Doing the Right Thing: we're going eco-friendly

I'm happy to announce, after some months of planning, that Viscera is switching to eco-triblends basics. Now you're probably asking, what is an eco-triblend? It's the same great fabric you love on our basic t-shirts and hoodies, but made with environmentally friendly content. To explain why this is a big deal, I first have to do a little bit of a backstory of what makes goes into a triblend; a triblend is basically the perfect t-shirt; it's a mixture of cotton, rayon and polyester so it stays soft, machine washes amazingly and doesn't shrink.

Well then, what is an eco-triblend?

In an eco-triblend, all three of these materials are made with the environment in mind. The polyester is made with post-consumer plastic (yes, your recycled water bottle gets spun into fabric), the cotton is organic (yay no pesticides!) and the rayon is made of eucalyptus.

Here's where I get nice and nerdy on rayon history. Rayon was invented as a cheaper alternative to cotton which takes quite a bit of resources in farming, collection, milling and cleaning. Rayon is made with tree fibers that are broken down and then spun into fabric, which is why it breaths like a natural fiber. Rayon is a semi-synthetic which means it's made of organic materials but broken down using a chemical process. Back in the day, the fibers were broken down with some nasty chemicals which is why rayon got a bad wrap in the 80s. (It probably also wasn't the most favored in the eyes of the cotton farmers.) The new and improved rayon that goes into an eco-triblend is made with Eucalyptus, a quickly renewable tree species (it's actually invasive in California and grows like crazy).

Why are we doing this? 

I believe in doing the right thing. I think Viscera's customers deserve to have quality environmentally friendly American-made basics, and not in a gimmicky way to make more money (our basics will stay the same price). Sure, I could either continue carrying the less-environmentally friendly basics and make a higher profit but that's not why I opened Viscera. If Viscera was just about profit, nothing in the shop would be American-made (because honestly, it's always more expensive to me as a buyer). But, we have to take a stance on the quality of our products. 

So, what's next?

We're moving out our inventory of regular triblends with a killer sale starting May 6. We're doing buy one get one half off, or buy two get one free on all Viscera basics. These might not be our eco-blends, but they're still 100% American-made and they wash and wear amazingly. 

Once we sell through our remaining inventory, we're having a 'testing period' where we are going to bring in different cuts, colors, and styles of the eco-triblends until we get our inventory just right. During our testing period, let us know what you think. You can give me your feedback in-store or drop me a line at ari@viscerastudio.com. Don't miss out! 

What do you think about our move to eco-triblends?