Oil from Gulf used in t-shirts and necklaces

Overland Park - A man in Kansas is using some of the oil reclaimed from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this year in the t-shirts and necklaces he creates.

Steve Brooker, who is using ink mixed with oil for the printing on the shirts, set up a web site to sell his products. His necklaces are made from small vials of reclaimed oil on a chain. A message on his ‘I helped save the gulf’ web site reads: “You can buy t-shirts or cool necklaces anywhere, I don't think you can find any that contain the sludge of the Gulf.” T-shirts and regular necklaces are priced at $20, while a necklace which includes a bird charm is $25. The site says that the spill was a tragedy with lives lost, ecosystems torn apart and livelihoods lost; and the ‘I helped save the gulf’ items will deal directly with helping to clean up the area. Although the amount of oil used in the products is small, some of the money raised through their sales will go toward charity. Five dollars from every item sold goes to either the National Wildlife Federation, Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research or the National Audubon Society. Each buyer gets to choose which organization benefits from their purchase.