Organic cotton is grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and all the nasty agrochemicals that pollute the environment. The elimination of these chemicals leads to so many benefits:
- Organic cotton (OC) crops help to replenish and maintain soil fertility and promotes more biologically diverse agriculture.
- OC crops also require less water, thanks to the increased organic matter in the soil.
- OC farmers use clever methods to keep away pests, like beneficial insects and trap crops, planted to lure away the insects that damage the cotton.
- Clothing made from OC is naturally softer and more comfortable on your skin, since it's free of chemicals like chlorine and formaldehyde, which are commonly applied to conventional cotton products.
According to the Organic Trade Association, worldwide production of organic cotton has been growing at a rate of more than 50% per year (since 2007). In the U.S., a 29% increase in organic cotton acreage was projected to happen between 2008 and 2009.Cotton is in more than just your clothing. Cottonseed oil, a by-product of the cotton industry, is an ingredient in many of the snacks you eat. It's also in animal feed, which gets passed on to you through the food chain, so isn't it great that more and more cotton is being grown organically?
Let's continue the upward trend! Not only do organic cotton products feel good on (and in) your body, the farming methods are gentler on the earth and the people who live on it. If all of these feel-good, positive things about organic cotton aren't enough to convince you, here are some not-so-pleasant facts about the conventional cotton industry:
- The conventional cotton industry uses about 25% of the insecticides and 10% of the pesticides used in the WORLD. These chemicals are highly toxic and often end up being sprayed on farm workers, nearby wildlife, and neighboring communities.
- Conventional cotton farming uses 1/3 of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers to produce enough cotton for ONE t-shirt.
- Many people (this author included, until a customer filled me in) are unaware of the toxic methods used to defoliate the cotton plants, or dry up the pods faster so mechanical picking can happen at the desired time. This customer had grown up in a southern cotton-producing town and would experience terrible allergy attacks every fall when the defoliant was sprayed on the crops (the rest of the town felt the effects as well). Organic practices rely on the natural, seasonal freeze for defoliation, and may use water management for defoliation as well.
- Organic Trade Association: www.ota.com
- Sustainable Cotton Project: www.sustainablecotton.org
- www.aboutorganiccotton.org
- Environmental Justice Foundation: www.ejfoundation.org
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