Cotton…jeopardizing
our future well-being?
Who would
have thought that cotton, our most used natural fiber in the production of
clothing could have so many adverse effects on the ecosystem and the people who
help produce it into clothing….not me. I was shocked to find out all of the
harmful things that are taking place during the growing of the cotton. How
could something that grows naturally bring about so many concerns for the
environment and the people working around it?
Do you
know how many chemicals and pesticides are sprayed on cotton before it is
harvested, or how much water is needed to grow enough cotton just to make a
pair of jeans? I certainly hope the cotton manufacturers clean the cotton very
well before it is made into clothing that we put on our bodies after
discovering how many pesticides are applied to the cotton on the fields. These
pesticides include aldicarb, parathion, methamidopho, and nitrogen synthetic
fertilizers; all of these of which are acutely hazardous and poisonous to
humans and the fertilizer is 300 times more potent than CO2 which is known for
causing global warming! The amount of water need to grow the cotton is even
more surprising to me. For just the amount of cotton needed to make a basic tee
it requires at least 400 gallons of water. To order enough tees for say your
sorority or fraternity for an event, you just used roughly 76,000 gallons on
tees you will probably never wear again after you graduate college!! Now that
just seems ridiculous to me, there has to be a better way to make use of the
water and conserve it in some way.
Is there
any way these issues can be solved or there effects on humans and the ecosystem
be reduced?...yes. Conventionally grown cotton is renewable, biodegradable, and
environmentally friendly, conventionally grown cotton has also become more
drought and heat tolerant that requires less chemicals & pesticides. If all
manufactures switch over to this type of cotton then the pesticide and
chemicals problem would be greatly reduced. To help conserve the water that is
needed for growing cotton would be implementing an irrigation system. If these
two things were brought into action in all cotton fields we could make a great
difference in the sustainability of the apparel industry. So let’s demand
change starting today!
References:
Cotton and Environmental Issues. (n.d.). Green Lifestyle
Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2012, from
http://greenlifestylemagazine.net/issue-5/cotton.php
Cotton and the Environment - Organic Trade Association.
(n.d.). Organic Trade Association. Retrieved June 7, 2012, from
http://www.ota.com/organic/environment/cotton_environment.html
How Many Gallons of Water Does it Take to Make . . . :
TreeHugger. (n.d.). TreeHugger. Retrieved June 7, 2012, from http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/how-many-gallons-of-
This ties in (sort of) with the blog I posted! all the toxic chemicals that the agriculture industry are using on crop are killing honeybees for the past 15 years! I don't know if you ever thought about substitutions for cotton such as hemp? I didn't realize cotton was such a high maintenance crop.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nic! Although cotton is good for the environment (in some ways) if it's counterproductive to use maybe we should start leaning away from it! Although cotton has ruled the world since the start of civilization, perhaps the time has come to change traditional ways and try new things. Just how the automobile industry is slowly replacing gasoline with electricity.
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with the milk-based fiber concept? It's amazing how textiles can be made out of recourses we would never imagine wearing!-like milk (apparently it feels like silk and it doesn't smell). And the best part, that it only uses a half gallon of water to make 2 pounds of fabric! Take that cotton!
I personally think that its time to revolutionize the industry!
Here is a recent article of a designer that has been experimenting with the milk fabric:
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/qmilch-fashion-designer-anke-domaske-creates-fabric-made-milk-article-1.977851
Ah I love Stephanie's view on using milk-based fibers. I have this Native American mentality where I believe if we are to kill something which benefits us, we should utilize every part of that animal. For instance, if we kill a cow for it's meat only, why not use it's hide for a pair of shoes, it's bones for tools/weapons (or whatever), it's unused milk for fiber.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a catch 22 with using substitutions. The cattle industry is already using genetically engineered cows. What will this do in the long run?
Will we ever achieve a sustainable industry or will we always be faced with a problems from our solutions?
Its hard to say if we are every going to find THE solution to achieve a sustainable world, because if you think about other issues that have been among us since the beginning of times-like slavery. We were able to abolish slavery and even make it illegal to practice, yet sadly it is still among us.
DeleteWith sustainability maybe we can find a solution that will decrease the amount of damage that it is currently causing.
I couldn't agree with you more Nicota. I can't even imagine the amount of wastefulness occurring in our world today. If everyone carried on this belief the world would be a more sustainable and wholesome place. How should we go about instilling this conviction in this generations populace?
ReplyDeleteKaylee, Thanks for agreeing.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea from 'Forum for the future' that the idea of trying to fix one solution is impossible. Every stage needs to be addressed. From Materials to Disposal. In every stage there is something that can be altered. Us slumming it onto the next generation should never be an option.