Buy a T-Shirt, Kill a Bear.

Overconsumption kills because humans destroy the nature around us.

Figure 1

The t-shirts we wear are often made from cheap cotton, a crop that demands water, fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, and warm climates. Typically, cotton is grown in the South in the United States. However, the cultivation of cotton raises significant environmental and health concerns. Fertilizers, which are petrochemicals derived from oil, have been linked to cancer and disruptions of the endocrine system. Herbicides, are often sprayed to eliminate weeds, but release carcinogenic chemicals. When it rains, these toxins contaminate the water supply, cycling back into our ecosystems.

Pesticides, another key input for cotton farming, often contain neonicotinoids, chemicals similar to nicotine. These are used to kill pests like caterpillars by overstimulating their central nervous systems, ultimately leading to their deaths. Unfortunately, the impact doesn’t stop there. Over 70% of insect populations are declining. Birds that feed on these poisoned insects also experience overstimulation of their central nervous systems, leading to significant population declines. Depending on the region in the United States, bird populations have plummeted by 75% to 90%.

Figure 2

The moth population has drastically declined, with only one generation now migrating to the West Coast. Moths, often found under rocks, are a crucial food source for grizzly bears. This source provides the fat reserves the bears need to survive hibernation. This issue has forced bears to come out from hibernation early, desperately searching for food. But, there isn’t any food as there’s snow covering mass amounts of land. Yes, there’s climate change, but there’s more evaporation of water, leading to heavy snowfall.

This crisis heavily impacts pregnant grizzly bears, many of whom are starving or experiencing miscarriages. Without adequate fat reserves from moths, mothers struggle to feed themselves or their cubs. The cubs, reliant on their mothers’ fat, face high mortality rates in this harsh environment.

Ultimately, humans create habitat fragmentation by disrupting ecosystems, which have evolved over millions of years. Challenge yourself to make a change. Purchasing through Goodwill or thrift stores doesn’t mean you contribute to this damaging cycle.

Inspired by: AP Biology Lecture by Jonathan Neil