Hi! My name is Alex Eaves and I created STAY VOCAL. There’s two things that I know a lot about and love: reusing and t-shirts. Fortunately, I found a way to turn my passions into a certified "green" business. But it definitely wasn't overnight. Read my story of how it all came together.
Our brand has come a long way since this short video intro was made for our website in 2005, but the inspiration for positive change will ALWAYS be the same. Please take a moment to appreciate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, because really, where would we be without him?
This Thursday, Janaury 19th, there's going to be lots of STAY VOCAL and reuse talk at Source in San Francisco, as I'm hosting a dinner put on by our new friends at Grubwithus! Check out the interview I did for their site, and if you want to "grub with me," there are only 9 tickets available! Click here to get your seat at the dinner. And be sure to check out the menu. It's ridiculous! - Alex
In November 2010, we held the Almost Anything Goes Art contest and our first place winner was Denise Marks, with her "Four Birds" design. Due to some plan changes, our summer vacation and some more plan changes, the release of the T-Shirt featuring Denise's design kept getting pushed back. Well, it's available now and it was obviously worth the wait!
Click here to Pre-Order your "Four Birds" T-Shirt now and read more about Denise Marks and her art.
Last year, I wrote a really in depth piece in December entitled, "The Greatest Holiday Blog Post You Will Read..." Well, as the name suggests, it's very much worth sharing again. And you know, I do like to reuse any time I can. Ha Ha.
There are some changes to the blog, since shirts sold out and a couple of websites I linked to don't work any more. I also included some fun video updates to the ones I had last year. Alright, enough with the intro. Here is the greatest holiday blog post you will read... again.
Now you might be thinking, isn't this is a little late? Shouldn't STAY VOCAL have already announced their "Countdown to Christmas Sale" by now? Well, being the creator of a unique apparel brand, I had to create a unique holiday post too.
In recent years, I've started paying more attention to how much new "stuff" is made just for the holiday season, which is one of the many reasons that I'm proud to run a reuse apparel brand. Sure, we offer products just like everyone else, and of course we want to sell as many as we can, but what sets our shirts apart from the rest is that we're reusing materials that were already here.
Sure, I understand that not everyone needs a STAY VOCAL shirt for a gift. I mean, so many of you already have the complete collection anyway. HA! But when you're shopping for other gifts, why wouldn't you seek out reuse options first? Not only are you helping the planet by cutting down on new stuff being made, but you'll be helping your wallet too. We all know used is almost always less expensive than new.
For example, a STAY VOCAL T-Shirt could be wrapped around something else. Just tie the sleeves in a knot to secure it. If you do find yourself needing to wrap a present in some sort of gift wrap, please consider one of the many easy unique reuse gift wrap options:
Since that holiday season of 2004, I've learned a lot about what the holiday season means to me. It's about having fun, relaxing, and spending time with people I care about. I still enjoy giving gifts to people, but it doesn't have to be on a certain date or for a certain price.
This can't be an official holiday blog post without talking about food. But don't worry, reuse doesn't come into play here!MAKE IT HAPPEN
Well, I could go on and on and on about how to involve reuse in your holidays, but now it's up to you. You just have to get your creative and conscious cap on and think a little beyond the norm. If you have your own ideas, links to share or feedback on anything above, please leave a comment below.GOING OUT WITH A HOLIDAY SONG
As I mentioned last year, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and their annual Christmas shows in Boston, the Hometown Throwdown, have been a major part of my holiday season for years. I missed the 2010 Throwdown and I'm missing it again this year, but fortunately there are videos like the one below (of my favorite song mind you) that bring me right up close.
Alright, that's it from me. Have a great holiday season everybody!
- Alex
From the time I could write until probably high school, I used to make a Christmas wish list for my parents. These would be long and detailed lists, featuring the newest G.I. Joes, baseball cards or a skateboard decks, depending on what year it was. But as time went on, I stopped making "to get" lists and began making "to give" lists.
I think seeing the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' give out goodie bags to every attendee of their Christmas concerts really helped turned me into much more of a giver; something that I have certainly brought to the STAY VOCAL table. That's why at the beginning of this month, we started the "31 Days of Giving And Reusing."
Each day, we're giving away one shirt through our Facebook and Twitter pages. It's a different design and size every day and there are even some one of a kind shirts that have never been released. Winners will be chosen the next day at random from the pool of people who like or retweet the post/tweet. We'll announce the winners as a comment on the specific Facebook post and in a tweet.
So, are you in?
As we have for years, STAY VOCAL will be closing our online store the day after Thanksgiving to celebrate "Buy Nothing Day." We feel that everyone needs a break from the mass consumerism society that we live in. The holiday season should be a time spent with family and friends, resting and relaxing. And that doesn't mean sleeping on the sidewalk waiting for a store to open at 4 AM.
I encourage you all to read more about Buy Nothing Day and please feel free to share this post. I especially like the image, as the person is reusing a credit card to butter some bread.
Alright everybody, have a great long weekend!
-Alex
Last night, I was a bit sucked into YouTube looking at random videos of reusing and such, when I came across a humorous set of short commercials for the "Use Only What You Need" campaign. They were made by Denver Water to promote water conservation. So of course, they reminded me of the STAY VOCAL Water Saver Series of shirts.
Since we launched the Water Saver series last spring, it has quickly become one of the most popular series of shirts to date; surely because it helps get the importance of reusing shirts out so easily. The simple fact that it takes 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton for 1 new T-Shirt tends to boggle a lot of minds.
As a result of the success of the series so far (we've met both goals of water saved), we will definitely be expanding our selection of Water Saver shirts in the next coming months. They will of course feature the same water drop logo and personalized numbers to show your part in saving water. In the meantime, you can order one of the current limited edition ater Saver Series of T-Shirts here.
Finally, here are my two favorite "Use Only What You Need" videos. Both don't even add up to a minute. So...check 'em out!
During that snowstorm my uncle was staying at my parents in my old room, because they had no power...and he saw a waffle box (with a shirt i got long ago) and brought down to the kitchen and told my mom there was a frozen box of waffles in his room.
Jessica Carroll
Customer
