Environmental T-Shirts: Cool It Down! and Scooters!

We here at Words Plus Paper like to read novels and short stories, but sometimes we like to toss a little non-fiction into the mix as well. Just recently we finished reading "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson. It's been on our list for years.

We're sure many of you have heard of this book, even if you haven't read it yourselves. First published in 1962, it spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was serialized in The New Yorker magazine. This book called environmental issues to public attention and led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Critics claim that Rachel Carson was a lunatic advocating the banning of pesticides, but this book's lasting influence is due to her calm and reasonable approach of using scientific technology responsibly. Per Carson, “man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself…”.

Rachel Carson did not specifically address global warming, but when we decided to design an environmental t-shirt, that was the first subject that popped into our minds. The second thing we thought of was a line from an old Velvet Underground song: cool it down. We doubt that Lou Reed was pondering the Gaia hypothesis while penning those lyrics, but we decided to use it anyway. You can see the result below.

Like everyone else, we've also been hit hard in the pocketbook by rising gas prices. More and more, we've been seeing people around town on scooters. They certainly look gas-efficient, so we thought we'd pay homage to these fun little machines. And thus, our second shirt: I Love My Scooter.




These designs and more are available at our Zazzle-powered sister store, Rising Tide Tees. Stop by today and say hello!