COMPOST PRINTING

A truly circular T-shirt.









Nowadays, textile production and printing can be truly ecological and friendly towards people and the environment. But is it possible to print on the T-shirt so naturally that it can return its residual value to the Earth once we no longer wear it?

That's what we found out in our MERCHYOU experiment!



What did we need for the experiment?



Biodegradable textile

  • The organic undyed cotton T-shirt from Stanley/Stella.
  • The GOTS certificate guarantees textile production in accordance with the highest environmental and ethical standards.
  • Very gentle processing and a naturally creamy shade.
  • Small traces of a cotton-plant and its seeds in the texture - a characteristic of natural textile - there is a loss of print in this spot after washing, it is advisable to take this into account when creating a design. We are happy to assit you during the creating process.
  • Filter the Stanley/Stella brand and the Natural Raw colour in our catalogue. Only textile in Natural Raw colour is compostable (after removing the label).

Biodegradable textile

Compostable inks

  • Eco-friendly water-based pigment inks.
  • The first compostable pigments in compliance with the Cradle to Cradle® Platinum standard.
  • Naturally decomposable, nourishing the for its further use.

Cradle  to  Cradle® is a systemic approach to product design, the goal of which is to create products that are healthy and safe for humans and the environment in all phases – in production, during use, and after use.

 

Compostable packaging

  • A prototype of unique compostable packaging from Nonoilen was created for us in Slovakia.
  • More than a decade of development under the leadership of Professor Alexy has brought a special biodegradable eco-plastic - the first in the world made solely from organic sources.
  • Nonoilen packaging bags are 100% compostable and decompose very well in all biologically active systems without leaving any environmental footprint.

The Nonoilen packaging bags are currently getting certified to go into production for MERCHYOU.

 

The GROW CUBE seedbed

  • GROW CUBE™ are modern raised seedbeds designed for organic vegetable growing.
  • Thanks to the implementation of permaculture principles and polyculture planting, they produce a lot of organic vegetables.
  • An ideal place to verify the benefits of a compostable printed T-shirt for the soil.

 


The experiment results


We buried our printed T-shirt together with the packaging in the GROW CUBE seedbed for 90 days.
The T-shirt decomposed in the seedbed and nourished the soil,
the raw materials used for its production thus circulate and do not form waste.
A biodegradable T-shirt does not mean that it will decompose in your closet... 🙂
But when you no longer wear it, you can safely throw it in the compost! 😉





The production of printed textile and the packaging do not have to burden nature and our health - quite the contrary. Instead of becoming waste, textile can once again become a source of nutrients and return to nature what we took from it during production. The technological development allows us to take full advantage of the value of clothing and at the same time protect our health and the environment.

At MERCHYOU, we use 100% biodegradable tag fasteners on every order containing tags. Even such small detail helps reduce the amount of single-use plastic that could otherwise end up in the environment. Our alternative fastener biodegrades in the soil in less than a year, leaving behind no harmful substances or microplastics. MERCHYOU compostable textile printing is a unique contribution to the creation of a real circular T-shirt. We introduce clothing that can be easily composted after no longer being worn, to make it a natural resource again and thus complete a sustainable cycle with minimal waste generation in accordance with the principles of circular economy.



Our future depends on the ability to look for more responsible solutions and close sustainable product cycles - this is the only way we have a chance to live a quality and healthy life.
Join us for this change by choosing compostable printing and be among the first to try it!


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