AngelaLets explore how to offer Organic Eco Friendly Print On Demand shirts and other products in your eCommerce stores.
Print in Demand is fundamentally better for the environment than traditional retail. That's because items are only made as they are sold, thus reducing waste.
The fashion industry is notorious for wastage, especially premium brand products. Also combine with that no retail stores and items shipped direct from manufactures to customers. This means a lower carbon foot print per item.
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Print on Demand Environmental Benefits
- Printed to order
- Zero waste
- No stores
- Organic options
- Carbon neutral suppliers
- Direct from manufacturer to customer
- Less miles travelled
So the point that i am trying to make is that regardless of what product you are selling. The print on demand model itself is efficient and low waste compared to traditional retail.
However on top of that, they also provide specific eco and organic products. Lets explore some of the main POD providers green merchandise & apparel options below.
Organic Eco Friendly Print On Demand Suppliers
There are a number of print on demand suppliers that offer Eco/organic options for your stores. However we are only going to be considering print on demand providers that fully integrate with the main eCommerce platforms. Such as Shopify, Etsy and Amazon.
If you would like to recommend a smaller provider that offers eco friendly print on demand, then please add them to the comments below. Any good ones I will update them into the post.
I have done a short video to accomany this blog post, you can watch it below:
Bella + Canvas Clothing Manufacturer
Bella + Canvas are a wholesale clothing manufacture, not a print on demand supplier. However I though it was worth highlighting their green credentials because many print on demand printers use their clothing.
Popular POD companies like Printful & Pritify both stock clothing from Bella + Canvas. Below are some of their eco credentials:
Water Reduction
- Newer more efficient dye machines
- 7x less water than the average for clothing manufacturers
- Water goes through a filtration system that allows it to be recycled
Energy Reduction
- Solar energy to power sewing and cutting facilities
- Motion-sensor LED lighting and skylights throughout each building
Virtually Zero Waste
- Produce almost no landfill by recycling
- Optimized cutting to reduce plastic use
- excess fabric is recycled into a number of things like baby bibs or stuffing for upholstery
Learn more about the green efforts of Bella + Canvas in their video below.
Printful Eco/Organic Options
Printful are one of the biggest and most popular print on demand providers. This is down to their large number of platform integrations, reputation for quality and international fulfilment capabilities.
You will be pleased to know that they also have some green credentials. Plus they also a have a collection of eco-friendly apparel that can be added to your stores.
Printfuls Green Credentials
- Long Term Partner of Bella + Canvas
- Kornit printers produce almost zero wastewater and use less energy
- Biodegradable vegan NeoPigment inks
- Inks are water-based, toxin-free and non-hazardous
- Recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, and batteries
- Energy-efficient LED lights in offices and fulfillment centers
- Direct-to-garment (DTG) printing is more sustainable than Screen Printing which uses a lot of water and plastisol inks that don’t biodegrade
Printfuls Custom Eco-Friendly Products
They have a specific eco-friendly product collection in their catalogue. It looks like they have included Bella + Canvas products due to their green credentials noted above.
- Unisex Premium T-Shirt | Bella + Canvas 3001
- Unisex Premium Tank Top | Bella + Canvas 3480
- Eco Tote Bag
- Unisex Tri-Blend T-Shirt | Bella + Canvas 3413
- Women's Embroidered Flowy Crop Tee | Bella + Canvas 8882
- Unisex Organic Cotton T-Shirt
- Unisex Eco Tee | Next Level 4600
- Large Eco Tote
- Unisex Organic T-Shirt
New Biodegradable iPhone Case
They have recently released a brand new environmentally friendly phone case, ideal for anyone looking to avoid plastics that never decompose. It decomposes in 1 year in a warm, moist, and microorganism friendly environment.
Print On Demand Biodegradable iPhone Case
The material is made of soil (30%), onions (7.5%), carrots (7.5%), pepper (7.5%), sawdust (1.5%), rice (18%), soybeans (18%), wheat (10%).
Click here to head over to Printful and check out their eco friendly print on demand collection.
Printify Eco/Organic Options
Printify is another very popular print on demand provider which integrates with all the big marketplaces and platforms. Unlike Printful's in house fulfilment, Printfiy use a large global network of printers to fulfil your customer orders.
Printify Green Credentials
Given that they use 90+ Print Providers Worldwide it is near impossible to say what their green credentials are in general. That's because it will vary between countries and print partners.
However they do have some 100% organic options with green production practices. With each item in their catalogue you can drill down to each specific print partner. More below.
Printify Eco Friendly Products
Printify has a collection of eco friendly products in their catalogue, as detailed below.
- Stainless Steel Travel Mug By SPOKE Custom Products (USA)
- Stainless Steel Water Bottle By MyLocker (USA)
- Organic Women's Lover T-shirt By Stanley Stella (Germany)
- Organic Creator T-shirt - Unisex By Stanley Stella (Germany)
- Men’s Presenter V-neck 100% Organic cotton By Stanley Stella (Germany)
- Unisex Rise Sweatshirt 85% organic cotton, 15% recycled polyester By Stanley Stella (Germany)
Click here to head over to Printify and check out their eco friendly print on demand collection.
Gooten Eco/Organic Options
Gooten integrate with a few of the big eCommerce platforms like Shopify, Etsy and WooCommerce. This makes them useful as a print on demand partner for your stores. But are they Green?
Gooten Green Credentials
No doubt Gooten benefit from many of the green credentials POD providers have. However I could not find any mention on their site of any specific eco credentials they may have.
Gooten Eco Friendly Products
As well as stocking a number of the Bella+Canvas clothing items. They also have one organic option.
- Alternative Apparel 9575 Unisex Eco-Fleece Crew Neck Sweatshirt
Eco Print On Demand Summary
Going green is great for the planet and the environment. You should make sure that your customers are aware of the eco credentials of ordering from print on demand stores.
However you could also specifically target just environmentally conscious consumers. For example you could open a Shopify store with only sells organic and eco friendly shirts and other merchandise. Same on Etsy.
If you want to learn more about how print on demand works, check out my other blog posts. I have also created a free print on demand eBook for beginners, download it below.
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