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Econation Blog
Creative re-use of cotton
How to customise & recycle your old t-shirts
Modern cotton cultivated is far removed from the sustainable ways of old. Cotton fields are heavily fertilised (with phosphate and ammonia). Pesticides are also liberally applied, often sprayed by plane. It has been estimated that cotton cultivation accounts for a quarter of all insecticides used on earth. In many places, like the US, the cotton bolls are harvested after the plants have been defoliated by chemicals. A recent study in Pakistan reported that of 88 femal cotton pickers only one had an acceptably low level of pesticide in her blood, the rest had moderate to dangerous levels of blood poisoning.
Each year more than 20 million tons of cotton is produced globally. Much of this is made into clothing that ends up in landfills.
The following site has a large number of creative re-uses of cotton t-shirts and sweatshirts:
Hideyourarms.com: how-to-customize-recycle-t-shirts
If you do want to get rid of those old clothes please don't throw them in the rubbish, take them to a charity shop or put them into a recycling station.
Posted by Michael Lockhart on 25th October, 2009 | Comments | Trackbacks
Tags: General Sustainability
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