Hee, hee. Guess what I did? I started a Have Fun * Do Good Store on CafePress. I took a sun graphic that my friend, graphic designer extraordinaire, Elizabeth von Büdingen, created for me, asked my hubs to help me make a logo, and voilà, we had a store where you can buy a:• Have Fun * Do Good Organic, Cotton T-shirt
(made by American Apparel)
• Have Fun * Do Good Fair Trade Coffee or Tea Mug
• Have Fun * Do Good Farmer's Market Tote
Unfortunately, the organic cotton T-shirt made by American Apparel is only available in men's sizes and in off-white, so ladies when you order, remember that they run big.
CafePress needs to have more styles and colors available that are sweatshop-free and made of organic cotton. Plus, I would like to know that the mugs and bags weren't made in a sweatshop as well. I called the 1 800 number listed on CafePress, Stop the Sweat, and they recommended I call their marketing department at 650.655.3112 and email cup@cafepress.com. I called the phone number and talked to someone who said that CafePress doesn't have plans to add more American Apparel shirts. We didn't even get into where the other other stuff is made. He suggested I post in the CafePress forums, which I did. I also added my name to a petition to add more verified sweatshop free clothing.
If you are a CafePress shop owner or customer who feels the same way, I encourage you to do the same, and if you know of a socially responsible alternative to CafePress, please let me know!
Update 1.23.07: Here is the response I received from my post on the CafePress forums:
CaféPress.com does not employ nor condone the use of sweatshops. At time we do not follow-up on labor practices of our vendors and only seek to find suitable merchandise that is of quality to use with our services. You may inquire with the manufacturers about their labor practices if you would like additional information regarding this matter. I can confirm that the American Apparel items we carry are sweatshop free, and this includes the Jr. Ringer fitted t-shirt and Jr. Raglan hoodie. Below is a link to our Product Center for details on the products that we currently carry: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/products/index.aspxPhotos are of me and my hubs.
Update 1.27.07: Thanks to Christina Arasmo for letting me know about two alternatives: Goodstorm and Skreened.com
cafepress
sweatshop
cotton
organic
American Apparel
hey britt,
ReplyDeleteI'm daniel, the owner of skreened. i've got a little google alert that tells me when skreened gets blogged about so I thought I'd drop by and say hello!
We actually had a lot of people switch over to us from cafe press because of the sweatshop issue, and we print on American Apparel exclusively partly because their clothes are really good, and definitly because of the sweat shop issue.
I'm glad you found us, and we're launching a redesign soon that is very powerful and should give you a lot of options.
We're also small, and like to listen to what people want, so if you ever need anything special, just let me know, I'll get back to you personally.
ok, sorry for all the business plugs, but I just wanted to say, thanks for blogging, and I'm listening!
-daniel fox
skreened.com
Hi Daniel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by! I definitely want to switch to a different service when I get a chance--I wish I'd done a little research before setting my CafePress Store up! Thanks for providing another option.
Britt
a nuymbe rof the goodstorm items are not sourced. are they sweatsho-free?
ReplyDeletepeace,
ian
Hi Ian,
ReplyDeleteOff the top of my head, I don't know the answer to your question. You'll have to contact Goodstorm directly.
Britt