To a Tee.

I'm not exactly what you might call a Fashion Plate.  You probably won't be seeing me on the cover of Gentleman's Quarterly or Vogue anytime real soon.  And while I probably would never go as far as to say that clothes make the man, I do think that clothes can make a difference.

Now, an awful lot of what I do is, I try to get the message out.  My message is, "Smarten Up!  Start doing things that won't kill you or the planet."  And I'll try to get my message out any way I can. 

A lot of celebrities have their own clothing lines.  Look at Puffy Combs, he has the Sean John line of clothing.  There's also Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Hollister, Nike, Under Armour and thousands of others.  Why did these designers put their names all over their clothing?  Because it works! 

For every South Pole sweatshirt that you see, half a dozen people are going to go out and buy one, because they saw the same sweatshirt you did.  It's really a very effective marketing tool.  The problem is, it's a marketing tool that just continues to put money into the pockets of people that already have far too much money as it is.  No offense, but if you're going to use your clothes to promote an idea, let's promote a good idea.  I have lots of clothing that has environmental messages on it.  The shirt I'm wearing right this second, says “Renewable Energy is Homeland Security.”  I have another that simply reads, “Tree Hugging Dirt Worshiper,” a title that I'm happy to wear proudly.  Another says, “Every Day is Earth Day."  One of my local thrift stores, ARC, printed up T-shirts with the globe on the front and the message "If You Love The Planet, Buy Second First."  And on the back they have the three-arrowed recycling triangle, their name and Earth Day 2010.

I'm not saying that these shirts will change the world, but they will ignite a tiny bit of awareness in the people that see them, and that's really the first step.

When you go to farmers markets or environmental festivals or sustainability fairs, buy some cool T-shirts and wear them.  I love my message T-shirts and I wear them often.  My message to you?

"If you love the planet, Represent!"