Andira Rain Tees-T-Shirts for Trees

With a growing environmental awareness, many clothing companies are making the decision to go green with their merchandise. Andira Rain Tees is no exception to this growing trend, selling 100% organic t-shirts and bags.Named after a Brazilian flowering tree cut down by loggers, this eco-friendly company does more than offer great organic shirts. Founder Beth Doane started her company in 2005 as an import and distribution company that has recently expanded to include consulting, design, distribution and marketing strategies to companies who wish to stay eco-conscious.

Andira Rain Tees also sells their own special merchandise directly from the Amazon. On a trip to visit South America’s beautiful, but endangered rain forest, Doane donated craft school supplies to the children living there. She told them, as she distributed crayons and paper, to draw what they saw around them. Their artwork was then transformed into designs for women’s and children’s shirts in the Andira Rain Tees collection.

When establishing her clothing company, Doane chose to manufacture her clothes in Peru due to their enforced fair labor laws. Her entire business plan is focused on remaining sustainable and Peru provided the perfect environment for this goal. Peru produces huge amounts of cotton, which eliminates the need to import material. Free trade also exists between Peru and the US, so there are no import taxes. The factories are all family-run and vertically integrated, which means that all the labor and assemblage is done in the same place. This allows for the workers, no matter what part of production they work on, to see the end result of their labor. Workers receive wages that are 20% above the average in Peru. Many of these workers were previously forced to work for illegal logging companies, animal trafficking and oil companies just to support their families. Donane’s factories provide a safe, clean alternative to such devastating jobs.

With the money raised from the clothing sales, Doane donates trees to be replanted in Costa Rica where logging companies have destroyed the natural forests. Children who Doane has worked with during a trip to bring school supplies plant each tree donated.

All the Andira Rain Tees’s merchandise is sold through online retailers. They are currently selling to 8 different websites and 15 boutiques. Although they are not currently selling merchandise on their website, http://raintees.com, you can find a complete list of retailers who do carry her stuff.