On April 22, 2022, otherwise known as Earth Day, eight apparel decorating shops across the country will host events where people can recycle their worn-out T-shirt with an eco-friendly upgrade.

Allmade Apparel, an eco-friendly T-shirt company based out of the Pacific Northwest, is partnering with the shops for an Earth Day celebration, dubbed Turning Trash into Treasure. The company is inviting people from the respective communities to bring in an old shirt to be recycled in exchange for a new Allmade T. They can also bring in a shirt of their own to upcycle with a new Earth Day design.

“Because Allmade was founded by a group of decorators, entrepreneurs, and creatives, we strive to make each and every event focused on bringing the community together to educate and celebrate,” says Mel Lay, marketing manager and co-founder at Allmade. “What better way to honor Mother Earth than throw her a big party in as many places as possible!”

Lay notes that they started out with just a few locations, but that quickly blossomed into the eight currently participating. “Our team personally invited a few shops that we have partnered with in the past, starting with Rockford Art Deli in Rockford, Illinois, who does a community Free Print Day on a regular basis to bring traffic into [the] storefront,” she adds. The events will have live music, food, and each will have its own local flair. For example, Dominic Rosacci, founder of Superior Ink, will not only have live printing and food, but will also have some skating features and contests.

“We are participating in the event as are most of the founders,” says Rosacci. “Our personal ties are just the bond that we as founders have and the ability to bring our different flavors and personalities to each of our communities. The concept of bringing a shirt to recycle is awesome and the hope is it will get more people on board with donating or recycling old clothing instead of throwing it out.”

There are even two shops that are collaborating for the event. “Pigskins & Pigtails is a huge brand that teaches crafters how to start screen printing,” says Lay. “Together with Made Lab in Fort Worth, they are doing a screen printing class combined with our ‘Turning Trash into Treasure’ event.”

The full lineup of companies participating in the Turning Trash into Treasure event includes:

Lay invites anyone that would like to throw their own Earth Day event to contact Allmade at hello@allmade.com. “Our founders are all decorators at heart, and we love the printing community,” she finishes. “Any event that brings people together to benefit the planet and a local screen printer is a great event in our eyes.”

Allmade will go live from each event on its Instagram: @allmadeapparel.