Cheap T-Shirts Pollute The Planet

Submitted by A Lot To Say on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 11:05

What if we could wipe the production of cheap t-shirts made in places like China right off the proverbial manufacturing map?

What if right here, in the United States, we could create, dye, cut, manufacture and assemble tees that are green, healthy, smart, chic and environmentally safe for everyone?

We can and at A Lot to Say, Inc., we do. In fact, everything we create is made from 100% Recycled Bottles and No Water Dye Process.

Why? Because to us, going the extra green mile means staying put right here on our own turf. But to most manufacturers, it also unfortunately means more effort and less profit.

Since the power to influence change in the cotton textile chain still lies with a relatively small number of increasingly global participants, it is up to all of us to do our part.

A recent article in the Mother Nature Network reminds us to keep these facts in mind when we're enticed, tempted and smitten by the lure of cheaper cotton tees:

• Firstly, the manufacturing of these tees is borne from irrigation based farming practices that strain water supplies and damage ecosystems.
• Secondly, the overuse of chemical fertilizers creates water pollution from dye waste. In fact, in some Chinese provinces, only about 10% of dye washes are recycled and about 1/3 of the rest flows directly to the environment. Which means that nearly one in four of China’s 1.3 billion people drink contaminated water everyday.

We can do better if we buy smarter.

Maybe this will require a little bit more pocket change. Maybe it will require a little more savvy. Maybe all it requires is logging on to alottosay.com and satisfying your need for all things cute and green.

But the unfortunate truth is if we choose to take the slow, toxic boat to places like China, we are knowingly taking our beautiful planet along for the ride.

Photo credit: Johnnie Utah / Flickr and Bert van Dijk / Flickr

Tags:

• Cheap T-Shirts
• China
• Water Pollution

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