Oct 28 2007
The Fabric of Our Lives - Cotton
Cotton has quite the notorious history in the United States and continues to build it’s notoriety throughout the world. An early benefactor of slave-labor, cotton farmers thrived during the revolutionary years in the United States. Since then, cotton has become the most chemical intense crop in the world. At first sight, Organic Cotton in Target, I snickered that the “Organic Label” had been exploited and commercialized. How could organic cotton benefit the consumer? As the thought of Organic Cotton simmered in my head, I became curious about what made cotton organic and why is was better. That began my research.
Every morning as you get dressed, cotton is part of the party. Cotton, after all, is the fabric of our lives. But where did it come from? This map, shows shows a large concentration of cotton farming taking place in the United States, China, and much less developed countries. But dig deeper, more simply, where does cotton come from. Acha! The ground, and one step further, a farm. It turns out 25% of insecticide use and 10% of pesticide use takes place on the world’s cotton crop. In poorer countries, cotton is picked manually, poisoning the pickers and their families. While thousands of deaths and a plethora of illness can be directly attributed to pesticide and insecticide exposure, there are thousands more that occur as a result of slower exposure from contaminated water sources.
The organic cotton movement is no joke, it’s not a trend, and its one of the most effective examples of how switching to organic can have a real impact. When possible, make the organic choice, just because you can’t eat organic cotton, that doesn’t mean it can’t still be better for you.
No responses yet