I want 100% Organic Cotton please

As an apparel industry consumer and avid shopper, the first thing I take notice of the garment, after fit, is the fiber content. I prefer the feel and wear of cotton to wool and tend to shy away from synthetic fiber contents even if the fit is nice. Cotton is a very popular fiber and is the most used fiber used in manufacturing apparel: if a garment is not 100% cotton, there is a very high chance that there is a blend in which cotton is used. With the mass production of garments that contain cotton, come the side effects of producing and manufacturing this fiber.

After reading The sustainability of cotton, I was informed, in-depth, on issues that I never even considered when I was out shopping for new garments with my friends. The article addresses just some of the affects that growing cotton can have on the environment but goes into a lot of detail and provides some valid information. Some of the topics include the water use, erosion and land use. One of the pressing environmental issues is our use of water and how to limit wasting this valuable resource. Water is a major factor when growing cotton and unless the cotton is organically grown and uses just rain water from the region, many farmers use excess water in order to grow the crop. Another issue addressed in the reading was land erosion and the lack of control and management farmers are required to have on preventing land erosion. Another issue I found interesting was the use of land, specifically for growing cotton. There are limitations on where the crop can be grown because of the environmental factors such as climate and soil type. In order to improve the quality of the land, many times synthetic fertilizers are used which consequently have an impact on the natural environment. These are just some of the negative consequences when growing the in-demand fiber.

On the flip side, the Cotton, Inc website offers valuable information through informative videos that led me to form the opinion that the cultivation of cotton has the potential to be sustainable. I use the term “potential” because unless all farmers step up and take the information in the videos seriously and actually implement them into their management program, and consumers agree to recycle cotton then cotton will continually have a negative effect on our environment.

I formed this opinion based on two videos I watched from Cotton, Inc’s Multimedia Center. The first video was called Recycled Denim Insulation. In Phoenix, Arizona, a company manufactures home insulation from recycled jeans. This helps address the issue of reducing pollution and along with insulating homes, denim can also help clean oil spills and feed the hungry. In the second video titled Protecting and Preserving Soil with Today’s Cotton-Growing Techniques, the issue of land use was addressed. Farmers would forgo plowing fields into “pretty lines” and plant the crop in the residue. This would help protect soil with the residue so it wouldn’t wash away as easily and reduce erosion. Also it would help soak up rain fall better and allow for more water to be absorbed by the crop. Lastly, there would be more organic matter which resulting in more carbon absorbed from the atmosphere and is trapped in the soil.

Natural vs. Synthetic Fibers

There is another pressing issue that is recently causing some controversy in the apparel industry: the debate of whether natural or synthetic materials are better for the environment. Natural fibers include; cotton, linen, hemp and silk and synthetic fibers include a wide range of materials like nylon, polyester and acrylic.

The first chapter from the book Sustainable Fashion and Trade by Kate Fletcher focuses on the sustainable idea of material diversity. The chapter discusses that the apparel industry is dominated by the use of similar products and thus using similar materials in order to produce products in large quantities. Right now, there is a big push for “all natural” products which include 100% cotton or linen or even hemp products. There is a misconception that “all natural” products are better for the environment. According to Fletcher, producing natural products can be just as harmful as producing synthetic ones. For every one kilogram of cotton, 8,000 liters of water is used and when producing the same weight of polyester products, very little water is used but it takes twice the energy to produce polyester products than cotton.  

This is where the concept of material diversity comes into play. Apparel manufacturers and designers should use a wide range of materials in order to not deplete one fiber. Fletcher states, the choice of fiber “is central to what a textile or garment is; only that it is one amid many interconnected factors influencing overall product sustainability.” I find this quote to hold a lot of weight in considering whether or not all natural is the right decision for the environment. I think it is important to diversify one’s closet with the materials and fibers used as to not over use one product and essentially run out of the product or the materials used in order to produce said fiber.

Diversity does not just pertain to the fibers used but also the way they are produced.Textile Eschange’s Charline Ducas discusses a few interesting trends that are currently being addressed along with the harmful effects on the environment. The topic of the use of chemicals to manufacture apparel products was especially interesting to me. There are so many steps and products used to produce one article of clothing and each of these factors can have a huge impact on the environment.

This debate has two very strong sides that contain both positive and negative impacts on the consumer and the environment. The material and fiber choice is the first stepping stone in the production of apparel products and could possibly be the most important choice a designer will make.

Global Warming: Trending Topic or Confirmed Crisis?

Global warming has become a trending topic among our population and has many concerned with the deterioration of the world’s ecosystems. Global warming is defined by Meriam Webster as “an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution.” I will address the question of whether or not global warming is really a crisis or if the facts have been distorted.

An article titled Cold, Hard Facts by Peter Doran of The New York Times negates the fact that our world is experiencing global warming. In short, the article discusses numerous studies that have taken place since 1966 to see if there are trends in the warming of our earth. Specifically in one study, “researchers found that from 1966 to 2000 the Antarctic mainland had actually cooled.” Their “summary statement pointed out how the cooling trend posed challenges to models of Antarctic climate and ecosystem change.” This article goes into further depth and summarizes the “scientific findings run counter to theory of global warming” and that television and newspapers have actually misinterpreted the facts.

The article titled Ecosystems and Human Well-Being states, “everyone in the world depends completely on Earth’s ecosystems and the services they provide.” I believe this quote to be true and addresses our heavy reliance on the Earth’s natural resources. Many people believe that we, as the world’s population, have caused the global warming crisis by the overuse of our planets resources. By wasting and not being aware of our use of the little remaining sources, we could end up like the people of Easter Island. The chapter discusses the population of Easter Island’s over consumption of the islands resources until there was nothing left that they could live off of and the population finally deteriorated. If the population as a whole does not identify the global warming crisis and work together to find a solution to the resource problems then we could very well suffer the same fate as the people of Easter Island.

As you can see there are compelling arguments for supporting and negating the global warming crisis. Do you believe this is a pressing issue or do you think our society has placed a greater emphasis on just a “trending topic?”