The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2017
- Trace the life cycle of a classic white t-shirt to find out how they’re made and what is their ultimate environmental impact.
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Consider the classic white t-shirt. Annually, we sell and buy 2 billion t-shirts globally, making it one of the most common garments in the world. But how and where is the average t-shirt made, and what’s its environmental impact? Angel Chang traces the life cycle of a t-shirt.
Lesson by Angel Chang, directed by TED-Ed.
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Alexandra Panzer, Jordan Tang, Christopher Jimenez, Juan, Tracey Tobkin, Alex Neal, Louie Lapat, Emily Lam, Kathryn J Hammond, Elliot Poulin, Sam, Noel Situ, Oyuntsengel Tseyen-Oidov.
Lifecycle of a t-shirt in India->
1 purchased
2 worn by some dude
3 worn by his younger sibling
4 used as night/home wear or gym tshirt
5 donated if still good enough
6 otherwise, used for cleaning/ mopping purposes in the end
Couldn't agree more
Hey don't reveal secrets
Because according to what you say there will no wastage
Same here but I live in the Philippines
@@azee1199 oh Philippines good place to live
Same here on Mexico
My family isn't necessarily poor (at least not extreme poverty, at most moderate), but we don't want to buy clothes if we don't need them
Lifecycle of my t-shirt
My body -> My bed -> my computer chair -> my bed -> my computer chair (and the cycle goes on)
Tell Me This lmao that made me lol
until you need it again and then... then it will disapear
Amrit Sehwag ikr?!!!
wow. what a boring live !
whats so boring about it?
"Fashion is the second biggest polluter in the world."
It’s true
absolutely true oh no this video is making me guilty for buying new clothes every year
@@akarina_toth Puja shopping. 😖
@rishika paul yeah me too especially durga puja 😖😓
lye, food production is the biggest polluter
Finally, a good reason not to do my laundry
*ok buddy hold on their*
@Ryde Mk *ThErE
True🤣🤣
🤣🤣
LOL
if we stopped sneering at each other for wearing "last seasons" fashions. we could cut production by 90 %.
i dont think anyone has ever said that unironicly
IKR! Y DO CLOTHES MATTER SO MUCH PPL. It’s just a layer of modesty and warmth. It’s a functional tool, not the most important thing in the world. And WHY do we have to come up with a new “fashion” every STINKING MONTH?”
@That One he never said he did...
@Pat R oh wow... really. I get looked at weird for generic clothes alllll the time, even if people dont have the guts to come out and say it.
@That One shut up
Thank you for letting me watch this for free.
Pantokrator because it takes time and effort to create it
They aren't doing this for free they get money you doofus
ScienceAIR i see you everywhere
Bobby
Yes that's true but you don't have to pay for it.
Bobby He ment them for letting him WATCH it for free. Now your the "doofus"
how to save this??
*thrift.*
*buy second hand clothing, sell ur clothes. :)*
Saves so muchhhh
It does tho
@@thestoriedlife7671 but, how? I mean, how selling and buying saves more money than keeping?
@@Yorick257 Hi there, im currently doing two assignments regarding fast fashion so i'm hoping my answer will be okay. Keeping clothes is always the best option but sometimes we grow out of those clothes or they get too big or sometimes we simply want new clothes so selling your clothes rather throwing away is always the best option not just money wise, throwing away clothes contributes to pollution since most clothing pieces have the same life span as a plastic bag and going to thrift stores helps stop that toxic cycle of fast fashion because the clothing piece you've purchased didn't end up in the waste bin.
@XUÉ NEMOGA STOUT thank you 😊
The irony of wearing a cotton tshirt saying Love the Environment or Save the Earth
Not exactly, that person has to wear something or the other and it will be good if it is spreading a good message to everyone else.
Omg that's a hilarious point
Still better than wearing t-shirts made from synthetic polymers
Yup, we should wear polyester
@@maggiejetson7904 ??wdym
*I didn't know that shirts cause this huge environmental problem. Very good eye-opening video Ted Ed!*
What would you do now?
ɐɯɹɐʞ ɐıuɐɯ stop wearing clothes...
Stop buying smartphones.
Animal agriculture is worse. Watch Cowspiracy on Netflix.
Please look at a good movie about the problems with Animal agriculture, instead of the pure conspiracy movie "Cowspiracy", which are filled with faults, instead of talking about the problems in a realistic way.
Watching this video makes me feel way better about the fact I'd been wearing the same clothing over a decade. You're welcome planet.
whos here for textiles homework
Me 😂😂
Me
Me
😮😮 What's that?
MEEE 😭
Who else is watching while wearing a t shirt
your mom
@@eliselosfeld6214 not me and your mom
Wait what❓😧
A winter sweater during spring
Aye Aye, Skipper!
I never thought tshirts could make such an impact in the environment. 😑
Yea
I thought a t-shirt was harmless
They don't. This is bs.
is there anything humans can make without harming the environment ???
Abhishek Singh I'm sure there's a lot of things
Luke Hamer for President
There are ways. We just have to make those choices as consumers.
Yes - plant trees, don't own pets, grow your own garden, etc.
Whatwhat3434 Don't own pets? What the heck?
"Organic" That's a very dangerous word that has high impact, especially when it wasn't explained correctly.
Yeah, I was thinking, "What would an inorganic t shirt be made of and how would it feel to wear one?"
@That One Lol, I guess my sarcasm went over your head. I am a chemist, specifically a pesticide residue chemist. My beef is with people like you who have no idea what the actual meaning of the word organic is. The word is derived from the Greek word organikos. The word is a technical term meaning carbon-based compounds, the first observed of which were associated with living organisms. It really has no other meaning, although people lacking a chemistry background seem to feel free to associate any meaning they wish to the word. Specific to the topic of this article, t-shirts are organic in that they are made of either natural (cotton) or synthetic (polyester) cloth that of course is organic. An inorganic t-shirt is a silly idea, in that it would have to be made of minerals. Ah, a chain mail shirt, that would be an inorganic shirt, but prolly not classified as a t-shirt.
Doesn't it say in the video 1:22, organic cotton grown without pesticides? Like it tells you what they mean?
@@hello-sj8cf I think if you read the rest of the responses in this thread, you would see that the educated among us have accepted that organic is a term used for substances made of carbon containing compounds and reject the idea that the term organic can have whatever meaning the uneducated want to give to it. Organic is a specific technical term. I might suggest the term "adulterated" for the idea you are trying to get across.
Well I guess inorganic contains some highly toxic textiles like acrylic.
4:03 how can a household wash 400 times a year, that would mean washing several times a day.
You have a point
Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. More loads than days in a year 😂🤣
Meet my mother
Noice
I'm just commenting so if there's ever a decent reply I'll get to read it
0:38
"Self-driving machines carefully harvest these puffs"
A giant truck bulldozes everything
Exceptional. What an informative video!!! Literally mindblowing. It really helps in pointing out the "unwanted and unnecessary practices, being done by all of us. Excellent work Ted, hands-off.
In India we already use worn out cloths for cleaning and dusting purpose 😊
Raju that's because you're poor not environmentally consious....
that s mean
That is true. It is not because we r poor or something like stingy it's because we save resoure( including money )
cooldesertknight materialistic ? Please . Atleast , we don't waste food or resources and act basic AF like first world countries .
Meh.... My mum simply says that the cleaning stuff from market aren't as good as the old clothes..
Damn, I never thought I'd feel this guilty for owning a t-shirt 😂😂
Lol mate same xxxxxxxxx
As someone who had to count roughly 6,000 shirts in at work today, I found this very interesting. I've often thought about what their journey is to getting to the warehouse I work in. You guys skipped the part where the shirts go to get some design printed on them and all the chemicals used in the printing process to get a design on a garment. But then you mentioned the "fast fashion" part later. We make so many shirts that I know will just be worn for a day and never used again.
the thing about shirts with designs on them though is the fact that they're more likely to be worn until they are falling apart.
I keep my tshirts till they practically fall apart, i would never buy a tshirt to only wear once.
I prefer plain shirts
I was just reading about this, such a important issue. Also important to know how each clothing store deals with these issues and whether they are about sustainable clothes or fast fashion. Good video, thanks for spreading awareness.
I would kill for some Chinese subtitles on these so I can share with my family in China. Unfortunately my Chinese isn't good enough but it would be so so so helpful trying to explain why fashion is one easy thing we have control over to reduce harmful chemicals and environmental impact. Bravo Ted-Ed team, amazing video!👏
Awesome video. It took me until 5yrs ago to break away from the over-consumer need. I now own 7 t-shirts, different colours and am happy to pay upwards of $50 per tee for the numerous ethical reasons. Plus, if you drop more $$ on a quality tshirt, you'll want to take care of it!
Average of 10 T-shirts per person per year? That seems like too many, I have about 10 T-shirts from the last ten years
Caffeine and Carbs I take it you are a student or sit in an office?
Caffeine and Carbs Yea but you're one person. There are hollywood actors who wear new outfits for shows, movies, gatherings, videos etc. The socialites that have an outfit(s) for the beach, mall, work, bed, restaurant, hiking, running, exercising, visiting, playing, and going out. There are extreme high and lows of every spectrum. But the average of 10 shirts a year seems reasonable to me.
Dustin Wrye
A student yeah, not sure how that affects it though. I don't think I'd buy many more if I was an older person with an actual decent income.
Raymond V.M
I could imagine that in the US or Europe then an average of ten a year seems more possible, but surely the billions of people in poorer parts of the world would reduce it
Caffeine and Carbs for h
"Life cycle of a shirt" more like "how to make everyone feel bad about everything involving clothes".
I think I'm gonna become a nudist now
RandomGerman it's not really meant to make people feel bad, it's more to better educate on the process and encourage people to find better, more efficient or eco friendly ways of production.
dracson237 I know, I found the video very eye-opening and shocking but I'm glad I watched it
o ok, cool, man. never give up on your dreams.
organic hemp is the way to go
RandomGerman watch Vsauce video "why we wear clothes" first before you do that
I love it when TED-Ed run out of ideas, the videos are so unique and that's why i love them
I always do this but I really envy those who are taking it a step further and teaching others of the harm caused by the fashion industry
“Some countries” shows the entire of South America
Thanks for presenting this information in an approachable way while making sure not to pass judgement on the viewer, great work once again
As a fashion merchandising major, we learned a lot about the impact of our industry on the environment and society. And yes, as fast fashion continues to run rampant, the fashion industry continues to wreak havoc environmentally and socially. It's a tough cycle to break, and people are slowly becoming more aware of sustainability. I'm very glad TED ed showed this video so more and more people can become more educated on the issue.
The best line "Fashion is the second most polluter after oil"
Another fact- destruction of forests and grasslands accounts for more pollution than all the trucks and cars of the World combined🙁
Great video Ted-Ed! Thank you a lot for awesome videos that teach about where the products come related to the most basic needs in our society so people can be more critic whenever they decide to buy. Keep up the good work :D
This is EXACTLY what I need for my class - thank you so much!
Love watching TED ED vids not just because i learn from it but it also satisfied me.
I only have band t-shirts, and I keep them for more than 10 years... These are precious, and I even have a long sleeve Venom shirt back from the start of the 90ties. I am NEVER gonna give it up, and fix it as much as I can (it never had any problems).
Such a great and informative video! It visualizes lots of terminology of fashion (most of themI learnt during my fashion & textiles degree) which makes whose information become very easy to understand! Wonderful!
Solution: Do not use T-shirts, use leaves
baianopetista or nothing at all!
graypaint No, that'd be good. While they're making trees for leaves, they don't need to chop em down for the leaves. It'd improve the eco-system tenfold.
Not saying I think we should do this by the way...
baianopetista
Seriously though, they mean just get pre-owned clothing
Red Fox1011 well the tree gathers carbondioxide from their leaves soo i dont think thats a good idea either
I prefer slow fashion and design--the thing that last.
Hemp and bamboo are way stronger and use way less water, especially hemp, though bamboo is antibacterial and also has other uses like a substitute for timber as it grows super fast, and its shoots can be cooked and eaten.
Maybe the most interesting Ted ed video I've watched. So engaging I even forgot to check the duration
POV: you were forced to watch this for school
Ayo truuu
4:00 the average house hold does laundry more than once a day? something about that seems wrong
Some households are large enough for multiple machines of laundry per day while others seperate their clothing by color, washing each individually.
There are also those that wash every day even when the machine isn't full.
it's just an average and it's not like it has to be over the entire week/month. When you have a lot of clothes it takes a lot of loads especially if you have a family. So a family could realistically wash their clothes once a week and do 5+ load
revieman1 The gallon per load consumption is dubious though. 40 gallons per cycle might be true for the old washers, but the norm had been high efficiency for a long time now. My super huge high efficiency uses 15 gallons per cycle.
No me thinks about this me thinks they've just made up these statistics with no real sources :P
They have a whole entire website with sources lol.
I’m using this video as my main source for my essay on how to be a environmentally conscious fashionista! Thank you!
Bruh
I'm happy to hear that I was able to contribute even a little in reducing consumption by means of recycling clothes into a cleaner,mop etc. and even buying clothes from a thrift store(ukayukay).
I'm never wearing a shirt again!!
kevinsmak you sound like a gullible person
Omg I'm a huge fan
@Bumboozeler It's only a joke man.
2 seconds later: *puts on a shirt*
kevinsmak you can buy a second hand t shirt then the cycle dosent have to happen again!
I had no idea. Thank you for informing the world! 🌎 ❤️
I grew up in the USA, with same lifecycle was not only for T-shirts but other garments and now grown I wear some 25 year old t-shirts, and use them after they get holey for drying dishes ectra..
I like sharing your videos to my students. I'm a science teacher and they're very useful.
I love to see ted ed videos, it inspires me
I give this information whatever I learnt to my parents.
Thanks Ted ed.
Thanks a lot
Thanks for a very informative video. I'm also very curious to see some statistics about the final product distribution - for instance, how many clothing items that make it to shops end up being a visual cannonfodder, never to be bought and eventually (likely) thrown away.
I think the rate was 10-40% depending on the brand and clothing item.
Which is huge all in all 😔.
This video made me feel better about still wearing shirts I bought like 10 years ago and generally not having a lot clothes
A technical note: If you use a circular knitting machine the fabric is not woven but knit.
The best thing: don’t buy it. You don’t need 4 weeks of clothing
I guess you are not a student, who doesn't have a washing mashine at home
I guess you don’t know that some of us have anxiety of peoples opinions?
Christos Savvides why don’t you have a washing machine?
@@popolin8614 They are not cheap
@@christossavvides5153 dont act like u cant wash ur clothes SOMEHOW...
Nice presentation, but...
Washing T-shirts are not something that are exclusive for T-shirts, so that energy use would be used anyways.
And don't use dryers, let the cloth dry by hanging in air.
Thanks for this video because I didn't know that the process of making T-shirt and I also learned how can save our environment.
Eye opening video....I'm glad that old clothes are already used for cleaning purposes in our homes
WE NEED BETTER WAYS TO MAKE T-SHIRTS!
WE NEED BETTER WAYS TO WASH OUR CLOTHES!
WE NEED BETTER WAYS TO TRANSPORT GOODS!
WE NEED BETTER WAYS TO RUN OUR PLANET!
another thing you could do is knit some of your own garments, whilst sourcing the wool from your own country, drastically reducing or even eliminating all of the problems mentioned in this video
No, producing 100 objects in the same factory has a lesser footprint than producing 100 objects in 100 different factories. It is called economies of scale.
I'm 12 and I love this form of learning
In my house, and in many other places in my country, we wash our clothes two ways. The first is through the laundry machine, the second is hand wash. We also dry our clothes in two ways; dryer, or hanging the clothes in a clothes line. Although hand wash does require manual labor and is harder to do, it's more eco-friendly. Same goes for the clothes line.
You don't need to be a nudist to support the environment. Buying clothes only when you need to, buying clothes made more locally (if possible), and donating or re-purposing used clothing instead of tossing it out are all easy ways for you to make a pretty decent impact. (At least as big of an impact that any one individual can make).
I find the title of this video to be a little misleading. It's more about the carbon footprint of clothing rather than just how a shirt is made.
This is the way it is made. Its not only carbon, there is water, and health problem as well. And point is we buying more and more each year, not that we are buying it at all.
i think "life cycle", meant to be more engaging make you think about your influence on the process and how you could be more aware!
jenjerx In other words clickbait from a well refuted channel who aren't supposed to be misleading or biased
I know right. 'Life cycle' is suppose to talk about (obviously) the cycle of something's life, how they were made, how long they last, what happens after they are unusable, burned? Burried? Recycled? How do you recycle them? The 'cycle' isn't even there. It's more like "now that you know it, feel ashamed, feel bad that you just bought that new t-shirt, you monster" title
Plus, it is meaningless if not compared to the impact of alternatives.
Growing locally ? Other fibers ? Other clothes ? Other processes ?
I was so long looking for such an explanation... Thanks a lot
In the city I'm in, we only use dryers for delicates and hang the rest under the sun to dry. Saves a lot of energy and money.
Love this, I think it would have been even better if the beginning was a bit more accurate. Cotton, especially in Asia, is very often collected by hand as is the washing and transformation of it. Myanmar is becoming a country where the production of fast fashion is exploding, leaving the population with low income jobs, poor housing and horrific environmental situations.
This channel gives me
*I N F I N I T E W I S D O M*
Worn tshirts(or any clothing which soaks water) is best free rags in planet. Learned that from my grandmother when I was kid, never dit let go this habbit since :)
Hi TED Ed your channel is so educatinal and it really inspire me to be more caring about our planet such as reducing the usage of plastics,toxic chemecal,and other harmful things that might kill our planet, even us. I really love to watch your videos i really support you guys a lot, keep inspiring more people specially the youth like me that doesn't have much care for the Earth, well except me, i love you guys and great job
Before video: shopping cart filled
After video: deletes entire cart and wishlist
I got this as homework.
Thanks for this video team, Even If I watched it late. It is an Eye opener.
Wow! Is this how TED always is? I'll never take "How it's made" for granted again.
Woah! Didn't know shirts could even harm environment and could even lead to carbon emissions!! I think the solution to use second hand ,reusing shirts can somehow help in reducing the effects of it.
That's just T-Shirts imagine every single other little object in the world. A bead, a table sitting right next to you, a little toy, a charger, a chair, a pot, a lamp, just think about it
I love how the animater animates this its amazing 💝
The animation of this video makes me happy.
Please use the metric system. It s all i want from you. Excluding that, you make great videos and please keep doing them. Thanks:)
DoK yeah..I am from Europe and it really annoyes me when I cannot understand a word the person is saying,just because I am not in the US and I use the metric units,because they were the only units I was tought in school
agree. since this video is on the internet for the whole world, it should be using a system that the whole world (great majority) is using. unless ted videos are meant for american only. Start to globalize and stop resisting to changes.
@@hexyzhexyz8009 but ted ed is an american company.... do you expect them to use metric system?
@@willhblob1171 yes. use it. doesn't mean you are american, u cannot learn new things. doesn't mean u are born chinese, u must speak chinese. if their target audience is americans only, then so be it.
@@hexyzhexyz8009 yep, that's what i was trying to get across.
NEVER CLICKED SO FAST I KNOW SCHOOL HASN'T STARTED BUT I STILL WANT TO LEARN
ARE YOU HAPPY
columbus8myhw I love learning, don't you?
Imaginary luigi bros Lol school started for me 3 weeks ago.
mine started today rip😰
Dragn_Slyr 02 Your school starts on a Tuesday?
We do ALL the recycling method with our clothes! Bags turn into rags, t - shirts and pants donated and we only go shopping twice a year ❤️😄
uploaded a podcast with 2 nyc fashion designers creating outfits from second hand clothes, its such a cool concept!
What I learn from this video is wear dress shirts instead of t-shirts
whos watching this for a lesson in lockdown
It opens up my mind. Behind sth we assume normal hides so many misteries
Thank you so much TED ED! I'll be more resourceful now!
I’m supposed to write a 100 word reflection on how this video relates to my life, for school. Send help lmao
Have you ever looked at a comment and thought 'I wished I posted that'.
[GD] D4vide39 yep 😂 i wish i post this
@@iepurela2025 i wish i posted that
In the philippines our shirts usually live 15-30 years until they become rugs and etc.,
They can even be older than 100 years.
wut how
Capsule wardrobe, wearing neutral colours, buying quality garment which will last, are some ideas to reduce pollution.
Top tips;
• Donate old clothes or recycle it
• Shop eco brands
• Shop second hand
• Try to purchase 100% cotton if you want to purchase something new
• Wash clothes less
• Dry clothes outside instead of using a dryer
Anything I missed guys?
How about sewing your own clothes
@@marthaschou still need the cloth/yarn to make em
Who the heck does that much laundry?! That's more than one load a day! I rewinded several times to confirm what was being said.
Our family dose like three loads a day lol
It’s the average household so that’s like 4 to 5 peoples laundry and towels
we are making plastic bottle recycling items such as pencil holders in school, i suggested it after this video.
Thanks for the amazing video!
I thought this was going to be a funny story with cute animations but all I got was "your clothes are ruining the planet"
4:00
That's... questionable. That ends up being more than a load per day. Most people I know do one load per week. Also most machines sold these days are HE, which can potentially cut the water usage in half compared to older machines.
But yeah, in general all of the concerns raised in the video are still pretty serious.
Several loads at one time for families with children
Young people should and do care more for the environment these days and this is something really encouraging!
this is too good... that's why this is my favorite channel
i literally slept halfway through
i only woke up when she said
thanks for watching :)
Donating doesn't help only a small amount of donated clothes are being used in charity. The rest are ship into the developing world mostly by containers for profit, to make it worse the donated clothes disrupt the local textile industry of the receiving country. Who would buy local clothes if second hand branded clothes from developed countries are cheaper and more trendy. Some of the clothes also end up in dump sites since not all clothes are bought contributing more to the pollution dilemma of the developing nations.
If people opted for donated or second hand clothes than therewould be more donated clothes being reused instead of landing up in a dump. And I really don't think that it's healthy for us at this point to look at the impact the textile industries would suffer if people bought second hand.
Such a helpful piece of information, thank you
So amazing history .I'm so glad that i had found this channel😊
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