Organic cotton is a far superior alternative to chemical laden conventional cotton.
More and more farmers around the world are growing cotton without costly, harmful chemicals. Their yield is high and the quality of the cotton they grow is equal to or better than conventionally grown cotton. Their methods support biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, improve the quality of soil and often use less water. Growing organically takes more time, requires more knowledge and skill, and, at least for now, costs a bit more. But it is worth it since it doesn't contain any hidden costs to our environment...
So what's the problem with Standard Cotton?
The Environmental Protection Agency considers seven of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton in the United States as "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human carcinogens (acephate, dichloropropene, diuron, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and trifluralin). (Source: EPA)
In the US, it takes about 1/3 of a pound of pesticides and herbicides to grow enough conventional cotton for just one T-shirt.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, more than 84 million pounds of pesticides and 2.03 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizerswere applied to 14.4 million acres of cotton in the US in 2000. In 1997, large apparel companies purchased 2.15 million pounds of organic cotton, which eliminated an estimated 43,000 pounds of pesticides and 485,190 pounds of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. (Organic Fiber Council)
Research shows that the vast amounts of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, soil additives and defoliants used to grow non-organic cotton wreak havoc on soil, water and air around the globe. In 1995 approximately 250,000 fish were killed in Lawrence, Alabama, when heavy rains washed lethal concentrations of methyl parathion and endosulfan from cotton fields into a 16-mile stretch of a creek that emptied into a nearby lake. (C. Cox, 1995, Cotton Spraying Kills Fish)
"When the planes still swoop down and aerial spray a field in order to kill a predator insect with pesticides, we are in the Dark Ages of commerce." Maybe one thousandth of this aerial insecticide actually prevents the infestation. The balance goes to the leaves, into the soil, into the water, into all forms of wildlife, into ourselves.
Below is our full range of Organic Cotton Bags. We currently have 15 Organic Cotton Bags
(1 to 15 shown).
