The Story of Stuff

1351 Words6 Pages
Where Does A T-Shirt Come From? “The Story of Stuff”, presented by Annie Leonard, is an interesting clip that tells us about the material economy system. According to Leonard, the material system has three main procedures including extraction, production, and distribution. She also mentioned that the material system is linear, which can only works with infinite resources. However, this system cannot run forever because resources of our planet are limited. One of her important findings is proving how this material system correlates to and affects by our society, culture, and economy. Leonard’s statement about the relationship between the material economy system and the real world is very simple and valid, but not many people can realize and acknowledge it. Taking T-shirts for example, T-shirts have been so popular since their creation in 1920; nowadays, they are more favored by everyone in a variety of colors, patterns, and styles. People wear T-shirts all the time, but not many of them ever wonder how these T-shirts come to their hands, and what raw material they are made of. They just simply do not pay attention or do not care. Let’s have t-shirt manufacturing as our example to prove that Leonard’s point of view is correct. In order for the material system to work, raw materials are needed. The extraction of a specific material is founded in some areas that have compatible conditions to plant or to manufacture these materials such as culture, environment, and economy. If we take a look at raw materials of t-shirts, we can easily recognize that major components of the T-shirts are 100% cotton, polyester, or cotton/polyester blend. To get those materials, corporation has to find potential resources that can support the supply demands so that the production line is able to run smoothly. According to The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), the
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