1. We are socially and environmentally-conscious

Our apparel is made 100% sweatshop-free in the USA. Our designs are printed PVC-free with 100% water-based inks, and even our packaging is 100% biodegradable and compostable! This months’ Women’s Wide V-Neck Tee, and Men’s Crew Neck tee are both made of 100% organic cotton.

2. Heal the Bay helps environmental improvements on the West Coast

Heal the Bay tirelessly works to keep our coastline clean, and keep residents safe while at the beach. A large part of their efforts are directly related to education through science. Through their efforts, they keep the ocean, animals and people healthy.

3. Nathan Pacheco is a classical musician with a great voice and lived in the SoCal region

Nathan Pacheco is able to perfectly sing both classical and pop music. His voice ebs-and-flows like the crashing of ocean waves. With great memories connected with the SoCal region, Nathan was honored to work with us and help Heal the Bay. The opportunity to combine Nathan Pacheco with Heal the Bay was just a perfect fit! You can get Nathan’s music here.

4. Dan McCauley is an artist, designer, musician and explorer

We approached Dan after seeing his amazing portfolio. His art is edgy and relevant, and his scope is limitless. Dan was immediately interested in working on this project, looking forward to give back to the community, and get his beautiful work more interest. Dan’s designs blew us away, and we hope they have left an impact on you as well.

5. Buy charity t-shirts, spread the word

For each shirt you purchase, we will donate $11 to Heal the Bay. Buying 3 shirts? We’ll donate $33. It’s that simple. While you’re at it, help us attain our social sharing goals. Tell your friends on Facebook, retweet on Twitter, or Pin our designs. Remember that you are as much a part of this campaign as Heal the Bay, Nathan Pacheco, and Dan McCauley.

The post Can’t Keep Up? 5 Ways to Understand Upperatus appeared first on Upperatus.

But wait…there’s more!

In addition to helping with our joint campaign, you can also help Heal the Bay in other ways. If you are in or around the Greater Los Angeles area, or plan on being there, you should check out Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. The Aquarium is a fun time for you and your family, and it’s a small $5 suggested donation at entry for adults, while admission for kids 12 and under is free. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. PST, and weekends 12:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. PST (closed Mondays).

The Aquarium is a Certified Green Business. This means they use recycled materials, a facility-wide use of eco-friendly cleaning agents and provide incentives for staff/volunteers to use alternative modes of transportation. Go check out the aquarium, hopefully in your Upperatus shirt!

The post The Shocking Truth about Helping a Non-Profit appeared first on Upperatus.

Too busy to check their site? No worries, they still have you covered with Android and iPhone apps. This way you can protect your family from harmful bacteria before you plan your trip to the beach. You might not know every time there’s a sewage spill, or rain advisory, but the Beach Report Card does.

This month, Heal the Bay has teamed up with Upperatus to build awareness for their cause, and help raise funds. Our beautiful shirt designs were hand-crafted by Dan McCauley, and the classical musician, Nathan Pacheco, is helping share this important movement. Heal the Bay makes a difference in your life – buy a charity t-shirt for you, family and friends – and make that difference count.

The post How Safe is the Coastline Water Quality? appeared first on Upperatus.

First White Board Mock of Upperatus.com

After several months, we honed in on the concept of being a socially and environmentally friendly company. That still was not really bringing us to the end of the path, but it helped us know which paths we were not going to take. It seemed like for every 5 ideas we rejected, we added another 10 new ones. The main issue was we knew starting a company in 2012, with everything going on in the world, was not going to be easy so if we were going to start something, it had to be something we were passionate about and could give 150% effort. It is really easy to just talk about change, but we needed an idea that would impact our community, and the lives of those within it.

Second White Board Mock of Upperatus.com

In early 2012, a friend of ours told us he was helping raise donations for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, gearing up to their 5K walk at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. We weren’t aware, but he had been dealing with MS his whole life, and was fortunate enough that his case of MS still allowed him all the luxuries of life – unfortunately, many others are not as lucky. So this got us thinking, and getting us closer to the concept of working with non-profits. If we could help bring together non-profits, with other entities (which later turned into graphic designers and celebrity advocates) and provide an elegant and modern way to help raise donations, then we would find our sweet spot.

Rough, Terribly Ugly Original Wireframe of Upperatus.com

We were almost there. We knew we wanted to sell custom, limited-edition products and give a large portion of each sale to a non-profit. There are many companies that provide donations to non-profits in some form or another, but what we wanted to do was really focus on spreading awareness for each non-profit that we worked with. This meant that we would commit each month to a different non-profit, and selling exclusive products that a customer could only purchase that month. Having attended charity functions in the past, including 5Ks, we knew that some of the apparel you could receive at one of these events was not exactly “fashion forward”, if you will.

Enhanced Wireframe of Upperatus.com

At this point, we realized what we were going to be all about. We were going to sell shirts, with limited-edition fashionable designs from talent artists, that were geared around a specific non-profit, that a celebrity could help by endorsing and helping us promote online. OK, great. Now what? We had to learn the t-shirt industry inside and out, we had to further immerse ourselves into the non-profit community, we had to reach out to celebrities, and we had to network with graphic artists. Oh, we also had to find a talented web designer and developer that was willing to deal with a couple perfectionists who wanted a solid, stable website, with sex appeal, that worked on all platforms through a responsive design. Piece of cake!

Responsive Design Mock for Mobile

Luckily for us, a lot of really great people saw the passion we had for this project, and were willing to help. In this pursuit, we made sure that our products were made sweatshop-free in the USA, with as little negative impact, on the environment, as possible. We found an amazing, patient web developer with an awesome eye for cutting-edge design. We connected with the hard-working, dedicated folks at Heal the Bay who have been beyond understanding through the process. We found a talented, edgy artist in Dan McCauley through mutual friends. We reached out to Nathan Pacheco, a singer with a stellar voice for both classical and pop music. And here we are today. There have been tons of hours where we have used and abused our friends and family with emails, long hours and cancelling plans – all the while they never pushed back, and helped keep us motivated if we ever wavered for even a second.

This has truly been a labor of love. We hope you are able to get as much out of this project as we have put into it. Please help us get the message out, and come back often – this is just the beginning.

Thank you.

The post Upperatus Early Progress appeared first on Upperatus.

Nothin’ But Sand July 2010 at Venice Beach. Photo by Katie Amaya

Heal the Bay, a non-profit based in Santa Monica, CA is one of the reasons that beach you went to ended with a fun day in the sun. The California Coastal Commission reports that, “California’s coast and waterways have historically been collecting spots for annual accumulations of trash and debris. This debris, if not removed, can be harmful and even fatal to all manners of marine wildlife, can damage our state’s economy, and can even become a human health hazard.” Clean beaches are important for you, your family, and our future.

In 1985, Heal the Bay was founded by Dorothy Green and they made quick work pressuring Los Angeles’ Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant to stop their dumping of sewage in the bay. Since then, there is now 90% less sewage entering California’s water. From their humble beginnings, Heal the Bay has grown to a 3 out 4 star non-profit, according to CharityNavigator.org, with a help of over 100,000 volunteers and a dedicated and determined staff. For the past 20 years, the organization has produced a report card for over 500 beaches along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington each week to let you know what’s happening at your local beaches.

Divers at Coastal Cleanup Day 2012 Santa Monica. Photos by Nick Fash, Heal the Bay.

All right, so I get it – clean beaches are important, but what can I do?

Join us in November, and help spread awareness and increase donations for Heal the Bay.  Together with your help, Upperatus is sharing the message online. The beautiful design was made by Los Angeles local artist, Dan McCauley.  For each of these limited-edition shirts you purchase, Upperatus will donate $11 to Heal the Bay, which will go towards keeping that beach you love clean, and keeping wildlife and your family safe.

Our charity t-shirts are eco-friendly, made 100% sweat-shop free in the USA, with 100% water-based inks for our prints, and low-impact dyes for our organic cotton cuts.  It’s not always easy to make a difference, but through your purchase and social sharing, you are making a huge impact. Each item sold directly helps keep the coastline clean, reduces pollution, and educates our youth.

The post Are Clean Beaches Important? appeared first on Upperatus.