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HICKORY, N.C. -
In a small shop off an alley in Hickory, former race car driver Joe Fox is working to grow his new brand of apparel, which features eco-friendly T-shirts, shorts, hats and skate decks. He calls it Dirtball Fashion.
"Anything that is active and outdoor," Fox explains.
But Dirtball Fashion isn't just another line of T-shirts with funny sayings.
"Our T-shirts are 65 percent recycled cotton, which is a zero-waste product from cotton mills, and 35 percent polyester, which is two 16-ounce bottles, reconstituted, blended with that cotton lint and turned into a shirt," he says.
The company's shorts also reflect its commitment to being eco-friendly. "They are 100 percent recycled polyester," Fox says. "One pair of shorts equals 10 16-ounce water bottles."
To get his vision off the ground, Fox had to find suppliers to fit his criteria of having a small carbon footprint and using 100 percent recycled materials. And with a few exceptions, it's "all made in North Carolina," Fox says proudly.
Thirty minutes south of Hickory sits Lintex Fabrics in Lincolnton. Owner Walter Reynolds has made his company a pioneer in the knitting of recycled yarn.
"So we have spent the last three and a half years working on and perfecting the way to knit recycled yarn," he says. "It's a little bit harder than normal yarn, but the impact to the environment is great."
And Fox says that's also what makes his shirts so great: "Because of the way the fibers are constructed, it makes it very, very soft."
In the past, companies wouldn't save cotton scraps, but Dirtball and its suppliers have new goals. They want to reclaim as much plastic as they can and as much cotton as possible out of the landfills. Everything once considered scrap is saved and used again.
"There's people that feel it's environmentally responsible, but it's also fashionable," says Fox.
And that's Dirtball's niche and Lintex's secret.
"In the last four years, we've never laid anybody off from here. Because we're a small company, we try to operate within our means. We don't try to expand quick," says Reynolds.
"The more product we sell, the more workers we employ, the more water bottles we keep out of the ground, the more cotton lint we keep out of the ground," says Fox, rattling off the chain effect of using recycled materials.
"The South. People don't realize we still have the largest concentration of textile mills in the world, and there's a bunch of guys sitting around with equipment just waiting for stuff to do. And so, if we can help move product, that helps them to rehire workers, then so be it," says Fox.
"Anything that is active and outdoor," Fox explains.
But Dirtball Fashion isn't just another line of T-shirts with funny sayings.
"Our T-shirts are 65 percent recycled cotton, which is a zero-waste product from cotton mills, and 35 percent polyester, which is two 16-ounce bottles, reconstituted, blended with that cotton lint and turned into a shirt," he says.
The company's shorts also reflect its commitment to being eco-friendly. "They are 100 percent recycled polyester," Fox says. "One pair of shorts equals 10 16-ounce water bottles."
To get his vision off the ground, Fox had to find suppliers to fit his criteria of having a small carbon footprint and using 100 percent recycled materials. And with a few exceptions, it's "all made in North Carolina," Fox says proudly.
Thirty minutes south of Hickory sits Lintex Fabrics in Lincolnton. Owner Walter Reynolds has made his company a pioneer in the knitting of recycled yarn.
"So we have spent the last three and a half years working on and perfecting the way to knit recycled yarn," he says. "It's a little bit harder than normal yarn, but the impact to the environment is great."
And Fox says that's also what makes his shirts so great: "Because of the way the fibers are constructed, it makes it very, very soft."
In the past, companies wouldn't save cotton scraps, but Dirtball and its suppliers have new goals. They want to reclaim as much plastic as they can and as much cotton as possible out of the landfills. Everything once considered scrap is saved and used again.
"There's people that feel it's environmentally responsible, but it's also fashionable," says Fox.
And that's Dirtball's niche and Lintex's secret.
"In the last four years, we've never laid anybody off from here. Because we're a small company, we try to operate within our means. We don't try to expand quick," says Reynolds.
"The more product we sell, the more workers we employ, the more water bottles we keep out of the ground, the more cotton lint we keep out of the ground," says Fox, rattling off the chain effect of using recycled materials.
"The South. People don't realize we still have the largest concentration of textile mills in the world, and there's a bunch of guys sitting around with equipment just waiting for stuff to do. And so, if we can help move product, that helps them to rehire workers, then so be it," says Fox.
