I must say I find this a funny subject to get righteous about. It's a fact of life that T-shirts and bumperstickers are the pamphlets of the late 20th/early 21st century, and that techniques such as the white wristband have been used before to raise awareness, and to keep issues in the conscious mind. As for the environment, rubber is highly recycleable, and cloth is routinely recycled -- my old clothing goes to non-profits who sell it in bundles to raggers and make something on it -- the cloth gets recycled and the non-profit makes money.
Granted, there are going to be boneheads who do this because BONO would approve, but that's part of the landscape as well-back in the '30s in the US, college kids became Communists, some because they sincerely felt it was a solution to the greed of the '20s, and others because they thought it fashionable, their hormones were out of whack or they wanted to piss off Mumsy and Dada. They would have signed up to be archery targets if someone told them it was cool. There were dilettantes and other idiots involved in everything from the Civil Rights movement to the women's movement and the anti-war movement -- do they define or characterize those movements? Of course not. And is saying you are involved in a certain campaign a violation of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing? I don't think so. If it is, then our Bon would burn like a piece of toast. We certainly know how involved he is and how often he talks about it! Any reasonable person can spot the difference between a holier-than-thou gasbag and a sincere worker for justice. I am no fan of rampant consumerism either, but I consider my $10 a donation, not a purchase -- and the T-shirt a communication device, as well as a godsend for me, because I have a herniated disc in my neck and can't wear a bra every day, and this thing comes in a 2X!! How's THAT for nobility?
I guess the important thing is for each person to worry about his or her own personal motives for doing anything, and not to worry about how other people might take something. Hate to disagree with our Bon, but this AIDS pandemic is genocide, that's not hyperbole, and we have to keep our eyes on the prize. And the most you are going to get out of some people is the wearin' o' the T-shirt. Better than nothing. Let's look at the bright side -- all the nincompoops who are wearing the shirts because they think it's cool? They make great billboards, and really, what else are they suited for?