Reusing T-shirts are awesome, but not every single T-shirt is going to be a winner. Now for everything else, there’s Reteez.

The concept is simple and effect: Rejigger old T-shirts into everything from baby bibs to lunch bags to dog leashes. And much, much more. Here’s the straight story that explains why it’s so important to re-use what we have:

In today’s age of disposable clothing, the T Shirt reigns supreme. You know what we mean… look in your closet and you’ll see our love affair with this indispensable fashion item.

Whether you purchase the latest designer label or receive a shirt as a promotional give-away, they are a staple of our lives…cheap, cheerful and “fast food fashion”.

The problem is that when we tire of that cute little number, it has a good chance of rotting away in landfill sites. In fact, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 11.8 million tons of textiles were generated in 2006, or 5 percent of total municipal solid waste.

Most T shirts are made with cotton - or a cotton / synthetic blend. As a material, cotton accounts for only 2.5% of all agricultural land use, but for 22.5% of all insecticides and herbicides applied in agriculture.

As the cotton is processed, a large amount and variety of chemicals are used to bleach and dye the fabric and a fair amount of water is used - ironically in areas of the world where water is not in plentiful supply.

So when you throw away that little T shirt, it can rot away in landfills, seeping chemical dyes and bleaches in to the ground and local water supply. And we won’t even get into the polyester shirts that are petroleum based! Ugh!

What to know more? You should. Click here and check out Reteez!

Thanks to Amanda for donating this shirt and Pegs for modeling it. And now, here’s what’s concerning dyslexic evangelicals.

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Back of shirt

Size XL
$7 + $3 shipping

This shirt was donated by my friend Brian. And if I saw dick, I’d probably run too. Now I want to give another shout-out to the supremely awesome Establishment Salon. They were recently named BEST LOCAL SALON (!) by the Shepherd Express, an honor well-deserved. Not only that, but they’re going to recycle their hair clippings to clean up oil spills. They should totally start Haircycle.org.

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

This shirt from Chicago-based Novemstudios was donated by my friend Dwellephant. Check out their classic Chicago shirts here. I especially like their Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson designs. And now here’s a really, really good November song from Bon Iver.

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Size Large
$7 + $3 shipping

Here’s yet another shirt from my friend Graham, who just joined the rest of the civilized world and is now on Facebook. Do not be mislead into thinking this is a long sleeve shirt. It’s getting chilly in Wisconsin so I wore a long sleeve shirt underneath and ate soup. The shirt is a Starter T-shirt of Ki-Jana Carter, the poster boy along with Tony Mandarich for draft pick busts. And now here is a link to some seriously creepy ski masks (you’ll have to scroll down a bit.)

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Someone asked if Sadie (the beagle) was pregnant. She is not. For the record, she is incapable of bearing children. Or puppies, for that matter. She’s just on anti-seizure medication that’s causing her to gain weight. So that’s why she looks a little chunkier than normal. She’s not with puppy.

As for this shirt, I got it from an actual grave digger. He works in the cemetery where the real-life Exorcist is buried. I couldn’t make this stuff up. You can read about it here.

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Size Youth Small (Fits like a men’s small)
$7 + $3 shipping

I took this photo in early November, and already the Holiday Shopping Tree was up at Bayshore Mall. Quick! Everyone buy crap that no one really wants and will probably get thrown away two days after Christmas! Or, here’s a better idea, grow a mustache for better prostate health. Yes, you can actually do that. November, aka Movember, is official grow-a-mustache-for-prostate-health-awareness month. Learn more here.

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Remember, remember always...

Today’s photo extras are brought to you by the mighty mighty Cafe Hollander. My friend Graham donated the shirt from an immigrant advocacy center in El Paso and then joined us for brunch. I hope that will please the immigrants. I highly recommend the Napoleon Dynamite Pancakes, the Breakfast Burger and the Guinness Waffle. Mmmmm. Deliciousness incarnte. $1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Size XL
$7 + $3 shipping

Thanks to Amanda for donating this Yellow Rat Bastard T-shirt. And now, a link to a huge corpulent dead Salmon.

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Here at Teecycle, we’re big supporters of ALL things recycling. Especially T-shirt recycling. And especially Iron Maiden T-shirt recycling.

Enter Defunkd.com, a vintage T-shirt blog and store that, among other lofty goals, makes it a deeply person mission to “document the endless array of brilliant vintage Iron Maiden tees.” Hey, someone had to do it.

Although some would argue that this alone would be enough to consume a lifetime, Defunkd’s Jimmy J also sells super vintage authentic tees on eBay. Check out his store for you-can’t-fake-this shirts like Huey Lewis and the News 1986 tour, an Alabama 1987 shirt, or (my personal favorite) the Chuck Norris Silent Rage 1982 shirt.

Here’s the mission statement straight from their Facebook page:

We vow to never mislead our alumni with modern-day forgeries. Only after undergoing a rigourous inspection will an item appear amongst our inventory. If you are in the mood to drool, check out our ever expanding vintage t-shirt gallery. It’s a collection of 300+ of the rarest tees we’ve ever had our paws on.

Needless to say, the Teecycle.org philosopy to reduce, reuse and teecycle is in full-effect. So what are you waiting for? Get to Defunkd and tell ‘em Teecycle Tim sent you!