GREEN SPACE: A-ShirtBag aims for sustainable products, operations...and education

Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Source: metromode

What the heck is A-ShirtBag? It's a discarded tank top -- a.k.a., an A-Shirt -- turned into a bag...and it's also a non-profit operation that sells other sustainable goods and does educational outreach. It's HQ-ed right here in southeast Michigan, with administrative offices in Royal Oak and production offices in the New Center area of Detroit.

Founder Jeff Newsom aims to offer simple solutions for sustainable living, with the A-ShirtBag being example number one. Next up is CFL light bulbs, aluminum water bottles, recycling bins and more, that will be sold online and at Root and Sprout Eco-Boutique in Birmingham and at Heritage Co. in Royal Oak.

With A-ShirtBag products, Newsom is aiming for clean, modern design that demonstrates that "eco-friendly stuff can be cool...it doesn't have to be crunchy or granola."

His bags are manufactured at a wind-powered factory in North Carolina. All waste fabric is shipped back to AShirtBag, where it is turned into teddy bears. This no-waste way of doing business translates to operations back at the office, where Newsom is working on achieving LEED certification.

All this green living is key to Newsom's mission of educating youth as to its ease and benefits. He is launching his program, "7 Things You Can Do in 7 Days to Save Our Environment" on April 7 at Logan Elementary School in Detroit. The program uses science-based project learning and targets schools that are low-performing in their MEAP science scores. Each child walks away with a Tree in a Box and each classroom ends up with recycling bins.

Newsom relocated here from New York and says he finds Detroit "fascinating." Next up for the eco-preneur is multiple Earth Day events, scattered around Metro Detroit. Metromode will be doing an Earth Day round-up, so stay tuned.

Source: Jeff Newsom, AShirtBag
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh