0:00:07.294,0:00:09.983
Consider the classic white t-shirt.

0:00:09.983,0:00:14.194
Annually, we sell and buy[br]two billion t-shirts globally,

0:00:14.194,0:00:17.483
making it one of the most common[br]garments in the world.

0:00:17.483,0:00:20.874
But how and where is the average[br]t-shirt made,

0:00:20.874,0:00:24.516
and what's its environmental impact?

0:00:24.516,0:00:26.405
Clothing items can vary a lot,

0:00:26.405,0:00:31.605
but a typical t-shirt begins its life[br]on a farm in America, China, or India

0:00:31.605,0:00:38.901
where cotton seeds are sown, irrigated and[br]grown for the fluffy bolls they produce.

0:00:38.901,0:00:42.740
Self-driving machines carefully harvest[br]these puffs,

0:00:42.740,0:00:47.425
an industrial cotton gin mechanically[br]separates the fluffy bolls from the seeds,

0:00:47.425,0:00:52.145
and the cotton lint is pressed [br]into 225-kilogram bales.

0:00:52.145,0:00:56.857
The cotton plants require a huge quantity[br]of water and pesticides.

0:00:56.857,0:01:01.596
2,700 liters of water are needed to produce[br]the average t-shirt,

0:01:01.596,0:01:05.166
enough to fill more than 30 bathtubs.

0:01:05.166,0:01:08.487
Meanwhile, cotton uses more insecticides[br]and pesticides

0:01:08.487,0:01:11.407
than any other crop in the world.

0:01:11.407,0:01:13.646
These pollutants can be carcinogenic,

0:01:13.646,0:01:15.890
harm the health of field workers,

0:01:15.890,0:01:19.487
and damage surrounding ecosystems.

0:01:19.487,0:01:24.356
Some t-shirts are made of organic cotton[br]grown without pesticides and insecticides,

0:01:24.356,0:01:27.577
but organic cotton makes up less than 1%

0:01:27.577,0:01:33.947
of the 22.7 million metric tons [br]of cotton produced worldwide.

0:01:33.947,0:01:36.029
Once the cotton bales leave the farm,

0:01:36.029,0:01:39.078
textile mills ship them[br]to a spinning facility,

0:01:39.078,0:01:41.689
usually in China or India,

0:01:41.689,0:01:44.417
where high-tech machines blend,

0:01:44.417,0:01:45.739
card,

0:01:45.739,0:01:47.088
comb,

0:01:47.088,0:01:48.459
pull,

0:01:48.459,0:01:49.979
stretch,

0:01:49.979,0:01:55.838
and, finally, twist the cotton into[br]snowy ropes of yarn called slivers.

0:01:55.838,0:01:57.630
Then, yarns are sent to the mill,

0:01:57.630,0:01:59.799
where huge circular knitting machines

0:01:59.799,0:02:02.979
weave them into sheets [br]of rough grayish fabric

0:02:02.979,0:02:08.259
treated with heat and chemicals[br]until they turn soft and white.

0:02:08.259,0:02:12.569
Here, the fabric is dipped into[br]commercial bleaches and azo dyes,

0:02:12.569,0:02:17.060
which make up the vivid coloring[br]in about 70% of textiles.

0:02:17.060,0:02:20.730
Unfortunately, some of these contain[br]cancer-causing cadmium,

0:02:20.730,0:02:21.479
lead,

0:02:21.479,0:02:22.300
chromium,

0:02:22.300,0:02:24.211
and mercury.

0:02:24.211,0:02:28.211
Other harmful compounds and chemicals[br]can cause widespread contamination

0:02:28.211,0:02:33.520
when released as toxic waste water[br]in rivers and oceans.

0:02:33.520,0:02:36.062
Technologies are now so advanced[br]in some countries

0:02:36.062,0:02:38.711
that the entire process of growing[br]and producing fabric

0:02:38.711,0:02:41.263
barely touches a human hand.

0:02:41.263,0:02:43.974
But only up until this point.

0:02:43.974,0:02:46.422
After the finished cloth [br]travels to factories,

0:02:46.422,0:02:50.412
often in Bangladesh, China, India,[br]or Turkey,

0:02:50.412,0:02:55.071
human labor is still required [br]to stitch them up into t-shirts,

0:02:55.071,0:02:58.192
intricate work that [br]machines just can't do.

0:02:58.192,0:03:00.841
This process has its own problems.

0:03:00.841,0:03:02.402
Bangladesh, for example,

0:03:02.402,0:03:06.441
which has surpassed China as the world's[br]biggest exporter of cotton t-shirts,

0:03:06.441,0:03:11.312
employs 4.5 million people[br]in the t-shirt industry,

0:03:11.312,0:03:16.152
but they typically face poor conditions[br]and low wages.

0:03:16.152,0:03:20.672
After manufacture, all those t-shirts[br]travel by ship, train, and truck

0:03:20.672,0:03:23.192
to be sold in high-income countries,

0:03:23.192,0:03:27.303
a process that gives cotton [br]an enormous carbon footprint.

0:03:27.303,0:03:30.163
Some countries produce [br]their own clothing domestically,

0:03:30.163,0:03:32.563
which cuts out this polluting stage,

0:03:32.563,0:03:38.253
but generally, apparel production accounts[br]for 10% of global carbon emissions.

0:03:38.253,0:03:40.214
And it's escalating.

0:03:40.214,0:03:43.184
Cheaper garments and the public's[br]willingness to buy

0:03:43.184,0:03:50.474
boosted global production [br]from 1994 to 2014 by 400%

0:03:50.474,0:03:55.103
to around 80 billion garments each year.

0:03:55.103,0:03:57.154
Finally, in a consumer's home,

0:03:57.154,0:04:02.664
the t-shirt goes through one of the most[br]resource-intensive phases of its lifetime.

0:04:02.664,0:04:04.195
In America, for instance,

0:04:04.195,0:04:08.675
the average household does nearly[br]400 loads of laundry per year

0:04:08.675,0:04:12.224
each using about 40 gallons of water.

0:04:12.224,0:04:14.835
Washing machines and dryers [br]both use energy,

0:04:14.835,0:04:20.146
with dryers requiring five to six times[br]more than washers.

0:04:20.146,0:04:23.735
This dramatic shift in clothing [br]consumption over the last 20 years,

0:04:23.735,0:04:27.718
driven by large corporations[br]and the trend of fast fashion

0:04:27.718,0:04:29.725
has cost the environment,

0:04:29.725,0:04:31.096
the health of farmers,

0:04:31.096,0:04:35.036
and driven questionable [br]human labor practices.

0:04:35.036,0:04:40.476
It's also turned fashion into the second[br]largest polluter in the world after oil.

0:04:40.476,0:04:42.830
But there are things we can do.

0:04:42.830,0:04:45.006
Consider shopping secondhand.

0:04:45.006,0:04:49.235
Try to look for textiles made from[br]recycled or organic fabrics.

0:04:49.235,0:04:53.676
Wash clothes less and line dry[br]to save resources.

0:04:53.676,0:04:55.931
Instead of throwing them away[br]at the end of their life,

0:04:55.931,0:05:00.067
donate, recycle, or reuse them[br]as cleaning rags.

0:05:00.067,0:05:02.178
And, finally, you might ask yourself,

0:05:02.178,0:05:06.257
how many t-shirts and articles of clothing[br]will you consume over your lifetime,

0:05:06.257,0:05:09.958
and what will be their combined [br]impact on the world?