The Ultimate Guide to Organic Cotton
This blog post was originally written for I’mdividual, a London-based sustainable designer label. It has been edited and re-published with permission from the client. Follow I’mdividual here.
Around 21% of the world’s clothing is made from cotton, a plant fibre grown primarily in Asia and the United States. But while cotton is a natural and biodegradable material, the explosion in cotton production has created surprising effects on the planet and its ecosystems.
Take a look into sustainable fashion, and one of the first things you’ll come across when it comes to cotton is the word ‘organic’. But what does organic actually mean? Here, explore the real definition of organic cotton, its impact on the environment, and how to make it a key part of your sustainable fashion toolkit.
What is organic cotton?
Conventional cotton (aka non-organic cotton) uses 24% of the world’s insecticides and 11% of all pesticides. It is commonly grown using irrigated water and often using GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Organic cotton is grown without any of these harsh chemicals, mostly rain-fed and uses only natural fertilisers.
Organic agriculture certifications stipulate that organic cotton cannot be grown using genetically modified seeds, which can threaten biodiversity. There are even social criteria that ensure a fair wage is paid for decent work, and protect agricultural workers from child labour, forced labour and restricted labour rights.
GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is one of the major bodies certifying organic textiles (other certifications include Oeko-Tek Standard 100 and the Soil Association). To qualify for GOTS, brands have to meet with the following standards (not a conclusive list):
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) should not be used in any capacity wherever possible.
Farming should primarily rely on renewable resources and all by-products should be recycled to return nutrients to the land.
Maintaining and enhancing soil fertility, and preventing soil erosion, should be a priority.
Plants should be fed through the soil ecosystem and not through additional chemical fertilisers.
All chemical inputs in the processing and manufacturing stage, including dyes, must meet strict requirements on toxicity and biodegradability.
At least 90% of the fibre in a garment labelled with the GOTS logo must be organic (as opposed to just 70% of fibre content in clothing simply labelled as ‘organic’)
Packaging material must not contain PVC, and any paper or cardboard packaging including swing tags must be recycled or FSC certified.
The fibre cannot be produced under forced labour, child labour, excessive working hours or unsafe conditions.
Workers must have freedom of association and collective bargaining, and must be paid a reasonable living wage.
While of course organic cotton is preferable to the conventional alternative, it’s important to note here that cotton in any form is not 100% sustainable. It’s easy to assume natural fabrics are better for the environment than synthetics, but unfortunately, industrialised agriculture of any kind takes its toll on the land, including the plant and animal species that rely on it. Organic cotton is not the answer to fashion’s woes - the answers lie in new technology (think alternative materials, recycling innovations…) and most importantly, the slowing down of the entire production system. That’s right, even if you’re buying organic clothing - it will always be more sustainable to simply slow down your buying in the first place.
Find out more about the systematic social and environmental issues throughout the cotton supply chain, including the impact on the mental and physical health of cotton farmers, here.
Images: ESA
Cotton and the Aral Sea
How is cotton linked to the Aral Sea?
In the heart of the former USSR, an area spanning Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is home to the Aral Sea. This vast lake used to be the fourth largest in the world, at 68,000 km2 (over a third of the size of the UK!), but now sits at just 10% of its original size. Its fishing industry has all but evaporated, destroying local economies and impacting global ecosystems.
The Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s, largely because of irrigation for cotton crops when two rivers that fed the lake were diverted. The fashion and textiles industry, which uses over half of all the world’s cotton, has been blamed for this environmental disaster.
Cotton is very thirsty crop - it takes about 10,000 litres of water to grow just one kilogram of cotton; a single t-shirt uses enough water for someone to drink for 900 days! But here’s the good news - organic cotton uses less water than conventional cotton - in fact 88% less water. Currently less than 1% of all cotton is organically grown, so we - as consumers, as retailers, as designers, as policymakers - need to invest more in supporting farmers’ transition from conventional cotton production to the organic alternative.
Photo: BBC
To find out more about the impact of cotton on the world’s water systems, I recommend watching Stacey Dooley’s BBC Documentary Fashion’s Dirty Secrets, in which the presenter travels to the Aral Sea to find out how such a vital water source has all but completely dried up in just 40 years.
Where to buy organic cotton clothing
Ethical fashion brands have long embraced organic cotton as their guiding light, for better or for worse. Organic cotton should never simply be an ‘eco’ add-on to a fast fashion business model. Here I’ve picked a few of my favourite brands that use organic cotton ~ but also ~ more importantly, integrate sustainability with transparency and integrity into everything they do.