Interview with Alexandra Gnoske of Recycle Me Organic Tees

by: Dennis Salazar

3 Dec

Alix and Jack model Recycle Me organic t shirts. <strong>Get 20% off</strong> Details at end of interview.

Alix and Jack model Recycle Me organic tee shirts. Get 20% off! Details at end of interview.

A lady who has gained the attention of the green community with cool products and her enthusiastic marketing style is “Alix” Gnoske, maker of Recycle Me ™ tee shirts. We have gotten to know and appreciate Alix and are eager to share her with our readers.

DS: Alix, please begin by giving us a little back ground on you and your company. What first got you interested in going down this relatively narrow green path?

AG: Dennis, thank you for this opportunity to let your readers know about Recycle Me and learn about the quality of their clothing.

The environment, conservation, and wildlife are things I’ve been interested in since I was a child. I have a B.S. in Wildlife Biology and a J.D. in Environmental Law. In 2007 I first learned about how heavily sprayed cotton was. I looked for organic cotton clothing for my three children, but had a hard time finding anything. In 2008, I had the opportunity, through the support of my business partners, to start Recycle Me, an organic cotton clothing company, so I took it. I found it a simple way, through clothing, to make a huge difference for the environment and human health and safety.

DS: You are very concerned about the widespread use of chemicals within the textile industry and specifically on cotton. Please share with our readers some of the statistics that you have gathered on this serious problem.

AG: Cotton, corn and soy are the most heavily sprayed crops in the world, and now, commonly genetically engineered. Twenty-five percent of the world’s insecticides are sprayed on cotton. It takes about 1/3 lb. of chemicals to grow enough cotton to produce a t-shirt. The World Health Organization estimates that 20,000 cotton workers die annually due to exposure. Now, only 1% of cotton is grown organically (the U.S. only produces 2% of that). Here is where consumers can have a huge impact. We have a lot of room for growth, to change that 1% into 2%, and then 5% and so on.

I am also concerned about the chemicals, including heavy metals and plastics, that go into the dyes and inks on our clothing. That’s why we use only water based dyes and inks. I feel it is the safest and best quality way to decorate our clothing. There are three places to be concerned about these chemicals (as well as with conventional cotton): there’s the worker who is exposed to them, nature (where the chemicals leak into the water supply, air, and land endangering wildlife and humans) and finally the consumer, who puts these products directly on their skin.

DS: Please tell us what makes organic cotton, organic and how do we know the strict organic requirements have been met?

AG: That’s a good question. There currently is no legal requirement necessary to claim your clothing is organic, as there is in food. However, there is organic certification. For the international community there is the Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) which helps ensure that the textile is organic from growth, through harvest, spinning, and manufacture. Organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and harmful, long-term pesticides. It is not genetically engineered, or fertilized with sewage sludge. For more information you can visit the Organic Trade Association (ota.com) or the Organic Exchange.

DS: Your products are promoted as 100% domestic organic cotton but when we speak to other garment manufacturers we are told that there is insufficient domestic organic cotton to make that possible on a wide scale basis. What do you say to people that understandably question and worry about foreign import “organic cotton” products?

AG: This is a challenge. Very recently one company has bought most of the organic cotton grown in the U.S. and they are manufacturing it in Nicaragua. My supplier is no longer manufacturing U.S. grown organic cotton shirts. I have to decide if I want my organic clothing grown or sewn in the U.S.A. I don’t know if I can give up saying “made in the U.S.A.” but I also don’t know if I want to say my organic cotton has traveled across the ocean. That’s more about the carbon footprint. However, in the long run, I plan to purchase the bails of organic cotton from the organic cotton co-op of farmers in Texas, so I can have it all grown, sewn, printed and dyed in the U.S.A.

DS: Let’s talk about product and capabilities. I love some of your preprinted tee shirts and bought an “Eco Kid” for my granddaughter. Who comes up with your slogans and which are your personal favorites?

AG: Thanks, Dennis. It’s hard to choose my personal favorite because I’ve come up with all of the slogans, accept for eco Vampire, which my partner Kimberly envisioned. I find myself wearing “eco chick” mostly, but I think our most popular tee is “I AM GREEN” which is available in all sizes from onesies up through adult. It has been on television several times, and is the most powerful statement tee we have. I chose the “I AM” over the “BE” GREEN because it is a personal statement of who you are as opposed to telling someone else how to live. And, as you know Dennis, there are many levels of “green.” It is a journey. And I think it is always more powerful to live by example than by suggestion.

DS: Without giving away any secret plans, what do you see as the future for you and your company?

AG: The plan has always been to expand into a full clothing line, of simple, everyday active wear, from head to toe. Making comfortable clothing that people will wear and purchase over and over again helps us with our goals to increase the demand for organic cotton and keep the chemicals out of the environment and off our bodies. We want everyone to wear clothing they can feel good about.

DS: Thank you Alix and I encourage all of our readers to check out your web site. You have been a gracious interviewee and are offering a discount to our Inside Sustainable Packaging readers. Please use promo code: SALAZAR at check out to receive a 20% discount on your order. Note: this discount offer expires 1/31/10.
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