Every time Bucks student Ian
McLean sells a t-shirt, he plants a
tree.
So far McLean and his partners
have planted 1,000 trees through
Verde Styles, an environmentally
conscious t-shirt company they
launched last year.
The student business owners are
passionate about “going green,”
which is the reason they started
the company.
“We wanted to do a green company
because we want to make a
difference. We could sit back and
work toward the nine-to-five job,
but that would not be satisfying
for any of us. We are all aware of
the growing environmental issues
and we want to spread the word of
change because we need change,”
said McLean.
According toMcLean, the company
has signed a contract to plant
1,000 more trees in a partnership
with the American Forests Association.
Verde Styles sells t-shirts online.
They cost between $13 and
$17.
Currently, the company is hosting
an online competition for new
t-shirt ideas. When a designer’s
idea is used, they are awarded
$200. Applicants can enter at
verdestyles.com/contest. Some of
the designs featured on the site include
a melting snow man, a pair
of green lungs, and a green turtle.
McLean hopes to send an e-mail
to all Bucks art students encouraging
them to enter the design
competition.
Also available on the site are
wristbands that read “breathe
green.”
The clothing line aspect
of the company was
at first just an idea for
a contest.
“My friends
and I started the tshirt
company last
year when we entered
a business
plan contest at
Temple University.
Our
idea has
evolved into
the clothing
line that it is
today,” said
McLean.
McLean,
a journali
s m
major, is
responsible
for marketing
and editing content.
He worked with
Nish Patel,
Matt Munchnick,
Sean
Coker and
A l e x
Vazquez
to make
the company
a
reality.
P a t e l
a n d
Munchnick,
both students
at Temple University,
serve as
presidents of the
fledgling company.
Vazquez, who works out of California, is the
company’s web designer.
Coker, the treasurer, also
designs t-shirts
and occasionally
models them for the
web site.
By combining
their different
areas of
knowledge,
the five stud
e n t s
w e r e
able to
create a
w o r k –
i n g
c o m –
pany.
” A l l
five of us
have knowledge
in different
fields and that
has really
helped us. Nish
andMatt are both
business majors,
and Sean
is an art major.
Alex is a webmaster
so he
knows what
he’s doing
when it comes
to designing
the page,” said
McLean.
The group
has learned a
lot through trial
and error.
“When you
put all of us together
we can
really figure
things out as we go. The process
has been difficult, but we all understand
now how to run this business
much better than we did
before,” he said.
The most challenging part of
starting the company has been finances.
“If we don’t have money we
can’t produce a product,” said
McLean.
Mc L e a n
and his partners
are putting
their
initial profits
right
back into
the company.
By investing
more
money, they
hope to help
the company
grow.
So far
McLean des
c r i b e s
sales as
“ok.”
His next
goal is to invest
in advertising.
“The online
store hasn’t really taken off
quite yet because we can’t afford
to advertise at the moment,” he
said.
“But we are capable of selling
the shirts ourselves, and that is
something we have done successfully
over the last few months.
That will eventually allow us to
advertise and draw attention to our
online store.”