Oil exploitation

“The BP Gulf Oil Spill of 2010 is of course a tragedy,” states www.ihelpedcleanupthegulfoilspill.com. But hey! Buy a T-shirt!

A Kansas man is having T-shirts made with small bits of reclaimed Gulf oil on them and selling them on the site for $20 a pop. With an oil blot design, the T-shirts read “I Helped Clean Up the Gulf” and in smaller letters, “Actual oil from Gulf used to print T-shirt.” And in smaller letters still: “Oil amounts used are nominal and meant to be symbolic.”

Steve Brooker of Overland Park, Kan., is also selling keepsake vials of Gulf oil for $20. Five dollars from every sale is said to go to a charity. The only charity named on the site was Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, though there’s a link to “suggest a charity” and have it added to the list found upon checkout.

Brooker said the T-shirts are “one small way” to help clean up the Gulf. His website says, “You can buy T-shirts or cool necklaces anywhere, I don’t think you can find any that contain the sludge of the Gulf.”