COTTON T-SHIRTSGroup 4

Raw Materials T-shirts are made from 100% cotton grown and

harvested on farms, which are often in United States, China, India, and developing nations

Cotton farms take up about approximately 3% of the world’s land

25% of the world’s insecticides are used on cotton, more than any crop

Many of these insecticides are known carcinogens

Marketing Slide Different designs are used on t-shirts to

attract different customers T-shirts are not advertised too heavily,

as people understand they need themCompanies are still trying to advertise to

nudist colonies Stores compete to sell T-shirts for the

lowest price

Manufacturing Making T-shirts is relatively simple and mainly

a process that is automated Machines are specifically designed to cut,

assemble, and stitch the materials efficiently The shirt making process typically follows

these steps:Styling-cutting-assembling the front and back-

assembling the sleeves-stitching the hem-stitching the shoulder seams-attaching the neckband-finishing the neckline-setting labels-adding optional features-finishing the operations

Manufacturing Problems Synthetic dyes used in the making of T-shirts

are poisonous when swallowed in large amountsThese can contaminate ground water

Less reliable natural dyes are used less frequently than synthetic ones

The making of T-shirts often uses cheap labor, which involves exploiting the workers

Like most factories, T-shirt factories create harmful airborne pollution

Sales, Distribution, and Packaging Once the cotton is harvested, it is sent

to areas where cheap labor is present, such as Asia

After being manufactured, the T-shirt must be shipped to the distributer, which are often in different countries than where it was assembled

They are shipped in basic containers, like cardboard boxes

Consumer Use Cotton shirts will often shrink when washed T-shirts do not have a very long lifespan The shirts are not very durable The washing and drying of shirts accounts

for nearly 60% of the energy used throughout the T-shirts lifetime

The water used can be contaminated by the synthetic dyes and the cleaning products

Final Dispostion Shirts can be recycled through the

Salvation Army or similar entities T-shirts with false designs, such as one

celebrating the team that lost the Super Bowl, are often given to people in Africa for their use

They are often disposed of in landfill

Recycling Places, like Plato’s Closet, rebuy used T-shirts

and recycles the materials to make new shirts Shirts can be recycled through the Salvation

Army or similar entities T-shirts with false designs, such as one

celebrating the team that lost the Super Bowl, are often given to people in Africa for their use

If they are not recycled, they are usually put in a landfill

Works Cited http://xlweb.com/heritage/asian/jacob.ht

m http://www.enotes.com/t-shirt-reference/t

-shirt http://www.hellogreentomorrow.com/blog

/2010/03/the-lifecycle-of-t-shirt/ http://jordanhall.co.uk/tag/t-shirts/