A new T-shirt company called Blondes Make Better T-shirts features items such as tees whose chest pockets open downward. Another shirt features a blonde using full force to push on a door clearly marked "Pull."

You get the idea. Blondes are funny, because they are dumb -- or are they?

The clever, self-effacing blondes behind the T-shirt company (www.blondesmakebetter tshirts.com) have an ulterior motive. Norwegian designer Lise Ellingsen also is preaching respect for the environment in messaging and in the use of "eco-botanical" fabric.

The tees are 100 percent "sustainable, sweatshop-free and ethically responsible." One fabric, for example, is made of 50 percent recycled plastic bottles and organic cotton.

The graphics are silk-screened by hand in California with water-based ink, and some call out to help endangered animals -- one shirt features a slew of animals "in danger of being extinguished."

Some tees even take themselves seriously. Limited-edition T-shirts feature illustrations made by children from the 3/11 tsunami and nuclear-affected areas of northeastern Japan.

Mct, Star Tribune
One of the graphics available for the Blondes Make Better T-shirts T's.

To ensure longevity, all shirts come with special care and wear labels -- so even a blonde can safely wash and dry them.