Images October 2019 Digital Edition

INDUSTRY NEWS www.images-magazine.com 18 images OCTOBER 2019 Putting workers rights at the forefront Ever wondered which garments and accessories your fellow industry professionals prefer? Each issue, one reader tells us why they rate a particular style This month, Mikee Parker, owner of VinoSangre, explains why his favourite T-shirt to decorate comes from a new brand called No Sweat. “It’s a grassroots campaign group that shows that it’s possible to produce ethical T-shirts that put workers rights at the forefront,” says Mikee. “They’re made in a workers co-op in Bangladesh run by former sweatshop workers, and the profits are being used to support trade unions that fight for sweatshop workers rights and a living wage. It runs closely with our outlook and ethics.” VinoSangre specialises in eco-friendly screen printing and Mikee believes that sustainability is becoming increasingly important to decorators and customers. He says: “In the last year or so we’ve noticed a shift in clients looking for a more sustainable and ethical shirt. A lot of bands have started to print on them as, like us, it goes hand-in-hand with their ethics and they are happy to pay a little bit more for that peace of mind.” As an added bonus, Mikee says that these shirts are better quality than many others on the market. He says, “They are a really nice quality. They fit, print and wash really well, and they are brilliant for discharge printing.” www.vinosangre.co.uk Sam Currie (left), and Mikee Parker (right) are ‘print buddies’ at VinoSangre No Sweat supports workers rights Mikee says No Sweat T-shirts are brilliant for discharge printing READERS’ CHOICE Production of all Henbury shirts will be packaged using recycled bags from the beginning of October. Made from 100% recycled plastic, the new bags can be recycled, and are also resealable. Henbury is further encouraging the re-use of the bags by removing all of its branding from the packaging, with the exception of the style code sticker for identification purposes. The company has also removed 77% of its shirts’ inner packaging, leaving only three recyclable components made from recycled materials, which are necessary “to retain the products value during transport and storage”. Henbury said: “There has been a massive push in changing lifestyles to benefit our planet – across businesses and domestic – by reducing waste, recycling where possible and re-using until the end of product life. “We want to make sure we are doing our part to minimise the plastic waste in our environment, as well as help our customers have comfort in knowing our products’ packaging has been made from recycled plastics.” All products from Henbury brands are currently packaged using grade four recyclable bags, but the company said it’s continuing to work closely alongside its manufacturers towards ensuring that all of its brands’ products are packaged using 100% recycled plastic bags in the near future. The company added: “Our brand representative is out on the road speaking to our customers on a daily basis to get a feel for what they have great passion for, and going green is on everyone’s agenda. “All customers are backing our efforts to reduce our waste, as well as theirs, 100%. There has been an inspiring response to the re-use of the bags to ensure a ‘circular economy’, and so discourage the use of single-use packaging.” www.henbury.com Henbury introduces 100% recycled, recyclable packaging