At Stylus Custom Apparel, we’re proud to offer the full gambit of green printing processes and garments. Everything from our lighting system to the adhesive we use on our printing pallets is

eco-friendly

 and is carefully monitored to decrease the negative impacts we may have on our environment. To some, "green" is word tossed around at marketing meetings. To us, green is an everyday reality and company culture. For our clients who share in our passion for the environment or who are interested in knowing more about what "green" truly means, we put together a brief write-up below that we hope you’ll read. Please remember, though, we will never pressure you or your organization to use particular methods or garments based solely our viewpoints!

Even a few minutes of research into the effects of plastic on the environment will turn up lengthy lists of serious hazards and long-term consequences. The plastic water bottles, soda bottles, and merchandise packaging we use and toss out daily is polluting our oceans, filling our trash dumps, and doing permanant damage to our world and our future on Earth. We’ll be the first ones to acknowledge that yes, plastic has countless uses and is a superior building and manufacturing material. But most plastic cannot be easily reused or recycled, especially if we don’t take personal responsibility for the problem. You know that plastic bottle you just threw to the curb, and not in a recycling bin? It will never be melted down into a new bottle.

So what does this have to do with screenprinting? As it turns out, quite a lot.

Plastisol

 ink — the ink most commonly used on printed garments, from t-shirts to hoodies, to sweatpants, to aprons — is polyvinyl chloride ("PVC"), a derivative of plastic, and is a known carcinogen (cancer-causing element). In other words, it’s not the best choice for our

environment

. As the Green Movement becomes a stronger force in society, more people will steer clear of plastic and plastic-derived goods. This will, and already does, include their preference regarding what type of ink is used on all the screenprinted goods they purchase and

wear

.

In addition, plastisol ink is not

drain-safe

. Garment producers must use other hazardous chemicals to break down the plastisol ink from their screens and equipment. Special filters must be installed on factory drains to catch the PVC particles before they contaminate sewer systems. Most professional screenprinters take special care to make sure no PVC enters the drainage system, but unfortunately, many do not.

Waterbased ink is exponentially more eco-friendly than plastisol. After a run of wasterbased prints, screens can be cleaned with pure water, and wasterbase inks are overall safe for drainage systems, since they are no more harmful than mild household-cleaning products. Best of all, waterbased inks are simply not toxic, period, and do not contain lead or any heavy metals — nor do they contain any ozone-depleting chemicals (CFCs, HCFCs, and others) or volatile solvents.

Waterbased inks can be used to print

stickers

,

towels

,

fabric yards

,

canvas

, and

paper

, as well as our most popular apparel items: t-shirts,

sweatshirts

, hoodies,

jeans

,

aprons

,

jackets

,

hats

, and practically any other screenprintable item. Designs can be printed on

cotton

,

polyester

, or

cotton/poly blends

.

We also offer a wide stock of eco-friendly and recycled garments. Some of our favorite eco-conscious brands are listed below.

      

   

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