To keep our Fauna Extreme critters happy and protected, we wanted to use a super nontoxic form of screen-printing.  But geez!  This was complicated and eye opening.  There are many screen-printing options out there, but few of them are perfect:  traditional plastisol, phthalate-free plastisol, PVC and phthalate-free (but still) plastisol, water-based ink that still contains the solvent white spirit, and  discharge ink that comes with formaldehyde.  Plus, we had to factor in that some inks print better and easier than others, especially on darker colored shirts.  So which way should we go?  Well, we know our animal athletes deserve the best, so we spared no expense and went with a very high-quality, water-based ink called Permaset Aqua.  So: no PVC, no phthalates, no plastisol, no solvents…no toxic chemicals at all.

An all-around awesome ink!

Our shirts are:

70% viscose from organically grown bamboo

20% organically grown cotton

& 10% spandex.

We decided to accommodate our animal athletes with an athletic plant, and bamboo is the fastest growing grass in the world.  Flora extreme!  Bamboo can grow two inches an hour without the help of pesticides, fertilizers or irrigation.  She’s also the strongest woody plant, with a flexible strength that’s superior to mild steel.  A bamboo crop creates up to 35% more oxygen than a field of trees and has a hearty appetite for carbon dioxide—making this powerhouse plant an urgent factor in the fight against global warming.  And she creates a silky soft fabric that feels so good to wear!

As a fabric, bamboo is not fully eco-friendly.  She undergoes a chemical process with caustic soda.

This common textile chemical is used worldwide, including the processing of hemp and organic cotton, and is approved by the Global Organic Textile Standard.  Our bamboo manufacturer in China has put forth the highest level of standards for itself--with crops certified organic, processing procedures where all chemicals are trapped, contained and recycled, and then also creating a safe and sweatshop-free environment for its employees.  Processing bamboo into viscose isn’t perfectly green, no, but when looking at the whole life cycle of the fabric—from an organic crop that gobbles up CO2 and requires zero irrigation (saving huge amounts of precious water)--to a gorgeous garment that you’ll keep forever—bamboo viscose is leaps and bounds better than environmentally harsh conventional cotton and synthetics like polyester.  For sure, creating bamboo viscose needs some improvement, but there’s no doubt bamboo is a tremendous eco-friendly resource, and the fabric deserves her strut on the eco catwalk.

Click here to learn more about our responsible and ethical manufacturer, and go to the Environmental Bamboo Foundation at www.bamboocentral.org to learn more about the bountiful benefits of bamboo.

Every Fauna Extreme shirt has been dyed with fiber-reactive Procion dyes, which are considered to be an eco-friendly form of dyeing.  Please note there may be color variations from shirt to shirt, making each one a unique “habitat” for your animal athletes.

And there you go!  A top that’s stylish & cute, feels great, and tries hard to be nice to the planet.