Organic Cotton
Organic Cotton:
- Organic cotton is grown from seeds that are not genetically engineered.
- Organic cotton is produced without the use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, which in turn helps to preserve the quality of our water, soil, air and environment as a whole.
- Organic farming techniques promote a biologically diverse healthy ecosystem. Frequent crop rotations and cover crop strategies replace synthetic fertilizers to maintain soil fertility.
- Less water is used to produce organic cotton because the increase of organic matter in its soil retains more moisture.
Conventional Cotton:
- 1/3 lb. of chemicals are used to grow enough cotton for just one conventional cotton t-shirt.
- Non-Organic Cotton uses approximately 25% of the world’s insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants).
- 400 gallons of water go into the production of one conventional cotton t-shirt.
- 20,000 deaths occur each year from pesticide poisoning in developing countries, many of these from cotton farming, according to the World Health Organization.
- The Environmental Protection Agency considers 7 of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton in 2000 in the United States as "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human carcinogens.
- Many of these EPA-approved pesticides were registered years before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases.
In being a socially conscious consumer, you have the power of voting with your wallet and choosing to be a steward of the planet. When you purchase an organically made product, you choose to support organic methods of agriculture that sustain greater health for the planet and its present and future inhabitants.
Explore more about the importance of going organic at: www.ota.com