Why we use organic cotton.

It is a well-researched fact that conventional cotton is not good for people or our planet. Huge amounts of water and nutrients are required to produce the little cotton balls of fluff that are spun into the threads that become our clothes. Conventional cotton is only 2.4% of worldwide agriculture, but production uses 25% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the world’s pesticides, harming many species of insects and wildlife and reducing local biodiversity to almost zero. These chemicals unavoidably end up polluting the local water system, on the bodies of the farmers who use them and later- on our clothes and on our skin. Approximately 99% of cotton farmers live and work in developing countries where the standards of safety and awareness to the risks of handling toxic chemicals are limited. Most farmers have no access to protective equipment so are exposed to toxic chemicals causing illness, cancer and sometimes death. 

Cotton as an industry has consistently ignored its ethical and environmental obligations in favour of profit. The rise of fast fashion has meant that cotton growers had to invest in faster growing genetically modified (GM) cotton crops in order to meet demands to supply cotton for the quick production of cheap garments. India is the second largest grower of cotton in the world and has been hugely affected by changing demands of fast fashion. The new GM seeds, along with the pesticides required to grow them come at a huge price, pushing many farmers into crippling debt and an unavoidable reliance on the companies that produce them.

Monsanto, a GM seed manufacturer, has a trademark on the GM cotton seed which can be identified by a traceable gene. The seed is easily spread by wind and water meaning it can travel to neighbouring farms who did not purchase it. When Monsanto discovers that a farmer who has not purchased their seed has their GM crops growing on their land they demand a royalty from the farmer. This is bankrupting Indian cotton farmers at an alarming rate saddling them with an inescapable debt and driving them into such despair and depression that it is estimated that one Indian cotton farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes. 

“It is estimated that one Indian cotton farmer commits suicide every 30 minutes. ”

Organic cotton uses 91% less water, 62% less energy and reduces land acidification by 70% as well as requiring no toxic chemical or GMO’s. But beyond the environmental benefits organic cotton protects the people who grow and produce it, allowing communities to avoid debt, exploitation and health risks whilst working for a fair price.