The question of identity is something that many of us struggle with from time to time, particularly the balance of being a recognized individual and a part of a larger group—the smaller path of self expression vs. getting lost in a larger force as a cog in the bigger machine. Sustainability encounters a cousin of the same problem, where individual contribution to any environmental problem amounts to such a small piece of a greater solution that the very scale of the task is daunting, if not downright disenchanting. Like any ecosystem, when it comes to the health of the environment every participant must play a role.
In my wanderings at the NYC Green Festival, I met Judy Pezdir, the co-founder of a company called We Add Up that she started with her daughter in 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio. In walking by their display, at first glance I caught a bunch of different colored t-shirts spread out on a table and I almost continued on without a second thought, dismissing the entire thing as one more exhibiter who was trying to sell something. Fortunately, my walking by coincided with Judy explaining their business to another festival patron and my ear managed to catch enough to slow down my gait and backtrack for closer inspection.
The world of graphic t-shirts is nearly boundless. In the age of sites like Red Bubble or Zazzle just about anyone can come up with a design and try to sell it to the online community so differentiating oneself in that field is increasingly difficult—promoting my skepticism. However, We Add Up makes a pretty good run at it.
On the backs of their t-shirts, the company has numerous options that each depict a positive practice aimed at sustainability like “Compost”, “Mass Transit” or “Drink Tap.” Below that, each shirt holds the adage “No One Can Do Everything, Everyone Can Do Something.” Concise. Correct. I approve. With the varying colors and the clever icons, this puts them on par with most other environmental t-shirt operations. The difference comes in the front of the shirt. Similar across every genus, the front side stacks the test We Add Up over a summation line, below which is a number. This number changes with every shirt that is made, rendering each and every shirt unique (it turns out that they collectively just passed 24,300).
The nature of the company title quickly becomes clear, but I liked the ability for the shirts to associate with a particular cause/practice/life mantra while still bearing an ever-growing tally of collective support. The concept seemed even more appropriate for sustainability. After all, when it comes to sustainability there is no single, silver bullet solution within the mix that will combat the large scale of the issues, nor is there a single person capable of compensating for the unsustainable lifestyles of everyone else. The message also helps to debug some people’s misconception that progress necessitates universal acceptance of every plan equally. Each shirt reflects the singular person beneath it but also marks the constantly growing strength in numbers. In a way, the concept was similar to the PRODUCT (RED) campaign (that I am also a big fan of) with a little extra twist. Additionally, the shirts are 100% organic cotton grown in the good old U.S. of A.
So since the shirts that I saw were over 24,000, I had to ask if Judy and her daughter were the proud owners of shirts #1 and #2. As it turns out, shirt number #1 was set aside and is currently gathering celebrity signatures in order to be auctioned off for charity. Shirts #2 and #3 were sent to Al Gore, who reportedly gave his endorsement to their efforts. As a result, Judy and her daughter claimed #4 and #5 for themselves.
My only critique of the operation is that the growing number at the bottom of each shirt is a collective tally across all of the shirt message types, rather than having separate tallies for each individual life practice. I can see the case for the way it is, but I wonder if having different running totals could have created a better image of how these practices are actually sit within society. Could these shirts have functioned as a social litmus test for where support is versus what we had to focus more on?
That being said, I definitely plan on partaking.
Image Credits: guardian.co.uk , weaddup.com