Sustainable T-shirts: How can you really spot them?

"Sustainable" is on almost every second T-shirt label today. The word has been used so often that it almost means nothing anymore – and that's precisely what makes it difficult to recognize real differences. We'll show you what truly makes a T-shirt sustainable, and where our own shirts stand.

Why "sustainable" alone means nothing

Sustainability in clothing has at least three dimensions: the material, the production conditions, and how long a garment is ultimately worn. A shirt can score well in one dimension and completely fail in another – an organic cotton shirt that falls apart after three washes is ultimately no more sustainable than a durable blended fabric shirt.

Criterion 1: The Material

The easiest way to assess sustainability is by choosing the raw material. Certified organic cotton is the most common and easiest to verify standard. In addition, hemp, linen, Lyocell (TENCEL™), or recycled fibers are also considered sensible alternatives (carofairliebt.de). Conventional cotton, on the other hand, is one of the most water- and pesticide-intensive crops there is.

Criterion 2: The labels behind it

A look at credible textile labels helps distinguish marketing from genuine standards:

• GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard): requires at least 70% organically grown fibers as well as minimum social standards along the entire supply chain (verbraucherzentrale.de). More on this in our separate article What is GOTS certification?
• Fairtrade Cotton: stands for fairly traded raw cotton with a guaranteed minimum price for growers.
• Fair Wear Foundation: focuses on working conditions in manufacturing – safe workplaces and living wages for seamstresses and tailors.
• Grüner Knopf (Green Button): the German state label that requires corporate due diligence along the textile supply chain.

None of these labels automatically cover everything – that's why it's worth checking which labels a brand can actually show, instead of relying on the word "sustainable" alone.

Criterion 3: How openly a brand communicates

Good fair-fashion labels state their production countries, the exact material composition, and often their partner companies (Stiftung Warentest). The clearer a brand discloses this, the better its sustainability can actually be assessed – vague formulations without evidence are a warning sign.

Criterion 4: How long a shirt lasts

The most sustainable piece of fabric is the one you wear the longest. A shirt should not only be fairly produced but also fit and last after many washes. Fabric weight, workmanship, and fit are the crucial factors here, not just the raw material.

Criterion 5: Is only what is needed produced at all?

One aspect that is often overlooked in sustainability discussions: overproduction. The classic textile industry produces an estimated 30 to 40% more annually than is ultimately sold – a significant portion of which is destroyed. Models like Print-on-Demand address precisely this by producing only when an order is placed. We explain how this works in detail in our article "How does Print-on-Demand work?".

Where our shirts stand

At Georg Werner, both our sports jerseys and our T-shirts are made of GOTS-certified organic cotton – grown without synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers, fairly traded, and processed in a resource-efficient manner. Printing only happens when you order, meaning we have no stock and no overproduction. And because we want a shirt to be worn for as long as possible, instead of quickly ending up in the used clothes bin, we actively ask that returns only be used in exceptional cases and that an ill-fitting shirt be passed on rather than returned.

If you want to see for yourself how this looks in practice: Our Water Nomads collection and Retro Shirts collection are made entirely from this material.