Innovation

Sustainability can be hard to practice in the fashion industry. According to John Amato, the owner of Jupmode, the best way to be sustainable for clothing is to thrift, but in the t-shirt printing industry, it is difficult to be sustainable while turning a profit. The company does sell a t-shirt that is made from six recycled water bottles amongst other materials. John says that his efforts for sustainably making other clothing are in the works, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, production has come to a halt.

John says that he goes out of his way to take the business's recyclable materials home to make sure that things are disposed of properly and not just thrown in their dumpster. He reuses the panes that the shirts are printed on, recycles what he can, and has a compost pile. John also reuses the cardboard boxes that Jupmode's unmarked shirts come in.

During the unexpected shutdown, many businesses were prepared to shut their doors for good, but John decided to create a T-shirt for different local businesses with their logos or whatever they wanted on it. Each shirt sold for $20, and the company featured on the shirt received half of the profit.

T shirt panes that were cleaned for reusing.

Inspiration

John is a big believer in practicing a sustainable lifestyle. “I brought my sustainability to work with me,” he states. He knew that his business had a large impact on the environment so he decided to look further into finding a way to recycle materials and be sustainable in small ways.

Overall impact

Through making T-shirts for multiple local small businesses and giving half of the profits to the businesses, Jupmode was able to raise over $100,000. This helped keep multiple businesses afloat during COVID - 19.

Jupmode also does a shirt of the month on their website. Each month Jupmode chooses a certain charity or organization to sponsor. They create a shirt that supports that organization in some fashion and then they sell the shirt on their website. Outside of the cost to make the product, all of the proceeds go to the organization that the shirt was based on. Doing this each and every month provides organizations with not only recognition for their contribution to society, but also capital to reach their goals as a non-profit.

Business benefit

Jupmode has been recognized by city figures and endorses those who are wanting to make changes in the sustainability space. In 2017, Jupmode hosted a speech for a candidate running for city council named Nick Komives who now holds the position of Chair of the Sustainability Committee in Toledo. Nick proposed the "Beyond Green" stamp of approval to encourage businesses to become greener and Jupmode has been one of the businesses in the area to win this award. This title recognizes businesses that are striving to reduce their negative impact on the environment while also being socially responsible. This will then connect sustainable businesses and hopefully, more businesses will follow suit in becoming sustainable.

Social and environmental benefit

John also has used the recyclable material design to help businesses who are struggling in the pandemic. He told local businesses that they could pick a T-shirt design and put their logo or picture on it and they could get some of the profit to help their business through this tough time.

Interview

John Amato, Owner and founder