Wednesday, 30 December 2009Organic Cotton Conversion – Too Little, Too Slowly
Abstract
Cotton is the world’s dirtiest crop. It covers only 2.4% of the world’s cultivated land yet uses 24% of the world’s insecticide, more than any other single crop.1 Even before the raw materials of the garment industry ever hit the factories, its carbon footprint and greenhouse emissions are larger than many industrial sectors. The industry’s water usage and management record are also horrendous, and the chemicals that erode the soils go on to pollute our rivers and lakes. We’ve been hearing the garment and textile industry’s rhetoric of going “green” and going “organic,” but traded organic cotton fiber still represented only less than 1% of the 24.8 million tons of cotton fiber traded worldwide in 2006.
Why, with so much talk and surge in public demand has there been so little development?
What’s taking so long?
What are the real barriers?
How can they be removed?
These are the questions we ask at the GLOBAL INSTITUTE FOR TOMORROW.
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