye on the things we produce to avoid misprints and creating waste. We care a lot about the world and the products we put into it. 

3. Choose a Design That Encourages Action 

First, determine your goal for the charitable t-shirts you’re designing. Do you want to spread awareness? Encourage people to donate? Drive people to a particular website? Figure out what exactly you’d like to accomplish. 

Then, get creative to design shirts for charity in a way that will turn heads and leave a lasting impression. Maybe the cause shirts have a direct callout to the purpose, like this shirt from ECOALF that says “because there is no planet B.” Or, you can be more subtle with an icon that hints about your mission, like this shirt from the Thirst Project with a water droplet and a QR code. 

A woman wears a shirt that reads "because there is no planet b"
Stylish, and makes a statement—what more could you want?

4. Donate a Portion of the Proceeds to a Good Cause 

The cherry on top of creating t shirts for charity is the ability to spread your message and raise money from every purchase. Donating partial proceeds to your mission is one of the best and easiest ways to raise money. 

Who doesn’t love soft, sustainable t-shirts for charity organizations? Not that anyone would ever admit it, but there’s something so special about adding a shirt to your collection that made a difference

If you’re looking to add t shirts for a cause 2022 to your goals this year, you’ve come to the right place. We can only hope to play a small part in your big mission. 

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