The quest for the perfect ethical t-shirt

better thinking ltd is hosting debate on what constitutes the perfect t-shirt.  There are four options, focused on social responsibility, recycling, disposability (to avoid the impact associated with washing) and localness of production.  Unsurprisingly, the local shirt ("Made from organic linen and yarn made from ethically-harvested wood pulp. All sourcing and production takes place within 20km of a solar-powered factory in Western Europe.") is the front-runner, with over twice as many votes as the socially responsible shirt ("Made with West African, organic, rain-fed cotton. Then woven and stitched locally, with a percentage of profits going to local education projects.") but the way it got there has generated some astounded outrage.

The outrage comes from  Damien Sanfilippo, of the Pesticide Action Network.  "While I remain supportive of the democratic process," he writes, "and respect any opinions as long as they are properly argued, I am very upset about some obvious misconceptions. I cannot help but feeling angry on behalf of the tens of thousand organic cotton farmers worldwide, who are true pioneers, and are the most ardent opponent to the unfair and distorted international trade, global environmental degradation, GM, and, in general, the systematic exploitation of the South by the North."  Strong words backed by some very cogent arguments about why the socially responsible shirt is much better than its detractors suggest.  For example:

Mark said: “…surely there isn’t enough rain in Africa for such a thirsty crop”. Do you understand, Mark, what “rain-fed” means? West Africa has been, for decades, the second largest exporter of Cotton in the world. All of this cotton is rain-fed. All of it. On which ground can you assert that there is not enough rain in Africa? Do you know anything about tropical and sub-tropical climates? It rains twice as much in Cotonou (1,350mm) or Bamako (1,018mm) than in London (600mm). I can understand that Mark might not be familiar with world climates. However, I was shocked to notice that 100% of commentators agreed with this false assertion!

After debunking the issues against West African cotton, Damien goes on to point out that 'local' only works if the 'perfect t-shirt' is only the 'perfect t-shirt' for the UK or Europe, not for the world.  And even still...

If the answer is “perfect for the UK or European communities”, then yes, this might be the best option. If not, organic cotton from West Africa has the potential to have a much greater impact on a much greater number of people. The local option would undoubtedly benefits many European workers. However the African option’s benefits are much further-reaching than most people realise...

Voting is still open, so drop by and make yourself heard.  After reading Damien's post I voted for the socially responsible shirt - and it looks like others are as well, since the more current vote tally one sees after voting shows the sustainably harvested shirt has pulled over 50% more votes than the chart shows.

[GT]