Sunday, I spoke at our local Unitarian Universalist fellowship (ironically located in Baptistown, NJ) about my favorite subject these days "garbage." The turnout was pretty good considering the topic and the fact that every tv and radio station was predicting that a deadly Nor'easter would slam New Jersey right during my "sermon."
I had done quite a bit of research to prepare for my 30-minute talk, even preparing a 9-minute presentation that will soon be available on Youtube. The one area that I spent far too much time researching was the true cost of clothing. I figured I might as well blog about it to share some of what I uncovered.
My search started with the production of cotton, which, from researching my
book, I knew was the most heavily sprayed crop in the US. What I didn't know was just how bad it really is until I ran across this 40-page downloadable report, "
The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton." All you'll need to read is the Executive Summary on pages 2 and 3 and browse the photos to get the gist of the article.
The fifth bullet in the Executive Summary reads:
A single drop of the pesticide aldicarb, absorbed through the skin can kill an adult. Aldicarb is commonly used in cotton production and in 2003 almost 1 million kilos was applied to cotton grown in the USA. Aldicarb is also applied to cotton in 25 other countries worldwide.
The night before my talk, I found a roll of blue cotton fabric that I had intended to make something out of about 8 years ago before my son was born. A perfect example of buying cotton for no reason. I cut out a giant 4' x 4' t-shirt and hand sewed it to a couple of bent hangers. (I wish I'd taken a picture of it.) I then created two versions of the tag that hangs in the back of most shirts. One was a standard Old Navy tag (Large, Made of 100% cotton, Made in Uzbekistan) which I printed on a blank piece of paper and the other was much longer. I printed the second one on several pieces of paper, taped them together, then rolled them up until it was time to discuss the subject. Unfurled, it read:
OLD NAVY
LARGE
Made of 100% Cotton
Harvested by children as young as 7 in Uzbekistan where unemployment is near 70% and cotton workers are paid less than $7/month.
Children who fail to meet quota or pick poor quality cotton are punished by scoldings and beatings.
PROCESSING
The processing of the cotton required 1/3 pound of concentrated pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and 744 gallons of water.
FABRIC
Cotton fabric was processed with formaldehyde to reduce wrinkles and bleached with chlorine producing dioxin, a known carcinogen. It was then colored blue using chemical dyes that contained toxic heavy metals including chrome, copper and zinc.
PRODUCTION
Sewn in Cambodia, one of the world’s poorest countries, by
Chenda, a 19-year-old seamstress working 80-hour weeks at 5 cents per hour.
FACTORY CONDITIONS
The “death-trap” textile factory Chenda worked in was cramped, hot, often over 100 degrees with no fans and very little ventilation. The two doors were kept locked.
WASHING/IRONING
This t-shirt will need to be washed frequently at high temperatures and require tumble-drying and ironing. 60% of the carbon emissions generated by this simple cotton t-shirt will come from the approximately 25 washes and machine dryings it will require over its lifetime.
After reading this lenghthy "price tag", I launched into my talk about consignment shops. We were running out of time, so I couldn't do my anti-Walmart, anti-cheap clothing, "5 t-shirts for $20" rant. Bummer.
15 Comments:
Hi
waterwise, at
6:04 AM
This is great, its really good to see someone detailing the hidden costs of everyday items. We have just produced a report that looks at the real water content of a range of products and we are keen for retailers and manufacturers to start providing this kind of information to consumers. For a copy of the report see www.waterwise.org.uk
Thanks Jacob
By
I was wondering if you had any recommendations for clothing (especially men's jeans) not produced under these conditions, or perhaps even made from organic cotton or hemp. I try to buy all of my clothes at thrift stores, but I can't find any jeans in my size and I'm down to 2 pairs that I can wear to work, and one of those pairs is quickly disintegrating as well. Since I'd like to buy 2-3 pairs, I'd rather not have to take out a mortgage to get these.
Jay, at
1:40 AM
By
Dear Wendy, i have read your article with interest. I myelf am working on a project to provide the means of clean creation of energy and transportation to everybody. Technology has been advancing at great speed and not allways have humans really been wanting to make sure there are no side effects when using it. But we all do know that there are those undesired effects. Nevertheless, there are solutions for everything. I'm gathering information about innovative technologies allover the web and elswhere, to provide everybody with possibilities to limit their co2 foot print. It is possible today to create electricity without ANY emmissions of co2. The solar energy power plants are living proof of this. They use dish mirrors and stirling engines to produce clean energy. There is also a fantastic way of transportation. A french man has developed the MDI Air Car. It uses compressed air and runs 120km/h with a maximum range of 150km. Add 1.5litres of gasoline to it if you need more range. With the added gasoline the range of the vehicle extends to 1600km. More details about these great innovations can be found on my web www.cleanfuture.co.nr. The voyage of very large cargo ships can be aided by skysales. A huge parachute dragging the ship over the sea, reduces emmissions by up to 50%. There are many more possibilities. The problem of pollution due to fertilizers is a little bigger and more complicated I beleive. Studies have shown that the world can easyly support 1 billion people "and their food production" without the use of fertilizers and insectizides. But since we are experiencing a population explosion, not using these products would probably cause hunger on earth (in the rich countries, hunger in poor countries is nothing new). We shoud thus work together to find a way to fertilize biologically. As an example I would like to quote a german scientist who has emmigrated to south africa. He has installed the "biggest" tomato farm on earth so far, there. He does NOT use any chemicals for his tomatoes. Only the rests of the plants mixed with cow rests and bird rests recoverd from neighbouring farms. His tomatoes are of a wounderfull taste and they have a natural unequal form. His farm occupies a valley of more than 100 kilometers of lenght. So, this shows that we CAN do something about it. But we will have to get started with it.
rmwebmaster, at
3:11 PM
By
Its odd how the clothing industry can be good and bad. They can do horrible things to make a profit, but them sometimes a designer can do something really good- like encourage people to use eco friendly canvas bags. check out the video http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/328594/Life+and+Leisure
Katie, at
11:34 PM
By
I like your use everyday life and it's true costs as a way of bringing home to people the truth about today's manufacturing and business methods. Shameful.
Mark, at
12:37 AM
Biodiesel Information
By
It's sad that clothing is made by the less fortunate in impoverished areas and then bought by consumers who have no idea of the hardships faced by their clothes-makers.
Anonymous, at
11:28 PM
http://www.globalwarminglife.com
By
It's really frightening when you break it all down like that. Everything is so disconnected from its source now, that people forget. People forget shirts come from cotton fields, and that cotton doesn't just come from the craft store.
Jessica Schessler, at
12:11 PM
By
Great to see someone digging further into the true cost of production, another site worth checking out is www.saveatree.co.nz not the same as production but a good environmental cause.
Red, at
6:47 PM
By
Great post!
luis, at
5:32 PM
If the economics don't work, recycling efforts won't either.
As our little contribution to make this economics of recycling more appealing, http://LivePaths.com blogs about people and companies that make money selling recycled or reused items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources.
By
Hello,
trudy, at
11:58 AM
We have added your web address to our database of environmental blogs. Please come by and check out your link and see the location of other environmental bloggers near you as well as across North America. It's very cool.
Hope to see you soon!
http://mylinkmaps.com/map/environmentalblogs
By
Great article, Wendy. Here in Queensland, Australia, we have huge cotton plantations in areas that get little rainfall. Cotton is a thirsty plant; the water harvested for its cultivation could be put to better use growing food crops or simply left to replenish dry watercourses.
Richard, at
10:47 PM
By
I agree- great information, Wendy! New Jersey is lucky to have a lady like you in their midst!
phantomphlash, at
3:23 PM
You know, the thing I hate about learning is that the more I know, the more I wish I didn't know. I mean, ignorance really can be bliss. But when you know the information is out there and you either choose to ignore it or fail to utilize it, that blissful state almost completely loses its meaning.
To Jay- I wish I knew of an inexpensive way to get a decent pair of jeans, too. The problem is there is no cheap way to manufacture these kinds of products so the costs are shifted to the consumer. Now, if you happen to have the kind of income that allows you to buy a $200 pair of eco-friendly jeans, the kind made of some trendy hemp by a well paid seamstress, good for you. I think what Jay is getting at, though (and I MUST agree)- sometimes Goodwill just doesn't have what we're looking for! And then what options are we, those who are severely lacking in sewing skills, left with? I really don't have a good answer for this yet! Anyone else?
I've just started a new blog and would love to get feedback. Please visit me at Eco Phlash!
Thanks!
PHLASH
By
Gosh, after reading this people wont want to buy any clothes again. Its good you raise the awareness, however, you have to admit not all clothes are manufactured and processed this way.
john@scribblesheet, at
7:54 AM
By
Great post, very eye opening. I am new to going green so it's good to learn more through people like you. I even took a second look at the cotton sweatshirt I was wearing when I read the post, yikes.
Dian H, at
4:13 PM
Unfortunately lots of items we tend to use everyday have "hidden" costs especially environmental. I often wonder how in the world to keep track of all of it or if that is even possible.
By
A sobering post there. The environmental cost of any item we use is not immediately apparent and we need to give more thought to mindless consumerism. i came across a great film at http://www.storyofstuff.com/ which addresses the same concerns. We need to be more environmentally conscious, use less stuff, use greener transport, such as use electric vehicles, basically do all we can.
NiraliSherni, at
4:40 AM
By
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