I love my new organic cotton T-shirts from Anvil. Most cotton in the world is farmed in impoverished countries by children (as young as 3yrs old) with scarred fingers for 12-15hr days in scorching heat, at the expense of their schooling and their futures. Fark that Abercrombie and Old Navy garbage. Also cotton accounts for about half of the industrial chemicals sprayed on the earth. We’re wearing a significant amount of the pesticides that have likely been banned in our own country, handled by toddlers that work like convicts at hard labour.
Most (probably not all) organic cotton clothing makers use responsible labor, packaging, and dyes. Anvil t-shirts impress me. No pesticides or chemicals used to make these. They have great stitching, are incredibly soft, and come in some great colors. I like the charcoal and chocolate, with black being simply my favorite. At about $6 plus shipping at amazon.com, it’s a good value, if you wear t-shirts. I also prefer not to wear advertisements for someone else’s logo or brand – I’m not a billboard – so blank is great.
On the other hand, with limited funds, I’m not above cruising the Goodwill for $1 cast-offs. I don’t like the origin, but wearing them can be cathartic. Anyway, these Anvils are lovely. I’m wearing one now.
Update 6/23/2010: I needed more t-shirts, and fast, and I’m really OK with Goodwill, regardless of the t-shirt source. Man, did I get some good deals there – ribbed t-shirts, great colors… I’ve got more t-shirts than I know what to do with. I confess, I picked up a few of the cheap ones at Target, too. I was there, they were there, and I grabbed them. Organic cotton t-shirts: partial success. I still like them, but after the Goodwill experience, I’m pretty sold on that being my t-shirt source.
Experiment: Partial Success