It's good to learn something new every day, and today I discovered that a familiar symbol I generally associate with milk, eggs, vegetables and other foodstuffs can also apply to print.

The symbol in question is the Soil Association's organic certification stamp, and it turns out that here in the UK we have Europe's only organically-certified t-shirt printer, the aptly named T Shirt & Sons, based in Wiltshire.

This is no knit-your-own-yoghurt cottage industry, they can produce more than 50,000 pieces a week. And judging by the fact that it has a client list to die for, the company's ethical stance appears to be going down a storm with a diverse range of customers - including Katharine Hamnett, Glastonbury, REM and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. In fact, I've just realised that I have an example of their work, the rather wonderful Eley Kishimoto bag for life for Cancer Research UK.

To qualify for the organic standard the company has to be able to trace all the materials used in its garments and adhere to the strict Soil Association criterion about what can and can't be used. From a screen printing point-of-view I imagine this is something of a challenge. No aromatic solvents, no formaldehyde, no pvc, no phthalates, no non-ionic surfectants or heavy metals. Having spent a chunk of my formative years up to my elbows in screen printing solvents (something I still worry about from time to time), I'm intrigued to learn more about the organic inks they use, and have put in a request for more information.

In the meantime, hats off to an ethical printer with a difference.