TEES4TREES: Ecosia partners with visual artists to create nature-inspired tees that will fund 20 trees with each purchase.
First T-Shirt Fashion Collection
Ecosia, the search engine that uses its advertising profits to plant trees, is launching its first-ever t-shirt fashion collection in partnership with eight global visual artists inspired by their relationship with nature. For every tee purchased from TeeMill, 20 trees will be planted in biodiversity hotspots and in collaboration with local communities.
Global Collaboration
Eight visual artists were brought on to create a bespoke design for a t-shirt: Marcello Velho from Brighton, UK; Liv Lee from Sydney, Australia; Grace Owen from Louisiana, US; Jordan Kay from Seattle, US; Yeye Weller from Münster, Germany; Gregory Page from Geneva, Switzerland; Clémence Gouy from Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Hola Lou from Merida, Mexico. They were given an open brief to create a design around their relationship to nature and their hopes for the future, bringing in themes such as climate activism, intersectional environmentalism, regeneration and wildlife protection.
Shop at TeeMill
These designs are now available to be printed on tees which are available to buy from £25 from Ecosia’s clothing partner TeeMill. TeeMill creates t-shirts that use 100% Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton in factories that are SA8000 certified – an international certification standard that ensures workplaces develop and maintain socially acceptable practices – and run on renewable energy. TeeMill also uses circular design principles so once an Ecosia Tee is worn out, it can be sent back to Teemill to be recycled into a new product.
Sustainability
Each Ecosia Tee is printed on demand and will fund the planting of 20 trees, so the more tees that are purchased, the more trees will be planted while respecting ethical production guidelines. Ecosia currently supports 60 tree-planting projects in over 30 countries and works with carefully vetted NGOs and tree-planting organisations. Ecosia has planted over 125 million trees to date with a range of projects, including restoring desertified land in the Sahel in Burkina Faso to restore ecosystems and empower communities, and partnering with the Jane Goodall Institute Austria to protect chimpanzee habitats in Uganda.
Hannah Wickes, Chief Marketing Officer at Ecosia, said: “We’re excited to be launching Ecosia’s first-ever fashion collection in partnership with these eight incredible global artists. From deciding which search engine you use, to how to book a holiday, to the clothes you wear, every action in our lives can impact the climate crisis and contribute to the health or destruction of the planet.”
Clémence Gouy, visual artist and Ecosia Tees designer, said: “Art and visual storytelling are a powerful tool in activism, and I try to use my art as much as I can to support causes and values that are important to me. I hope it will resonate with people and help ensure more trees are planted and more sustainable projects are developed across the world.”
Mart Drake-Knight, Co-founder at Teemill, said: “We make our products from organic materials using renewable energy and every product we produce is designed to be sent back and remade when worn out. Our values deeply align with Ecosia’s as the search engine that uses its advertising profits to plant trees across the world.”
