WELCOME! If you are a fellow vegetable-lover, you have come over to the right place. I’m Leslie, the founder of Wear Your Veggies, and on this page I’ll introduce you to the blog, the store, and the folks who make it happen. You’ll also learn about how to stay connected and how to use the site.

THE BLOG

The WYV blog is a ‘positive news funnel’, intended to be your one-stop site for GOOD news pertaining to the local/sustainable/organic food revolution. The blog features interesting and inspiring stories from home and around the world, interviews with small farmers I encounter on my travels, super-cool projects and programs, and the occasional personal anecdote for good measure. I’ll also introduce you to a charitable cause each quarter (look for a link on the right sidebar, and also through the ‘Good Works’ button), that will receive a percentage from each sale we make. We all know what’s wrong with the food system; WYV is here to make sure you are full of hope and GOOD news from now on! Be sure to subscribe!

THE STORE

The entire WYV concept began as a simple wish by my dear friend Shonie for clothing adorned with vegetables. After a few years of NEVER encountering such a thing (to our utter astonishment), I decided it was time to take action, and the clothing line was born. It has started out small and simple with just a few designs on T-shirts (really kick-ass shirts, though), but like a sprawling summer zucchini, I plan to expand the line into ever-more diverse offerings including more womens and kids options, as well as a range of delightful and useful goods featuring our one-of-a-kind artwork.

THE GOODS

The clothing line may be small, but it sure is clean, green, ethical, and great! True to my guiding principles, I started with clothing made of super-soft 100% Organic Cotton mixed with either Hemp or Bamboo (2 weeds I actually LOVE!). My shirt suppliers’ factories are all third-party audited using the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) Monitoring system, which is based on the labor standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO). They also purchase carbon offsets from the non-profit, third-party audited www.carbonfund.org. The artwork on the shirts is all hand-drawn and original, and is inspired by the antique botanical prints I have loved for so long (and immortalized in the form of a melon plant tattoo sprawling across my left upper arm…). Finally, the printing process I use stays true to my green vision. I work with pthalate- and PVC-free inks, and use a variety of environmentally-friendly cleaning and disposal processes as well. I’ve learned that screenprinting and environmentalism are an often at-odds couple, but also that the former is an industry that isn’t going anywhere, and I’m happy to be helping to tilt the balance towards better practices. I want you to feel great about wearing your WYV shirt! (Oh, you want to buy one? Right now?! Well, head over HERE!)

STAY CONNECTED

There are plenty of ways for you to stay in touch with WYV, whether to follow the blog, hear company news, learn about upcoming sales, or be notified of new designs. Here’s a quick guide:

1. Subscribe to the blog by clicking on the little orange RSS icon at the top of the navigation menu and get postings (usually 2x/week) in your inbox or reader;

2. Join the email list HERE and get our quarterly newsletter, new design releases, sale notifications, and other keep-you-on-your-toes info, about once a week;

3. Get on the Advanced Discount List. This is the big-time, folks, for those who LOVE TO WEAR THEIR VEGGIES and will probably want to buy much more than their budget allows. Being on this list means you are automatically on the email list, and as well you will be privy to sweeping discounts on all the new designs, before they are released to the public. Learn More and sign up HERE. And finally, yes…

4. Facebook. BECOME A FAN of WYV and stay attuned to the the biz side of things. You’ll hear about store news: where you can find our shirts in person; events we’ll be at; upcoming sales, and perhaps some psychological issues I am experiencing while keeping this all straight!

Yep, you’ve got choices, so hope you’re not all pisceans like myself. I guess while we’re on the topic, I can tell you  a little about myself… 

I’m Leslie Beia, 32, and I LOVE vegetables. I also love making art, traveling, playing music, and challenging myself to live in unconventional ways that free up my time and energy. Currently I’m renovating a tiny off-grid cabin in southern Washington, just a few hours east of Portland, OR. I graduated from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and spent a year of college studying organic market gardening at Linnaea Farm up in coastal B.C. I have grown something of a garden every year since, and feel tremendously hopeful about each individual persons ability to grow far more food than they’ll ever eat, and therefore the possibility that we, as regular old folks, can take back our food system from the corporate/industrial machine it has become. I am beside myself  that I have had the good fortune to bring WYV into being, and so thankful you are here to join me. CHEERS!