Kermit the Frog’s song says it all . . .

“Green’s the color of spring

And green can be cool and friendly-like

And green can be big like a mountain, 

or important

Like a river, or tall like a tree.”

. . . or at least a lot of it. “Green” has come to mean more than a hue or a lack of experience. It has become synonymous with a movement (or not), that sometimes sets teeth on edge, tempers on simmer but, most of all, that inspires discussion and consideration. And that part of “green” is cool.

Debates over global warming notwithstanding, it has always been—and always will be—a perfectly correct thing to safeguard our environment. I would no sooner toss trash out a car window than I would fling mud at my first-born child. Some things are just sacred, and our Mother Earth is one of them.

To that end, with politics aside and respect for the wonders of our world and our healthy participation in it, let’s look at some ways––both industry specific, and lifestyle general––we embroiderers can “hug a few trees.”

Advertise and sell “green” goods

Showcase shirts and other goods and garments made from recycled cottonⁱ, bamboo and hemp products in your shop and let your customers know what your repertoire is, “green”-wise. The organic cotton grown worldwide is increasing yearly, growing by 95 percent last year alone. 

New labels that teach consumers about the carbon footprint of a piece of clothing are making an appearance and go the extra mile in educating how we can change our laundry routines to make garments even more environmentally friendly. According to reports, as much as half the total carbon footprint of a garment is centered in the home-laundering process. Tumble drying, for example, releases twice the emissions as washing in an automatic machine. Stay in touch with Printwear for the latest in natural wearables and non-wearables.

Research your thread choice

Look for OEKO-TEK certification on threads and consider using the brands that strive to be green. Cutⁱ up your larger thread scraps into smaller pieces for use by birds. That’s right, birds. Make them small enough so their feet don’t get tangled, and your reward will be rainbow-colored nests in your neighborhood.

Check with your local florist for netting that is often used to protect flowers. They throw it out but we can use it to hold our thread on its spools.

A combination of backing and thread scraps can provide you with a unique wearable item. Strands of thread captured between layers of a melt-away backing can form a wearable vest or interesting appliqué foundation. Those same scraps can be used for stuffing in art and quilt projects. I recently purchased a lamp with a clear base that can be filled with anything. Filled with colorful thread scraps it makes a perfect addition to my home office.

Earth-friendly backing?

Consider purchasing your backing in rolls and cutting those rolls with a saw to the widths you need. Save the scraps from larger jobs for smaller ones and, when the scraps are too small for embroidery, use them for packing material. Some folks use the cardboard packaging that keeps caps from collapsing in shipment as backing when stitching those same caps. (Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it!)

Use environmentally friendly stabilizer when you can, and make sure you post signs letting your customers know you are doing your part. Anna Johnson of Super Embroidery in Phoenix touts her company’s use of green backings at her website: Super Embroidery is now using more “green” materials! The company uses backings that meet the most stringent international requirements regarding formaldehyde. The products, available to our industry, are also free of alkylphenol ethoxylate, and a high percentage of recycled fibers is used.

Recycle your mistakes 

If you make a mistake on a shirt and can salvage it, stitch over the “oops” area with a different logo or even a US-flag patch. If the shirt is beyond repair, use it to sample and verify future designs, which you should do, whenever possible, on the same fabric as the final shirts.

Re-use plastic containers

Use the containers to store buttons, bobbins, needles and more. Film canisters and other small containers are great for storing used needles and allows for safe disposal when the container is full. Cut a small piece from a flat container, punch a hole in the corner and hang it within reach to clean under the leaf adjustment spring on your bobbin case. Make sure it is thin and flat.

Recycling bobbins

If you like the magnetic bobbins, be aware that the cores can be recycled for credit on your next order. Check with your supplier for how to use any recycling program it has in place. Plastic bobbins can be used by creative, crafty people. Donate them to your local elementary school. For a quick and easy level check, place one of your bobbins, empty or full, on top of your machine while it is running. If it shakes, rattles and rolls off the machine, get out that carpenter’s level, find and fix the problem.

Cores and spools

Cores from stabilizers can be cut and made into stand-up holders, or donate them to the local schools for art and craft projects. (I have seen empty spools made into puppets.) Don’t forget to take your embroidery business card with you when you visit a school to donate your recyclable materials. It’s a marketing opportunity.

A local L.A. non-profit has created a program that educates and reduces waste at the same time. Trash for Teaching accepts donations of fabrics, spools, buttons and more from local industries and creates “castaway kits” to which children add their imagination, recycling these cast-off materials that would otherwise become trash.

Opportunities to use such materials abound in the school art program which includes both teacher workshops and classroom projects. This is a unique solution that addresses both the waste in manufacturing and the lack of art supplies in many school districts. Use of these unusual goods encourages imagination, challenging teacher and student alike to use atypical materials in pursuit of the creative.

Check and see if there is a version of “Trash for Teaching” in your area so you can donate your recyclable art supplies. If you don’t find one, consider starting one!

Old door screens?

If you are replacing the screening on doors or windows? If the old screening is a synthetic mesh (rather than metal), you can embroider fun designs on it—likewise any material left over from the new installation—and turn it into airable, drainable tote bags. While you’re at it, why not embroider on your new screens before installation, and give yourself a door that’s the talk of the neighborhood . . . and your customers? Welcome to “your business name” would work well on the screen door. And I wonder: Would this circumvent the sign ordinance if you are a home business? Your customers might order an embroidered screen door of their own. (But don’t try stitching on the old metal screening. It will break your needles!)

Good reuse for partly used paper 

Cut paper from the printer into smaller portions and use it for note pads and job tags. Put a pile by your door (with a pen) when you have to leave so notes can be left by those who stop by. Maybe you can print coupons or prizes for your customers on appropriately-sized pieces.

A paper punch in the shape of a tag, available from the local craft store, would make quick work of creating price tags for the garments in your showroom or when you participate in a local bazaar. I use one and go a step further: I save the reusable Christmas and birthday wrapping paper and make season-specific content tags, care tags and price tags.

And, speaking of wrapping gifts, bags made from scrap fabric (even “ruined” shirts) can be embellished with rhinestones, embroidery and more for great gift bags that can be used again, year after year.

Go entirely paperless

I recently bought a new HP desktop printer. The company sent me a message saying it is are committed to helping customers reduce their environmental footprint. To that end, HP provides Eco-Tips “to help you assess and reduce the impact of your printing choices.” It also has an “Eco-Solution” website that addresses its efforts to be earth-friendly, and guides you on a similar course.

One of the reasons I chose my printer was because it automatically prints two-sided documents, something that will facilitate my writing as well as save paper. Keeping our offices as “paperless” as possible will save some trees and help us do our part in reducing waste.

Shop the thrift shop for test samples

Old clothing made from all fabrics as well as leather jackets and purses can be purchased for a song and used to test your designs. Always test on the same fabric for which your design is destined. Far better to learn a “leather lesson” on a $1 thrift-shop find than incur the wrath of a biker when things don’t go well! Practice using a nice sharp needle and lower density in your designs and you’ll soon have those bikers dancing a jig in the vests you embroider for them.

Vintage fabrics and linens

Old linens are treasured by collectors. They can be made into children’s clothing (there’s a pattern available at your local fabric store). Framed linens with quotes added by your embroidery machine make wonderful and meaningful gifts. Perceived value is the key here: Take a two-dollar linen napkin, add an embroidered quote that communicates a lot, throw in a frame and some mat board and you’ve got a gift that can be marked up ten-fold and still be seen as a bargain. Linens that are the worse for wear (called “cutters”) can be used to make patches and embellishments. Imagine a feminine patch fashioned with a piece of linen and lace between the patch body and the embroidered lettering. A sure hit!

Earth-friendly products 

Many building supplies are created from recycled and waste materials. There is pressure-treated wood now that contains no arsenic or chromium. Bamboo is sustainable and is perfect for floors. Some Berber carpets are made from recycled plastic soda bottles. Many cabinets are being made from plywood instead of particle board. There is a group called the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) that operates as a not-for-profit organization. The membership represents global interests that are involved with environmental, business, and social concerns. Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), one of the primary certifying organizations for FSC, evaluates and certifies when plywood meets all the necessary requirements to be considered environmentally friendly. They are also concerned with the appropriate conservation of the forest’s economic resources. Currently FSC is the recognized standard for sustainable forestry by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council—www.USGBC.org).

Shed “green” light on your workspace

The traditional light bulb is called incandescent and hasn’t changed much since its first appearance. Although invented over 100 years ago, these bulbs are commonly used today in spite of gross inefficiency, converting only about five percent of the energy that runs through them into light. 

An alternative to the obsolete incandescent light bulb is the “energy savings” light bulb—compact fluorescent lights (CFL). These bulbs are just as reliable as incandescent bulbs but are longer lasting and use less energy. If they are qualified as Energy Star bulbs, they use up to 75 percent less energy than standard bulbs and last up to ten times longer. This not only helps the bottom line but also Mother Earth.

Consider, too, natural light sources like the Ott light which not only encourage savings but also provide light that is the most accurate for color viewing and selections. While you are working on creating a greener workspace, consider shortening your work week so those commuting and polluting cars can take a day off. The shorter the workweek, the smaller the footprint.

Recycle ink cartridges

Most office-supply stores offer recycling services for ink and toner cartridges. I use the credits I earn and coupons from the paper and from membership to reduce my ink costs. Some printer companies also have recycling programs for their specific cartridges at their websites. Check them out and see what is best and most economical for you.

Energy Star appliances and peripherals

When you are shopping for printers or for refrigerators and other appliances that you use in your work space or employee-service areas, look for the Energy Star label. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S Department of Energy that attempts to help citizens save money as well as protect the environment. They are committed to highlighting efficient products and promoting efficient lifestyles. Their latest report states that “Americans, with the help of Energy Star, saved enough energy in 2008 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 29 million cars, all while saving $19 billion on their utility bills.”

Kermit knows best

Are you catching my drift? I’m not talking about rocket science or brain surgery. The vast majority of the tips listed above—all drops in the bucket, if only assessed individually, but huge taken as a group—are simply results of developing a state of mind that will automatically present you with opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle. It doesn’t have to be political or the basis for dissension or argument. Protecting the environment should be second nature for all of us, taking a page from the original Americans who remind us that we don’t own the Earth—we are just borrowing if from our children. So how about we give it back with “interest”—an interest in protecting and preserving.