What Makes Organic Cotton Popular in Sustainable Fashion?
A lot is going on about organic cotton in the sustainable fashion industry. We know cotton as a fabric of comfort and durability. But, have you thought about what this fuss about organic cotton is? Why would more people go for it these? Worry no more! Here are things you need to know about the newest fashion trend as a sustainable clothing manufacturers UK.
The idea of organic cotton:
Most of us tend to assume cotton itself is sustainable as it is a biodegradable, plant-based material. However, we all have been wrong if you are among those who thought cotton to be a sustainable fabric. Considering how impactful the farming of cotton is to the environment, it is not considered sustainable! Hence, cotton produced organically is only counted as sustainable as it reduces the environmental impact during farming.
Is conventional cotton not worthy at all?
When we say conventional cotton farming causes a negative environmental impact, we need to know a few more issues with it. Both organic and conventional cotton is produced in different ways across countries and farms. However, conventional cotton is more common, and hence, the plant is grown almost similar everywhere.
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Material Index puts conventional cotton as the fifth most impactful material, considering the environmental impact from its cradle to gate production processes. As per the organic cotton clothing manufacturers, conventional cotton is the fifth, after silk, alpaca wool, cow and goat leather. When considering water scarcity, eutrophication, global warming, chemistry, and fossil fuels, conventional cotton is said to have the most significant impact after the other mentioned fabrics.
Most of these eco-impacts are dependant on how thirsty the fabric is! Wondering how? If you still do not know this fact, a single conventional cotton t-shirt requires around 2494 litres of water to make it! That would be 2 litres of water daily for a person to drink over three and a half years. Though it sounds simple, billions of people in the world who lack proper access to freshwater make sense of how it becomes a big deal!
It’s not just how much water is used to grow conventional cotton, but the worst part is how water gets polluted during its production. The use of pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides can pollute the waterways around the cotton farm. This even leads to harming the health of the whole ecosystem with contaminated water. Besides damaging the soil health and affecting the ecosystem, farmers health also gets harmed. Statistics say that around 50 farmers were killed due to pesticides in some parts of India, one of the world’s largest cotton-producing countries in the world!
What difference can organic cotton bring into the world?
People are being aware of the darker sides of conventional cotton and looking for a healthy alternative. Fortunately, there are better ways to deal with it. Organic cotton is catching the trend for the exact cause. The most crucial factor about organic cotton is that it is grown without synthetic herbicides or pesticides. It is usually sprayed with natural proteins to protect from crop destruction and insect infestation. This protects the farmers as well as the environment.
Organic cotton is also found to be less water-intensive. Mostly, they are just rain-fed, which reduces the need for additional water irrigation. Even if it requires extra water irrigation, it requires less than what conventional cotton needs. However, not all organic cotton is of the same kind. It is always good to go for the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton. GOTS organic cotton meets all the social health and ecological criteria.
Hence, if you are to promote only sustainable clothing, always look for GOTS organic cotton! As leading sustainable fashion manufacturers, we at Felipe Tadd ensures that you get your hands to the finest sustainable clothing materials like organic cotton!