thescarletparrot.com

The Scarlet Parrot is committed to using only “Eco Friendly” and “Water Soluble” inks. According to a recent article in BusinessWeek magazine the printing industry is one of the top 10 most toxic businesses. Most consumers in the U.S. know very little about the toxic inks used in pre-printed silk screened T-Shirts they routinely buy for their children and family members. The situation is becoming so much more pronounced that several famous global organizations such as Greenpeace and others are ambitiously trying to educate consumers throughout our planet that the primary ingredient used by the majority of T-Shirt silk screen operations is Plastisol which is liquefied PVC. Yes, Plastisol the very same product used for plumbing products sold each and every day at any nearby home improvement retailer. In 1999 the U.K. and since then the rest of the European Union outlawed Plastisol from being used in inks for clothing garments and also in the ingredients found in most plastic toys made for children. The U.S. is lagging behind in this important “Eco” issue.

The Scarlet Parrot is all about the prevention of toxins from proliferating into the garments we all wear on a regular basis…. most especially our children. One of the most troublesome parts of the 100+ year old art of silk screen printing is the use of Plastisol ink, which contains liquefied PVC and Phthalates. They are some of the most environmentally damaging materials made by man, and Phthalates are known to be highly carcinogenic. Efforts to develop more environmentally-friendly screen printing ink have not been very successful. We and many others believe that digital printing’s gradual replacement of silk screen printing with more environmentally-friendly water-based digital inks will be good for the environment. Do you know that Plastisol toxins are released into our environment during the printing and curing of the ink and they will continue to release toxins when exposed to a radiant heat source, such as a clothes dryer or even sunlight? Do you want to see this continue? Most consumers don’t realize that the inks commonly used by silk screeners contained Plastisol must be cleaned off the screens and the printer manually after each and every job. This very unpleasant and messy process creates wastewater containing PVC. In many U.S. metropolitan areas, due to the environmental regulations, it is now increasingly difficult to open a new garment silk screen printing facility without spending a large amount of money to install pollution control devices. Digital apparel printing which is at the foundation of The Scarlet Parrot is estimated to replace more than $22B in Silk Screen business and that is in the U.S. alone.