What Is Organic Cotton?

Very simply, true organic cotton is grown without the use of pesticides. It is also free of toxic agricultural chemicals like chlorine and formaldehyde. These chemicals are used to whiten, finish and prepare non-organic cotton fabric to accept dyes, resist fire, and minimize wrinkles and shrinkage.

In dry temperate conditions, cotton is superb technical fabric. It’s cool, comfortable, sweat absorbing, and gets naturally more comfy with every washing. But conventional cotton growing is often appallingly unnatural.

Over-application of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has made thousands of acres too barren or contaminated for further farming. Many of the chemicals used are highly toxic, and injure or kill plants, animals and people.

While the dangers posed by hazardous cotton pesticides may seem remote to those who live and work in the developed world, the complexities of the global economy mean that consumers, retailers, and politicians around the world, are all in some way linked to the suffering these chemicals cause.

Whether by purchasing organic cotton products or by establishing programs aimed at eliminating hazardous pesticides from developing world countries, each one of these actions has the potential to secure positive changes for the lives of developing world cotton farmers. Failure to act represents an attempt to benefit from the commodity these farmers produce, while ignoring their suffering.

Source: 2007, The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton, Environmental Justice Foundation in collaboration with Pesticide Action Network UK, London, UK.