Hickory, N.C.-based Dirtball Fashion LLC has introduced a 100-percent recycled cotton/polyester, Made-in-USA men's apparel line that includes jeans, T-shirts, polos, shorts, hats, hooded sweatshirts, jackets and socks.
The company notes that recycling pre-consumer cotton doesn't require the manual labor or land required for conventionally grown cotton, and helps prevent five billion pounds of waste from going into U.S. landfills. For every three billion plastic bottles that are recycled to go into its apparel, Dirtball saves more than half a million barrels of oil and eliminates 400,000 tons of harmful air emissions; and for every 100,000 T-shirts the company produces, it reduces fresh water usage by approximately 916,000 gallons.
Dirtball also notes that "The Dirt Short," which is made from 25 16-ounce plastic bottles recycled into a high-quality polyester fabric, also is recyclable - worn-out shorts may be returned to the company to be reprocessed into polyester fiber, and in return, Dirtball will send the customer a 20-percent-off coupon for a future online purchase. The company also hosts community sporting events to promote resource conservation.
"When I founded Dirtball, I wasn't interested in creating just a company that sells any old T-shirts and shorts for men," said Joe Fox, founder and president, Dirtball. "I was interested in starting a movement, and my team and I have done just that; we're not only producing eco-friendly apparel for active lifestyles, we're getting the community involved as well in order to promote conservation."
