The conventional production of fabrics makes an enormous environmental impact. The quantities of chemicals, including insecticides and pesticides, used in the manufacture of even 'natural' materials, such as cotton, not to mention the water consumed, are quite staggering. What is more, many fabrics will have been exposed to further toxins, such as fire retardants, and perhaps coated in stain inhibitors. If this is the case, fabrics can bring toxins directly into your home, creating an unintended level of internal pollution within your living space.
Cotton is one of the world's most ubiquitous materials, used in everything from clothes to curtains, towels and bed linens. It is made from the soft cellulose fibre that contains the seeds of the cotton plant; the seeds are removed and the fibres spun into a thread to make textiles.
Cotton accounts for around 5% of all the cultivated land in the world, but the problem with conventional cotton production is that it also accounts for 25% of the world's pesticide usage. Because it is not an edible crop, much stronger chemicals are used to protect the valuable cotton from predators. This results in a whole host of contamination issues for the local flora and fauna, as well as for those workers who tend the crops.
By comparison, the increasingly wider cropping of organic cotton has combated many of the issues surrounding conventional production. Organic fertilisers are used, while natural pest management has reduced the need for pesticides.
To protect those working in cotton production, fair-trade methods have been set up and are carefully monitored from the plant's growth through the fabric's production. This ensures that farmer (many of whom live in developing countries in vulnerable positions at the bottom of the supply chain) are paid a fixed fee - or market price if that is higher - and so guarantees them better standards of living and working conditions.
Organic cotton is now being used to produce a range of products, from clothes to towels and even bed linen. So if you are thinking about using cotton products, ensure they are made of fair-trade organic cotton. Whilst it may be a little more expensive, you will have the assurance that neither the environment nor the lives of those producing it have been compromised.
(Source: Urban Eco Chic by Oliver Heath)
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