Sustainability T-1Print Printing Tees & Keeping Bees

This article was first published in the February issue of Textile Image Magazine.

About T-1 Print
Founder of T-1Print in Marrickville, Sydney Pamela Mannell has an office decorated with locally screen-printed wallpaper, recycled tables and chairs made from old petrol drums and a bright red sofa with the fabric made from recycled fishing net. Pamela salvaged and up-cycled these items which were otherwise destined for landfill. The factory floor at T-1Print sees a similar trend of recycled materials adapted for use in a screen-printing environment. Pallets from the delivery of boxed T-shirts have been broken down and repurposed into functional tables on wheels for easy transportation of garments around the factory floor.  The factory layout is divided into four distinct departments being the art department, the ink mixing room, the screen making room and the print production space. T-1Print’s production equipment consists of four M&R automated carousels, a high-speed rapid tag label printer for inside neck labels, heat transfer presses and a Zeus hybrid direct to garment digital printer. T-1Print’s production capacity caters for large and small print quantities of Rock n Roll tour merchandise T-shirts, promotional work and retail clients. A complete garment finishing service is available and tailored to the needs of retail clients. Business and environmental sustainability underpins the functioning of T-1Print. Pamela’s collaboration with other businesses and industry leaders in sustainability like Marci Kinter from Printing United Alliance in the US led her to the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Program.

The Program
Pamela became aware of Marci Kinter and the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership Certification Program when attending an SGIA conference in the United States. The SGP program certifies businesses for their environmental practices. Marci Kinter describes sustainability as a journey – a way to reduce the environmental footprint of a printing business while also having a positive economic and societal impact. It’s also about changing the way the business functions and responds to the needs of clients who are increasingly requesting sustainably produced products.

Pamela was looking to reduce waste, water usage and to improve sustainability at T-1Print with the added benefit of cost savings. The program offered practical steps over a six-month period. In Australia, no program of this kind was available.  Pamela contacted Marci Kinter to ask if a company outside of the US could undertake the program. Marci was agreeable and as a test, ran a pilot program with the company Pamela was managing at the time. This trial program proved successful. Since Pamela has established her own business T-1Print, she has applied the sustainable principles learnt.

What does the program involve?
All parts of business operation are examined as part of the program, including air quality, water usage, OHS and staff. The program doesn’t just look at waste, reducing and re-using. The program looks at staff management and engaging staff in the process of waste awareness in the business. A staff representative is established in each department and is responsible for implementing change around the management of waste. Says Pamela, “The program is unique in the fact that it requires all levels of staff and management to work together on implementing and maintaining sustainable practices within the business.”

The SGP Program itself is run over a six-month period and requires implementing an action plan, establishing procedures and policies and to continue and track developments. Importantly at the end of the six-month period is for the business to be future looking and to consider any changes required in order to further improve. The goals and benchmarks set out in the program help to cultivate an ethos of continuous improvement and commitment to sustainability within the business.

Sustainability at T-1 Print
When Pamela founded T-1Print eight years ago she prioritised addressing waste reduction across its supply chain and production processes. Sustainability for Pamela did start decades prior from trying to find a way to deal with excessive plastic usage within the factory. Pamela says, “individual T-Shirts were wrapped in plastic and at the end of the week trying to get rid so much plastic waste was horrifying. Next steps looked further into the waste materials and water usage across the business and it has taken considerable time to find solutions.”

Each department has a staff member responsible for the efficient running of the section and not just from a production and quality control perspective but from a materials and responsible usage perspective. The main goal is to reduce or eliminate unnecessary waste.

When plastic disposal is unavoidable in the factory, T-1 did find a solution by installing a Mil-Tek plastic compactor. The compactor compresses plastic packaging into bales that are then provided to specialist plastic recycling company Plastic Forests that uses the plastic bales for making road base. Pamela has been able to quantify the reduction of water usage from 120,000 litres per year to 3,600 litres of water per year since installing the eco rinse screen machine that washes out stencils with water after screen exposure. One of the most significant benefits from implementing sustainable practices has been realised since installing the i-Image CTS computer to screen machine. This machine not only eliminates the need to use film positives for stencil making purposes, but as Pamela’s rough estimates show, around 12,000 lineal meters per year of non-recyclable film avoids making its way to landfill. Pamela says “It’s been an eye opener to calculate the reduction in our material usage and see the results of which are both environmental and cost saving.”

Clients are also engaged in the waste initiatives at T-1 Print and are kept informed of the improvements made in being more sustainable. A tabloid document which includes photographs and metrics graphs to illustrate the materials that are recycled and waste reduction achievements is available to clients. Included in the document is the contact details of recycling partners. Clients are also offered factory tours to see how T-1Print is working in more waste efficient ways and what has been achieved to date with addressing waste in the business.

Pamela considers the starting point for businesses looking at reducing their waste is to look at where the biggest negative impact on the environment is within the business and start from there. Pamela sees plastics as generally being the biggest waste issue and encourages businesses to make a start and the solutions will come, as will the satisfaction in the results that will be achieved. Pamela says, “To think that we have been able to collect waste toilet roll holders which are used by our beekeeper to smoke the beehives is great. It’s a testament to the fact that paying attention to the materials we use and how they can be reused is in itself a path to sustainability.”

Keeping Bees & Worm farms
T-1 Print is operating from its premises for nearly nine years and with the addition of the adjacent studio rented to expand the factory floor space, there was an outdoor area that was developed into a garden with room for a beehive, something Pamela has wanted to put in place for some time. Two worm farms have also been established to reduce food scraps going to landfill. Beekeeping is thriving in Sydney’s Inner West and T-1Print has its very own beekeeper who is actively tending to other hives in the area also. The factory is very close to the banks of the Cook’s River which means the bees have access to a local food bowl of flowering plants, as is the nearby train line with many native flowering plants and trees. Bees play a major part in contributing to the pollinating of plants. Pamela’s goal was to establish the beehive so T-1Print employees could enjoy the honey and reap the health benefits associated with consuming locally harvested honey but has since found clients are also enjoying the delicious honey of which Pamela says, “I must say I am sure I have won over some customers because our honey is just so delicious.”