Who doesn’t own a shirt that is 100% cotton or has a mix of cotton in it? Everyone does. Cotton is one of the most popular fabric choices when it comes to the production of apparel. There is more to cotton production than what goes into the construction of making a classic Hanes t-shirt. Have you ever thought about the effects growing cotton has on the environment? There are various environmental factors that come into place in the cultivation of cotton including that of water and pesticides.
Referring to the reading, The Sustainability of Cotton, Cotton is a challenging crop to grow because it is delicate to drought, does not settle well with low temperatures, and with cotton being grown in a field insects attacking the crop become a huge factor. With this said, cotton production is taking place in more than 100 countries and China is the leading country in the production of this crop which means environmental factors are occurring in more than just the US.
Yes, farming techniques have improved vastly over the past few years which means new technologies have been created to preserve ways water is used in the production of cotton. In the video, Cotton and Water: White, Blue, and Green, they have come up with a new development called the “smart crop.” This tool reduces the amount of water consumption moisture running into the fields, which cuts down the amount of water used. Before this technology, at times there would be access water surrounding the cotton plants that was going to waste. All of this makes conventional cotton sound like it might have an advantage, but that is not necessarily the case because there is another way to go about it.
Organic farming systems are rain-fed which are considered to be “low-input organic,” which indicates that the use of water supply is not being put to waste. My reasoning of believing that the cultivation of cotton is on its way to being sustainable is reinforced by the following statement found in the reading, “most organic cotton systems are rain-fed and the majority of conventional and IPM systems are irrigated, often unsustainably.” The impact of producing organically grown cotton is more than sounding like “we care about the environment.” Improving the quality of our land’s environment is a characteristic that all of the resources above have listed as a main priority and concern. The fact that organic cotton gets its water source from natural rain, this saves on the amount of water used and even at times wasted due to over-watering the crops. The Sustainability of Cotton reading points out that more field-work needs to be accomplished to evaluate the environmental effects the cotton system has. So, with that said think sustainably and go organic.
