Life-cycle of an organic cotton T-shirt

First, the cotton has to be grown ­– acres upon acres of land fertile enough to grow food, millions of gallons of water, and fossil fuels to prepare the soil and harvest the cotton; more fuel to transport the cotton to a processing plant where water, power, and chemicals process the cotton into cloth; chemical dyes and inks for color and screen printing; plastic packaging for secure shipping on a long fuel-powered over-seas voyage, and another fuel-powered journey to a distribution center. Then the T-shirt is trucked to individual stores where, finally, you drive you car to buy it. 

(BTW, how long did it last? Was it thread-bare, or did you spill coffee on it and throw it away, because “who would want a coffee stained T-shirt anyway?”)

This can feel distressing!

Truly, as busy American consumers (even the most green-minded), our choices are limited by the level of effort we are willing and able to put into sourcing the “greenest” and most socially forward products available.

We do the best we can with what we are given – and that is the biggest problem! The only way to change what we are given is to demand (with dollars) what we want.

Solution

Buy recycled!
Madrone; regenerated clothing is dedicated to closing the loop in the clothing life-cycle.