Eco-friendly tools and advice for environmentally responsible living

As anything "natural" and "organic" is becoming more popular among consumers who are willing to pay extra to be good to the planet and health, the demand for products made from organic cotton is growing fast. The big boys' marketing efforts often parade "organic", "recyclable" and other eco-related labels as an easy way to make the products look "good" and worth more. But perhaps besides the label "organic" printed on the package, we should consider other important factors. Yes, a product could be organic and not sustainable at the same time!

 

 

There are a few things that are wrong about organic cotton - as far as nature and our wallets go:

1) Water footprint. As we are dipping into fossil waters to sustain the production needed to support our lifestyles, it becomes important to remember that growing cotton is very water demanding. You need a lot of water to grow cotton. According to Cotton Incorporated, cotton growing consumes about 2.6% of the total world's water use!

A cotton tshirt takes about 700 gallons of water to produce (about 25 average sized bathtubs full of water - for just ONE tshirt!).

Also - keep in mind that most of the world's cotton is grown in dry or semi-dry regions: Turkey, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Pakistan, China and India - heavily relying on irrigation systems instead of nature. Check out this document on Water Footprint of Cotton Pruduction published by UNESCO Institute for Water Education.

As water is becoming a scarce resource, cotton - organic or not - is really not a sustainable way to go.

2) Cotton is not "weed" and doesn't grow on its own. In addition to water, you need organic pesticides and lots of human labor to support the growth of organic cotton. As a result, organic cotton is very expensive. You'll be lucky to find a kid's tshirt made from organic cotton for under $20.
 

What you can do instead:

1) Buy clothes made from bamboo. Bamboo water requirements are about 1/20 of cotton water requirements. Bamboo is basically a weed that can grow a yard a day, and it is not labor intensive. As a result, bamboo clothes are much cheaper than cotton.
Bamboo is also antiseptic and temperature supporting (it cools you in summer while keeping you warm in winter). Which also means that you don't have to wash your bamboo clothes that often.

What to look out for - read about chemical versus mechanical bamboo processing here.

2) Buy clothes made from hemp. Hemp is easy to grow, requiring less chemicals and water. Hemp fabric preserves its quality for many years as it is naturally resistant to UV light, mold and mildew. Hemp is a very handy plant with many practical uses (hemp is plant fiber and should not be confused with marijuana). Uses of hemp vary from food to clothes, from sails and nets to canvases (used by Rembrant and Van Gogh), from pet products to body oils. By 1850, hemp was the third largest crop in America. However, a 100 years later hemp was put in the same category as marijuana, and all hemp production was banned. Read this great article on history and uses of hemp. 

Because hemp production is prohibited in the US, unfortunately we need to consider transportation energy costs when purchasing hemp products.