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When buying cotton clothes, linens, and towels ONLY get organic. Why? 25% of all insecticides (11% of all pesticides) are used on cotton, totaling 4.5 million tons of toxic chemicals released into the air and water every year. Making 7 yards (2.5 lbs) of conventional cotton fabric (enough for a twin size sheet set) uses about 1/2 pound of pesticides.
There is also an enormous amount of energy required to source the petroleum and manufacture the pesticides. According to OSU, each pound of active pesticide contains the energy equivalent of approximately 0.6 gallons of diesel fuel.
According to Global Footprint Network, the typical consumer uses about 1.3 lbs cotton/month or about 15.6 lbs per year, requiring 3.12 lbs of pesticides & 1.8 gallons of diesel fuel (about 40 lbs CO2).
Growing enough cotton for one T0shirt requires 257 gallons of water!
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Karl Burkart
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karlbach says:
Yep Cotton is controversial, but the stats above are true. Of course I didn't mean to say that cotton is better than hemp, just that if you are going to buy cotton (which is pretty hard to get around right now) you should get organic cotton because conventional is so hard on the environment. The sourcing issue is a good question. There are many wonderful organic coops emerging in the US, India and Egypt which are helping villages become self-sustaining. As for China, pretty much everything that comes from China is bad news and should be avoided.
posted 03/12/08 at 02:18 AM
jediwright says:
Ooh, a big misconception here and something I recently got the low-down on from Rony Alcalay, owner of Vital Hemptations / www.vitalhemp.com:
"Organic cotton is better than conventional cotton, because it doesn't use pesticides. Unfortunately, both use a LOT of water to cultivate, leading to the shrinkage of lakes, the drainage of rivers, the drying up of habitat, desertification.... In an age of global warming, when the future of the earth's ecosystems are at stake, I think it best to use fibers that use less water. Organic cotton is an incremental shift for the better. We need a paradigm shift.
In addition to this, according to a study delivered at the hemp industries association a couple of years ago, almost all the hemp/organic cotton material coming from China (the bulk of hemp/cotton material in the world) is not truly organic, but just labeled that way to please American and other overseas customers.
Beyond these ecological considerations, I've found the hemp/tencel to be better in terms of feel and use. It doesn't absorb perspiration the way 55%hemp/45% cotton fabrics do; it wicks better. It doesn't shrink the way these fabrics do. And it has a better drape, look and feel against the skin."
*Disclosure: I'm doing some consulting work for Rony's company. But, I have to say, since I've started wearing his clothes, I feel better about my commitment to sustainability and, what I'm not exposing my body to.
posted 03/12/08 at 01:51 AM