Update: Our indie band tried reusable merch at the last gig

Joseph Allen · 2026-02-28T10:50:54.384591+00:00

We sold t-shirts made from organic cotton instead of regular ones. It cost a bit more upfront but fans seemed to dig the eco angle. Do other bands here factor stuff like this into their plans?

spencer_ellis6mo ago

My old band in Austin switched to organic tees for our tour last summer. In my experience, the higher price did cut into our profits a bit. But we got a lot of good feedback from fans who cared about the environment. Your mileage may vary, but for us, it felt like the right move even if we made less money per shirt.

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wren6526mo ago

Lol, the classic band math where you basically pay your fans to wear your shirt. Gotta love trading beer money for the good vibes of not killing the planet. At least when you're broke you can say it's for a cause.

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jakefox6mo ago

Oh nice, I was just listening to a podcast episode about how much waste regular festival merch makes. It kinda blew my mind. I mean, what spencer_ellis said about it feeling like the right move even with less profit totally makes sense to me. Idk, maybe it's just me but that kind of stuff seems to build a different kind of loyalty with fans who care about it.

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