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Loading...The Dirty Side of Cotton
- Becky Striepe
- October 2, 2012
- 5:05 pm
- 47 comments
Conventional cotton isn’t “The Fabric of Our Lives,” though industry group America’s Cotton Producers and Importers have spent big bucks to make us think this is the case.
Wait a sec! Cotton is a natural material. What could be dirty about that? When you take a look at conventional cotton’s social and environmental impacts, this 100 percent natural fiber starts to feel like not such a natural choice. Let’s talk about some of the problems with conventional along with some much more ethical alternatives.
Environmental Impacts
Cotton’s environmental issues are probably the most common problem that consumers know about. Conventional cotton is a very water- and pesticide-intensive crop. A full 16 percent of the pesticides sprayed worldwide are sprayed onto cotton crops. Of course, those poisons don’t stay on the plant. When farmers water or when it rains, those pesticides wash into the soil and into rivers and streams, where they pollute waterways and damage fragile ecosystems.
All of those chemicals are also terrible for cotton workers. Check out the video at the top of the page for more on how pesticides harm cotton farmers.
In Uzbekistan, pesticides have decimated the environment and are causing widespread cancer and tuberculosis among populations there. This video from Earth Justice Foundation gets into more details about how cotton production is hurting the land and people in Uzbekistan.
Pesticides aren’t the only part of cotton production that’s bad for farmers. On the next page, read about how Monsanto’s genetically modified cotton destroyed the lives of so many Indian farmers.
Read more: Conscious Consumer, Crafts & Design, Environment, Green, Life, Materials & Architecture, Nature, News & Issues, Videos, Videos, Videos, Videos, conventional cotton, cotton, dirty cotton, GMO, human rights, Monsanto, pesticides, the fabric of our lives, worker rights
Becky Striepe
Becky Striepe is a freelance writer and vegan crafter living in Atlanta, Georgia. Her life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! Like this article? You can follow Becky on Twitter or find her on Facebook!
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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Thanks for sharing!
47 comments
+ add your ownthat sucks, I can only wear cotton
thanks
some good info. i went to the etsy site for hemp but they're closed this weekend.
Thank you for the information!!!
If we just got rid of Monsanto.....
Organic cotton! even cotton with some color in it (plants bred to be greenish or tan)! Thanks for the article.
i was not impressed actually. there are no more good and natural things left or maybe very little. anyway, thanks for sharing ;)
There always seems to be a dirty side to everything. Thanks for the article Becky.
thanks
Thanks
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