A staggering 97 percent of all clothing sold in the United States is not made in America. If you typically don't intentionally purchase American-made clothing, then you may not realize the benefits of dedicating just a fraction of your clothing budget to exclusively American-made items.
Read on to learn three benefits of purchasing clothing made in the United States.
1. Keep Manufacturing Jobs in the United States
Many men and women in the United States rely on the incomes earned in their manufacturing jobs to support their families. However, as many companies outsource their manufacturing to overseas facilities, manufacturing jobs in the United States are being lost.
In fact, one-quarter of all working adults were employed in the manufacturing industry in 1960, while just 8 percent of all Americans are employed in the manufacturing sector today, partially due to clothing manufacturers outsourcing their production to foreign factories.
When you invest in American clothing, you support clothing companies that have opted to keep their manufacturing facilities in the United States to help support the American economy.
2. Protect the Environment
Buying America-made clothing also helps protect the environment in many ways. Clothing that is manufactured overseas is often shipped to the United States in large cargo ships. The cargo shipping industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental pollution today. In fact, just one large cargo ship can produce as much pollution as 50 million automobiles.
When you purchase American-made clothing, you can stop contributing to the cargo shipping industry and all of the pollution that it causes. While American-made clothing may have to be shipped a few miles by truck, the pollution created shipping clothing from one state to another is trivial compared to the pollution created by a large cargo ship.
In addition, more clothing is produced in China than in any other country in the world. While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strictly regulates American manufacturing facilities to ensure they are not polluting the air and water more than necessary, Chinese manufacturing facilities do not have this strict oversight by the Chinese government.
This leads to much more pollution being created by Chinese clothing manufactures than American manufacturers.
In fact, according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Chinese textile factories produce three billion tons of air-polluting soot during an average year. Soot is produced when fossil fuels are burned and is one of the most hazardous types of air pollution. Soot not only takes a toll on the environment but also can cause respiratory problems and heart disease.
3. Support American Farmers
About 400,000 Americans are employed in the cotton industry, and about 20 percent of the world's cotton is grown in the United States. China is the only country that grows more cotton than the United States, growing close to one-quarter of all cotton in the world.
While not all American-made cotton clothing is produced with cotton grown in the United States, much of it is. You can help support American farmers when you choose American-made clothing produced with cotton grown right here in the United States.
In addition, if you wear leather clothing or accessories, look for leather produced in the United States. When you purchase American-made leather, you help support American cattle farmers. It can be tough to find leather items made in America since the country is not one of the world's major leather producers.
However, you can find many American-made leather accessories right here at Over Under Clothing, including leather belts, handbags, and wallets.
If you typically purchase any clothing that catches your eye, keep these three benefits of purchasing American-made clothing in mind next time you shop. Check out our American-made clothing here at Over Under Clothing and shop for clothing you can feel good about purchasing.
