Why Organic Cotton?
Organically grown cotton is cotton grown in soil that has been
certified free from pesticides, herbicides and other cytotoxins and that
is not grown from genetically engineered seed. Organic farming
methods improve soil fertility, safeguard farm workers' health, and
preserve the quality of our environment for future generations.
In order to better understand why you should choose organic cotton, it is
necessary to understand why you should not choose regular cotton.
- Cotton is the second most pesticide laden crop in the world - after
coffee and before tobacco.
- The world's cotton crop represents approximately 3% of all cultivated
land. This same crop utilizes 25% of the annual pesticide production,
and 10% of the annual herbicide production.
- Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton in the U.S. (cyanide,
dicofol, naled, propargite and trifluralin) are known cancer causing chemicals.
- All nine are classified by the U.S. EPA as Category I and II - the most
dangerous chemicals.
- It is estimated that it takes approximately 1/3 pound of chemicals to
grow enough cotton to make just one t-shirt.
- Twenty thousand fatalities a year are caused by accidental pesticide
poisoning.
And the winner is…
- In the U.S. today, it takes approximately 8 to10 years, and $100 million
to develop a new pesticide for use on cotton. It takes approximately 5 to 6 years
for weevils and other pests to develop an immunity to a new pesticide.
The problems with clothing production do not stop in the field. During
the conversion of conventional cotton into clothing, numerous toxic
chemicals are added at each stage - silicone waxes, harsh petroleum scours,
softeners, brighteners, heavy metals, flame and soil retardants, ammonia and
formaldehyde - to name just a few.