What is ‘Organic Cotton’?
taken from WIKIpedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_cotton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_clothing
Organic cotton is generally understood as cotton, from non genetically modified plants, that is certified to be grown without the use of any synthetic agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides. Its production also promotes and enhances biodiversity and biological cycles. As of 2007, 265,517 bales of organic cotton were produced in 24 countries and worldwide production was growing at a rate of more than 50% per year
Cotton covers 2.5% of the world’s cultivated land yet uses 16% of the world’s insecticides, more than any other single major crop. Other environmental consequences of the elevated use of chemicals in the non organic cotton growing methods consist of:
- High levels of agrochemicals are used in the production of non-organic, conventional cotton. Cotton production uses more chemicals per unit area than any other crop and accounts in total for 16% of the world’s pesticides.
- Chemicals used in the processing of cotton pollute the air and surface waters.
- Residual chemicals may irritate consumers’ skin.
- Decreased biodiversity and shifting equilibrium of ecosystems due to the use of pesticides.
Cotton growers who make the transition to biologically based growing practices expect to not only offer a healthier and cleaner product, but to also benefit the planet. Some of the contributions to the different ecosystems include:
- Protecting surface and groundwater quality (eliminating contaminants in surface runoff)
- Reduced risk insect and disease control by replacing insecticide with the manipulation of ecosystems
- Long-term prevention of pests through beneficial habitat planting.
- Conservation of biodiversity
- Eliminate the use of toxic chemicals used in cotton
- Organically grown crops also yield soils with higher organic matter content, thicker topsoil depth, higher polysaccharide content, and lower modulus of rupture; therefore reducing considerably soil erosion.
Since organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, it should contain fewer pesticides than conventional cotton. Pesticides used in the production of conventional cotton include orthophosphates such as phorate and methamidophos, endosulfan (highly toxic to farmers, but not very environmentally persistent) and aldicarb. Other pesticides persisting in cotton fields in the United States include Trifluralin, Toxaphene and DDT. Although the last two chemicals are no longer used in the United States their long breakdown period and difficulty in removal ensures their persistence. Thus even organic cotton fields may contain them since conventional cotton fields can be transitioned to organic fields in 2-3 years.
Organic clothing is clothing that is made from materials that are raised or grown without the use of chemicals in the form of pesticides – herbicides or other chemicals.
Many highstreet retailers market organic clothing ranges that contain many chemicals from dyes to bleaches and other chemicals to aid transportation many thousands of miles from their manufacture in places such as China. It can take almost a 1/3 pound of synthetic fertilizers to grow one pound of raw cotton in the US, and it takes just under one pound of raw cotton to make one t-shirt.
Turkey, India and the US produce organic fibers.
Authentic organic fabrics and clothing can help the environment in a number of ways, such as:
- Manufacture of chemicals is not required
- Chemical residues are not entered accidentally into the environment
- Humans and animals are not exposed to chemicals
- When the fabric is finished with chemicals are not returned to the earth in landfill, or enter into recycling process.
