PLAYBACK rescued two dozen decommissioned fire extinguishers from the NY landfill last week. No longer useful as safety instruments, these extinguishers will be taking on a new, more glamorous role – as part of the new PLAYBACK showroom table in our office. Check out the photos below, as these steel beauties are sent off to the welder to be reclaimed. Stay tuned to see the finished showroom table!

On Saturday, November 5th, hundreds of Playback t-shirts were screen-printed and distributed to occupiers and onlookers in Liberty Square, New York. All along the north side of the camp, recycled bottle t-shirts could be spotted drying on railings, tents and in the hands of emotionally charged participants. It was a great sight to see so many people supporting the occupy movement as well as learning about Playback’s unique process of recycling everything from cotton to x-ray film into high-quality t-shirts and hoodies. The crowd was stoked and so were we!

The Occupy Wall Street Screen Printing Guild is run by volunteer artists and activists alike. Shirts are given out with a suggested donation and you can choose from many different artistic prints. Stay tuned for details for round two with the OWS Screen Printing Guild

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It seems to us that over the years the Holiday Season has become less “wonderful” and more stressful. (Hence, the title of this post). But, maybe this will be the  year that everyone calms down, takes a breath, and realizes that spendingspendingspending isn’t what the holidays are all about!

Our friends over at EcoStiletto.com have put together a great gift guide (an eco-friendly edition nonetheless) that will help all you struggling people out there find the “perfect” gift. Not only are the items on the list unique, but EcoStiletto is able to offer you a discount on almost all of them.

PLUS, all of these things can be purchased online so you don’t have to worry about large crowds and long lines at the mall (which can also lead to catching the swine flu. Yikes!) So this Holiday season, stay out of the stores and in your pajamas while you buy gifts that make a difference for all of your loves ones….or yourself (we don’t judge).

Don’t forget to look for PLAYBACK’s recycled zip-up hoodies on the list! http://www.ecostiletto.com/index.php?/Fashion/Comments/

Once you get your PLAYBACK recycled “Water Cooler Blue” T-shirt, it’s time to kick the plastic bottled water habit once and for all! We’re not talking about cutting water out of your diet. Drinking water is a very healthy habit, but with all of the cool, funky recycled plastic and eco-friendly, reusable water bottles out there these days you’ll find switching from buying bottled water to filling up from your tap a stylish cinch.

Check out WalMart for funky steel water bottles in graffiti patterns and stand-out colors, or go to Amazon.com to find more basic, traditional bottles.

Need more convincing? Water from the tap in your home is free, so this idea saves the environment from more damage and saves you from spending money on bottled water – and who doesn’t love saving both!

Exciting news, PlayBack Lovers! The L.A. Times ran an incredible article about PlayBack’s unique sustainable apparel and  CEO/Founder/Eco-Enthusiast Adam Siskind’s story behind its creation! Go to our Facebook page, Twitter, or News section of the PlayBack website to read it…

It seems like everyday more and more people are becoming PlayBack obsessed and we can’t blame ‘em. This stuff not only fulfills the need for basics in everyone’s wardrobe, but it helps save the planet as well. How can you resist? I know we can’t!

Laundry day. The bane of most people’s existence. It’s the last thing you want to do, but the first thing you remember you NEEDED to do when you got out of the shower. Dedicating at least 2 hours of your day to sitting in the Laundromat waiting—who needs it! Well, we all need to do it, but what can we do to change it?

A-HA! Green your laundry habits and shave precious minutes off of your laundry time.

PLAYBACK clothing’s unique bottle t-shirts are actually designed to dry in 15 minutes, employing energy efficiency and guaranteeing major cost savings!

Skip the hot water and use cold on everything.  90% of the energy used by an average washing machine is used to heat the water, the other 10 is for the motor. Interesting stuff, right? You learn something new everyday!

Although we at PLAYBACK are hestistant to promote things labeled “organic”–especially clothing–due to their limited proof of such claims, we are all for drinking organic beer. Green Valley Brewing Co. , Crooked Creek Brewing Co. (Anheuser-Busch) and Henry Weinhard’s Organic Amber (Miller) are the latest additions to your organic alcoholic beverage list. So, check them out in your local beer distributing stores…. if you’re over 21 of course!

Remember to recycle the bottles so that we can make more of our great Beer Bottle Brown t-shirts… and also remember that just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it won’t come with an organic hangover!

Join former President Bill Clinton, and celebrities like Wyclef Jean and Russell Simmons in helping the embattled country of Haiti win the global competition ” World Challenge ‘09″ hosted by BBC World News and Newsweek. The challenge awards a grant to the finalist with the most online votes. The grant will help Love ‘N Haiti continue recycling efforts that will aid in decreasing deforestation, creating jobs, and reducing the incidence of floods.

To log your vote for LOVE ‘N Haiti, visit http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/index.php.

Remember, voting ends November 13!!

Do your part & Make a difference.

THIS Sunday, November 15th is “America Recycles Day.”

What better way to support the effort than wearing a recycled bottle tee from PLAYBACK!

Remember to do your part and reduce, reuse, recycle… (the other 364 days of the year as well!)

SPOTTED: Katie Holmes wearing a PLAYBACK women’s hoodie in Shadow Grey + Fushia. The Dawson’s Creek alumn and wifey of Tom Cruise needed a pick-me-up (or two) between takes of her new movie The Romantics. Perhaps she’ll be ordering another sweatshirt soon for her little mini-me Suri–it’ll last her for a while!

XOXO,

PLAYBACKgirl