{"id":27622,"date":"2020-02-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migrate.psi-network.de\/2020\/02\/05\/is-cotton-a-sustainable-product\/"},"modified":"2022-12-12T15:47:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:47:54","slug":"is-cotton-a-sustainable-product","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psi-network.de\/en\/2020\/02\/05\/is-cotton-a-sustainable-product\/","title":{"rendered":"Is cotton a sustainable product?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the general sustainability debate, cotton is\noccasionally seen in a negative light, for several reasons: when looked at\nquickly and superficially, it can be dismissed, even condemned, as a waste of\nwater and a pesticide bomb. For one, that\u2019s not exactly correct and what\u2019s\nmore: this naturally renewable raw material also has many good sides. That\u2019s\nwhy it\u2019s worth taking a closer look. The Bremen Cotton Exchange – an exhibitor\nat PromoTex Expo in D\u00fcsseldorf in January 2020, among other things – supported\nthe author\u2019s research with advice and practical help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 250 to 300 million people\nworldwide earn there living growing cotton, two thirds of them in developing\ncountries. Much has happened in recent years to improve the employees\u2019 quality\nof life there. In addition to numerous advances in agriculture that happen in\nthe course of research and development without leading to subsequent\ncertification, it bears to mention the work of important labels such as GOTS\nand Cotton made in Africa, among others, which gets more and more support from\ninternational textile and apparel manufacturers. Founded in 2014, the German\nPartnership for Sustainable Textiles has also contributed to improving the\nsocial and ecological conditions in the global textile industry. It was founded\nby the German development minister, Gerd M\u00fcller, who this year took over the\npatronage of the Textile Campus at PromoTex Expo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now, intensive research and development work\nby many international companies and organisations has resulted in a clear drop\nin the use of water and pesticides. The organic cotton segment, meanwhile,\nremains a tiny niche, with a global share, of still less than one per cent.\nIt\u2019s remarkable that 60 per cent of this volume is used by members of the\naforementioned German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles alone. The reasons\nare manifold: there\u2019s a shortage of organically produced seeds, and the\ncultivation of organic cotton is indescribably labour-intensive. Yields,\nmoreover, usually are much lower than in mainstream agriculture. At the same\ntime, farmers switching to organic cotton barely get paid more. Purchasing\nguarantees are rarely granted; specialist knowledge and experience are often\nlacking; and certification processes are frequently tedious, difficult to understand\nand time-consuming. Work on all these points continues constantly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It goes without saying that cotton, a plant of the genus Malva, requires water to thrive \u2013 just like any other plant. Cotton cultivation, however, consumes only three per cent of the water used for agricultural purposes worldwide. People have forgotten that cotton is actually a desert plant that thrives in many semi-arid regions where no other plants would grow at all \u2013 for example in areas in the French-speaking parts of West Africa. Cotton only consumes water during the initial growth phase; later, it needs nothing more than sun and dryness to mature into a crop that\u2019s ready to be processed into high-quality fibres and fabrics. Another remarkable fact: 55 per cent of cotton cultivation can be handled with natural rainwater irrigation alone. And wherever artificial irrigation is necessary, there are, or course, continuous advancements like there in other areas. Digitalisation and high-tech are moving in, leading, for example, to the deployment of systems featuring drip irrigation and computer-controlled sensor technology to drastically reduce the demand for water. Already, we\u2019re seeing successful projects in cotton-producing countries such as Israel, Australia, Pakistan and the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One enormous benefit when it comes to\nunburdening the world’s oceans is the biodegradability of cotton. In\nfreshwater, 86 per cent of small cotton fibres like those generated by\nhousehold or industrial laundry break down after only 30 days; even in saltwater,\nit\u2019s still 67 per cent. Compare that to the degradation rate of polyester\nfibres at a terrifying zero per cent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few people know that the cotton plant is 100 per\ncent recyclable. Beyond their use in the textile and clothing industry, the\nfibres are also widely deployed in medical and hygiene products, paper,\nbanknotes, architecture, and the furniture industry. Oil is extracted from the\nseeds for the cosmetics and food industries. The seed fibres are used to make\ncotton wool, while other waste products are turned into protein-rich animal\nfeed, natural fertiliser, and composites for the construction and packaging\nindustries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the current movement away from fast fashion\nand towards slow fashion \u2013 towards classics that can be used for many seasons\nover the course of years without loss of quality \u2013 cotton is definitely in the\nlead. In areas such as home textiles, towels, bed linen, and daywear and\nnightwear, virtually no comparable materials exist that similarly retain their\nshape even after countless washes, don\u2019t pill, retain their colours, and bring\njust as much joy to the wearer as on the first day. That\u2019s partly because\ncotton has extremely high wet strength compared to other natural fibres \u2013 a big\nadvantage when it comes to textiles that have to be washed often. Even more\ninterestingly, cotton doesn\u2019t even really require that many washes in the first\nplace \u2013 which is another thought that still needs to be reestablished in the\nminds of conscious consumers: regularly airing out jeans, for example, saves\nunnecessary washes and conserves large amounts of water, detergent and energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, the fact that sustainable thinking\nand sustainable actions are permeating more and more of the textile and\nclothing industry should definitely be seen as a positive. The deployment of\nrecycled synthetic fibres, the development of new materials from biodegradable\nmaterials of all kinds, the conscious use of resources and packaging, the\nrecycling and upcycling of used clothing, all that makes sense \u2013 as does the cultivation\nand use of cotton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way: if you\u2019re interested in soaking up even more expertise on cotton as a raw material, consider attending the seminar \u201cCotton\u201d at the Bremen Cotton Exchange on 29 April. The seminar is organised by the Academy for Textile<\/a> Finishing in cooperation with the Bremen Cotton Exchange and PromoTex Expo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information: www.baumwollboerse.de<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the general sustainability debate, cotton is occasionally seen in a negative light, for several reasons: when looked at quickly and superficially, it can be dismissed, even condemned, as a waste of water and a pesticide bomb. For one, that\u2019s not exactly correct and what\u2019s more: this naturally renewable raw material also has many good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[367,368],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sustainability","category-textiles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs cotton a sustainable product? - PSI Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/psi-network.de\/en\/2020\/02\/05\/is-cotton-a-sustainable-product\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is cotton a sustainable product? - PSI Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the general sustainability debate, cotton is occasionally seen in a negative light, for several reasons: when looked at quickly and superficially, it can be dismissed, even condemned, as a waste of water and a pesticide bomb. 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