NPR and Planet money produced this short 5-part series about what truly goes into making a t-shirt from start to finish. And that doesn't just mean taking a blank t-shirt and printing it, that means every aspect from growing and harvesting cotton to running it through various machines to make yarn then fabric, followed by constructing the shirts by hand and shipping to the US.
While the construction of the shirts in impoverished countries is a reality that is hard to watch, there are upsides to the entire venture. We recommend watching all of them because in the end we're all responsible for a small part of the process. In the end, it is eye-opening to see the process to get to the point where we can finally put our touches to the fabric.
COTTON: Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt (Part I) from NPR on Vimeo.
