Don't Get Any Big Ideas - They're Not Gonna Happen

By Travis Lyle a.k.a DJ Hedmekanik
image courtesy www.waste.uk.com


So I recently bought a T-shirt from Radiohead. Well, not from any of the lads, but rather from W.A.S.T.E, their merch division. And, apart from it costing the most I’ve ever paid for a T-shirt (it was shipped from Oxford), and being fucking cool on account of having the lyric from ‘Nude’, a single from their most recent album printed all over it (as above), this is a special shirt. Yip, got a couple scowlers at the mall. But fuckem, not because they scowled, but because this here shirt has some very interesting info printed on it, which I now present for your edification. As for the scowlers, they probably will go to hell for what their dirty minds are thinking. They sure looked suspect.

Anyway, the shirt is 50% certified recycled polyester and 50% certified organic cotton. And this is what it says, printed on the inside back:

=========================================

We Are Sensibly Talking Endlessly Clothing Division

This garment is made from 100% certified recycled plastic PET bottles and certified organic cotton. The bottles are stripped of their labels and caps, washed and crushed, then chopped into flakes. These tiny pieces are melted and extruded to create fibre. The fibre produced is crimped, cut, drawn and stretched into desired length for strength, then baled. The baled fibre can be processed into fabric for a variety of textile products and uses.

Presented below are brief descriptions of the processes involved in the production of both ordinary polyester and of recycled polyester:

TO MAKE POLYESTER:

MINE EXPLORATION + PETROLEUM MINING (LAND) OR DRILLING (OCEAN) + PETROLEUM TRANSPORTATION (BOAT, PIPELINE, RAIL & TRUCK)
AT THE POLYESTER REFINEMENT FACTORY:
CHEMICAL TREATMENT 1: TEREPHTHALIC ACID + CHEMICAL TREATMENT 2: DIMETHYL TEREPHTHALATE + CHEMICAL TREATMENT 3: BIS-CHYDROXETHYL ISOPHOLATE + CRUSH, MELT & SHRED INTO POLYESTER FIBRES
AT THE YARN FACTORY:
PACK THE POLY FIBRES INTO BALES + DIVIDE INTO SMALLER ROLLS + WIND THE ROLLS + COMB THE ROLLS + SPIN THE COMBED POLY INTO YARN + KNIT THE POLY YARN WITH OTHER YARNS INTO FABRIC = FINISHED FABRIC

TO MAKE RECYCLED POLYESTER:
COLLECT BOTTLES + COMPACT BOTTLES + TRANSPORT BOTTLES (BOAT, RAIL & TRUCK)
AT THE POLYESTER REFINEMENT FACTORY:
CRUSH, MELT & SHRED INTO POLYESTER FIBRES
AT THE YARN FACTORY:
PACK THE POLYESTER FIBRES INTO BALES + DIVIDE INTO SMALLER ROLLS + WIND THE ROLLS + COMB THE ROLLS + SPIN THE COMBED POLY INTO YARN + KNIT THE POLY YARN WITH OTHER YARNS INTO FABRIC = FINISHED FABRIC

RECYCLED POLYESTER
REDUCES AIR, WATER AND SOIL CONTAMINATION
REDUCES USE OF ENERGY AND OIL
REDUCES NON-BIODEGRADABLE LANDFILL MATTER
REDUCES TOXIC EMISSIONS FROM INCINERATORS
REDUCES POLLUTION AND LAND DEGRADATION
ALTHOUGH, OF COURSE, NOTHING IS PERFECT

===========================================

Worth every penny.

Radiohead - Nude.mp3
 

2 comments so far.

  1. Anonymous August 12, 2008 at 1:16 PM
    VERY cool T-shirt - from cryptic, aesthetic, humorous, street-cred and ecological viewpoints. I would scowl too, but only out of pure jealousy...
  2. Travis Lyle a.k.a DJ Hedmekanik August 12, 2008 at 1:19 PM
    Hehe.

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