Step One in Getting the Rosemary from the Garden to the Shirts

So my older daughter and I are spending lots of time talking about her batik t-shirt business. We 've agreed that I will give her a micro-loan, like Grameen Bank, for $100 with a two-bucks-plus-slight-interest-a-week 50-week repayment contract. Although she has already turned out some beautiful designs, she wants to source her materials more responsibly--organic t-shirts (or perhaps t-shirts repurposed from Good Will) and non-toxic paints are materials about which she feels very strongly. Plus, she wants to give a portion of proceeds to charity and is researching which would be the best fit (so to speak!).

The non-toxic paints are a particular challenge. We believe that, ideally, it would be great to make our own dyes from materials in our garden. However, we've never done this and trying to find the all-important "fixing agent" alum has been difficult. So we took the bus to Michael's craft store to see if perhaps we could find a suitable dye. Even though the dyes in the store say they are non-toxic, there's just not enough information on them and they seem suspicious to us.

BUT, as I wandered through this vast store looking for anything, anything, that was "eco," I fell upon this oasis in the desert--a display by the company Loew Cornell of its art supplies for the "Earth Friendly Artist." Featuring paints free of VOCs and solvents, recycled and recyclable materials like wood, resin and paper, organic fabric, non-animal hair brushes, and less packaging, Green Art takes the leadership position right now in this category. It even has a website with eco-art tips such as reusing canvases, painting items found at thrift stores and other things like stones and recycled-wood bird houses, and donating art supplies you no longer want.

The Green Art packaging is particularly attractive. In fact, we found ourselves discussing how nice the t-shirts would look tied with a piece of twine, like the Green Art package handles, and a sprig of rosemary. Now, if we could just get the rosemary from the garden to the shirts . . .

(Since rosemary is the herb of remembrance, I would like to offer a quiet moment of remembrance to the victims of September 11, 2001.)