Trash Project - Cotton

Group 18- Ilori Caldwell, Rhyan Malachowski,

Maya Montemayor, Paul Perez, & Tessa Shanahan
GROUP 18 -
COTTON
PROJECT ADVISOR:
EDWARD TIERNEY
Why cotton?

68% of cotton T-
Shirts purchased
are thrown away
per year to rot in
landfills.
 It takes
2,200 Gallons of water
to make one T-shirt and a pair of
jeans.
 One person
alone throws out
70 pounds
of clothes every
year
 13%
of garbage in landfills
are cotton products
One bale of cotton
can produce
1,217 Mens T-
shirts
Historical Timeline of Cotton

3000 BC 1492 1556

Cotton was being grown, spun Christopher Columbus Cotton was planted in
and woven into cloth in discovered cotton growing on Florida and grown by
Pakistan, and being made and the Bahama Islands Spaniards
worn in Egypt

800 AD 1500s 1607

Arabs brought cotton cloth to The entire world knew and The first cotton seed
Europe used cotton was planted the
British colonies
Historical Timeline of Cotton

1619 1730
The first slaves were Cotton was first spun by
brought to the British machinery in England
Colonies

1700s
In England, it became illegal to
import or manufacture cloth
from cotton
1790
Samuel Slater built the first
American Cotton Mill
Samuel Slater & the American Cotton Mill
Historical Timeline of Cotton

1619 1730 1794

The first slaves were Cotton was first spun by
brought to the British machinery in England Eli Whitney invented the
Colonies Cotton Gin

1700s
In England, it became illegal to
import or manufacture cloth
from cotton
1790
Samuel Slater built the first
American Cotton Mill
Eli Whitney & Cotton Gin
Historical Timeline of Cotton

1619 1730 1794

The first slaves were Cotton was first spun by
brought to the British machinery in England Eli Whitney invented the
Colonies Cotton Gin

1700s 1790 1930

In England, it became illegal to The Rust Brothers
Samuel Slater built the first invented the
import or manufacture cloth
American Cotton Mill Cotton Picker
from cotton
The Rust Brothers & the Cotton Picker
 Texas:
5.9 million
Cotton Statistics
According to www.statica.com, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, North
Carolina and Arkansas are the top 5 states that produce the most
bales of cotton per year.

Georgia:
2.5 million

Mississippi:
Arkansas: North Carolina:
1 million
800 thousand 990 thousand
Chemistry of Cotton
Composition:
➸ 91% cellulose
➸ 7.85% water
➸ .55% protoplasm, pectins
➸ .4% waxes, fatty substances

Cotton in a landfill:
Cellulose
➸ is biodegradable
➸ decomposes fairly quickly
Effects of Cotton on Animals and Nature

Animals
➸ If cotton material (in the ocean) is “consumed by wildlife, it is often
naturally digested” (Biodegradable)
➸ Pigs and horses are likely to get be harmed by eating cotton

Nature
➸ Cotton is the most pesticide intensive crop in the world
➸ Cotton uses up a ton of water and is drying up the Aral Sea
➸ A T-shirt travels the distance of once around the globe during
production
The Effect of Cotton Production
Materials Used to Create Clothes
➸ Cotton comes from the plants that are of the
genus Gossypium
➸ Heavy amounts of Pesticides are used

Why are Pesticides Used?

What’s The Impact?
➸ Pesticides are used to keep the cotton from getting infected of
diseases and insect infestations.
➸ Pesticides pollute the groundwater.
➸ They affect the plants and animals living in that ecosystem.
From the Field to your Closet
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

The Harvest Plant to Material Rough Material

to Soft Fabric
➸ Cotton from the ➸ The bales of cotton ➸ The rough cotton
field is put into a fiber are spun, fabric is treated with
cotton gin carded, combed, heat and chemicals
➸ Inside the cotton and blended ➸ The fabric is
gin, usable cotton is ➸ The spun cotton is considered
mechanically then knit on a loom “finished” when at
separated from the into rough grey-ish desired softness
rest of the seed fabric and coloring

The finished fabric is transported to sewing facilities,

where it is made into blank garments.
Recycling Cotton Clothing
Recycled Cotton Clothing
➸ Wiping Towels
➸ Insulation
➸ Carpet Padding
➸ Towels
➸ Paper Money

Byproducts of Recycling Cotton

➸ Factories emit pollutants like CO2
➸ More CO2 emitted during distribution
of the recycled products
The Landfill and The Burning of Cotton
The Landfill
➸ Cotton is biodegradable
➸ Cotton biodegrades in 1-5 months
➸ Clothing biodegrades in about 3 months
➸ Cotton biodegrades faster than polyester

Burning Cotton Clothes

➸ Combustible
➸ Gives off large amounts of smoke and CO2
Wasted Cotton
Statistics
● In 1960, the amount of cotton waste
was 20 million tons
● In 1980, the amount of cotton waste
was over 27 million tons
Solution? Yes.
● In 2012, the amount of cotton waste
was almost 34 million tons
Why?
● When clothes get old, people throw
them out and they become more trash
that we have to deal with
● Many people in the United States don't
know that they could save their cotton
waste or they just don't know how to.
● Donating cotton material to
places like Goodwill
● Donation boxes
 Reusing
THE
UPCYCLE Cotton T-
Shirts
 Tessa Shanahan Paul Perez Ilori Caldwell
Teddy-Bear Pillow Pot-Holder

Our Upcycling Projects

Rhyan Malachowski Maya Montemayor
Cat Tent Shag Rug
 Materials Used:
➸ 1 100% cotton Tshirt ➸ Cotton pillow filling
Pillow Upcycle ➸ Pair of Scissors ➸ Ruler

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Cut 100% cotton On the edges of Lay the sheets on Insert the pillow
shirts into two each sheet cut 2 top of each other, filling into the
12’’ x 12’’ sheets. inch strips. and tie the strips remaining opening
on 3 sides of each and tie the strips of
sheet to the the final sides
corresponding together completing
strip on the the pillow.
opposite sheet.
 Materials Used:
➸ 5 100% cotton t-shirts
Shag Rug Upcycle ➸ Pair of Scissors

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Starting at one corner of
Cut out a rectangle, With the remaining Finally, after you have
out of one side of the base, thread a strip
shirts, cut them into finished filling the base
the t-shirt for the down through the first
strips that are about 1 hole, then back up the
with t-shirt strips, trim the
base. Next, cut
inch wide, and 5-6 second. Tie the two strips to a height that
holes, ½ centimeter
inches in length. While strands together. With the you would like.
in length, starting
from 1 inch from the cutting out the strips, second strip, start through
base. Continually cut try to use the entire the same hole you pulled
holes that are about shirt. the last strip from, and
¾ of an inch apart in continue to thread the
rows on base. strips through all the
holes.
 Materials:
➸ Two Cotton T-shirts ➸ Duct Tape
➸ Two wire hangers ➸ Scissors
Cat Tent Upcycle ➸ a 15” by 15” piece ➸ (of course), a Cat
of cardboard

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Get an old cotton Cut and shape 2 Put the outline Pull the other t-shirt
t-shirt and cut it wire hangers into through the over the outline and
into a strip and a curved “x” to corners of the fold the extra
wrap it up to create the piece of material underneath
make a cat toy. outline, and tape cardboard and the cat tent.
them together tape down.
where they meet.
Works Cited
➸ “Biodegradable.” Hearts. 2012. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.hearts.com/Images/product-values/pdf/Material%20-
%20Biodegradable%20-%20hearts.com.pdf>

➸ “Cotton - A Natural Fiber” English Online. 2 December 2015. <http://www.english-online.at/biology/cotton/cotton-a-natural-

fiber.htm>

➸ “Frequent Clothing and Accessory Recycling Questions.” Earth 911. 4 December 2015. <http://www.earth911.com/recycling-
guide/how-to-recycle-clothing-accessories/>

➸ “History.” Story of Cotton. 2 December 2015. <http://cottonsjourney.com/Storyofcotton/page2.asp>

➸ “History of Cotton.” Cotton Counts. 2 December 2015. <https://www.cotton.org/pubs/cottoncounts/story/>

➸ Meyer, Melody. “Chemical Cotton.” Rodale Institute. 4 February 2014. 4 December 2015.
<http://rodaleinstitute.org/chemical-cotton/>

➸ Sukalich, Kathryn. “Why T-Shirts Can’t be Recycled into New T-Shirts.” Earth 911. 9 May 2013. 30 November 2015.
<http://www.earth911.com/living-well-being/style/recycled-clothing-fabrics/>

➸ “Textile Recycling Fact Sheet.” Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles. 4 December 2015.
<http://www.smartasn.org/educators-kids/textile_recycling_fact_sheet.pdf>