The Ecological Effects of Cotton vs. Recycled Polyester
Which process has a more detrimental effect on the environment– the manufacture of apparel made from cotton or the manufacture of apparel made from recycled polyester? The difference is dramatic from an environmental and ecological impact perspective.
From seed to harvest, cotton requires massive amounts of water and pesticides. Even “organic” cotton is exceedingly water intensive. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), cotton takes up 2.4% of arable land worldwide while requiring 24% of all pesticides and 11% of all agricultural water usage.
Freshwater Usage
Freshwater usage for the two materials differs dramatically. According to a study by Rob de Nooy for WWF, cotton is the second highest water consumer of any crop in the industrialized world. It takes over 700 gallons of freshwater to produce a single cotton t-shirt.
Last Bottle Clothing’s process of using recycled polyester in our shirts requires using less than one gallon of water per shirt! Our shirts use 0.6 gallons each, to be exact.
Recycling Plastic Bottles
Turning used plastic bottles into recycled polyester creates a demand for them, diverting them from landfills, the waste stream, the ground, and from our oceans. Eco Watch® suggests, every second in the United States, 72,000 plastic bottles end up in landfills. That’s over 4 million every hour of every day!
Our Goal:
Last Bottle Clothing is doing something about this environmental disaster. We’re manufacturing clothing using recycled polyester derived from recycled plastic bottles. By using recycled polyester in the manufacture of our shirts, Last Bottle Clothing is creating a restorative effect on the environment while reinventing the apparel industry.
Last Bottle Clothing is proud to be a leader in the new world of manufactured apparel using recycled polyester. Our mission is to produce a product consumers will want and use while at the same time doing our part to save the planet, one shirt at a time.
For questions about our products, please contact us!
