Bamboo Body

The textile industry is plagued with issues from human and animal rights abuse to environmental destruction.
Purchasing decisions made by consumers have the ability to directly impact textile production methods.
This document discusses cotton, animal welfare, synthetic fabrics and over consumption.

COTTON

There is a perception that cotton is a pure and natural fibre. You may be surprised to know that cotton is the world’s dirtiest and thirstiest agricultural commodity. Child labour, heavy pesticide use and environmental degradation are rife in its production.

PESTICIDE AND CHEMICAL USE

• Cotton uses more insecticides than any other crop in the world
• Cotton is responsible for the release of $US 2 billion of chemical pesticides each year with almost 50% considered toxic enough to be classified hazardous by the World Health Organisation
• Hazardous chemicals associated with cotton production threaten global freshwater resources (including Australia)
• Hazardous chemicals have severe health implications with between 1 and 3% of agricultural workers worldwide suffering from acute pesticide poisoning with at least 1 million requiring hospitalisation each year
• Chemicals enter the environment through spray drift, run off and absorption and affect freshwater resources and enter the food web upsetting sensitive eco systems
• A 2004 study conducted by researchers at the Technical University of Lódz, in Poland, has shown that hazardous pesticides applied during cotton production can also be detected in cotton clothing

Statistics quoted on this page are from the sources listed below. We recommend reading these articles – they are a real eye opener.

The Deadly Chemicals in Cotton, Environmental Justice Foundation and Pesticide Action Network www.ejfoundation.org

Pick your cotton carefully, Environmental Justice Foundation www.ejfoundation.org

White Gold: The True Cost of Cotton, Environmental Justice Foundation www.ejfoundation.org

WATER IMPACTS

Cotton is the world’s thirstiest crop with up to 20,000L of water required to make 1kg of cotton – equivalent to a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The water required to supply at least 73% of the world’s cotton crops is withdrawn from freshwater resources, through extensive irrigation and damming.

The impact of cotton water use has been felt world-wide. Cotton production has contributed to the depletion of the Murray-Darling water basin in Australia. In Central Asia, the demand for water to irrigate cotton fields has contributed to the draining of the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea is now at 15% of its former volume and all 24 species of native fish have disappeared. An area equivalent to 6 million football fields of sea floor is left exposed – contaminated with salt and pesticide residue. The United Nations has described this as “one of the most staggering disasters of the 20th century”.

Many countries, including Australia, have reached their renewable water resource limits and things are only going to get worse with global warming.

Recommended reading: - the WWF report “Impact of cotton on freshwater resources and ecosystems” http://assets.panda.org/downloads/impact_long.pdf

LAND IMPACTS

Impacts of cotton production on the land include

• Soil erosion
• Salinity
• Reduced vegetation cover, baking, compaction and sealing of the soil surface
• Destruction of soil fertility
• Fragmentation of natural habitats, no longer providing for the original plants and animals
• Contamination of the land, with the absorption of pesticides by soil particles
• Pesticides and chemicals entering the ecosystem and being passed through the food chain

Freshwater ecosystems are linked to land ecosystems. A severe impact on one can influence the other.

HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACTS

• The bulk of cotton production occurs in developing countries
• From West Africa to Egypt, Uzbekistan to India, instead of being at school, children are involved in cotton production; handpicking cotton, applying pesticides, or producing cottonseed.
• Uzbekistan is the second largest exporter of cotton in the world. The Uzbek state acquires cotton by means of compulsory purchase and earns in excess of $US 1 billion per year from cotton exports. The farmers are chronically under-paid with 4.9 million rural Uzbeks living in poverty.
• In Uzbekistan, toxic agrochemicals first applied to cotton 50 years ago now pollute the country’s land, air, food and drinking water. The Uzbek dictatorship still sanctions the use of extremely toxic chemicals even though they cause damage to human health and the environment
• While the bulk of global cotton production occurs in developing countries, the majority of cotton products are sold to consumers in the developed world

White Gold: The True Cost of Cotton, Environmental Justice Foundation www.ejfoundation.org

ANIMAL WELFARE

• Forty million animals die worldwide every year so that their fur can be used by the fashion industry. The priority when slaughtering the animals is maintaining the quality of the fur, not the welfare of the animal
• Ten million reptiles are killed for their skin each year. Inhumane methods for obtaining the skin includes live skinning and live boiling of animals
• Not all leather used in the fashion industry is a by-product of the meat industry
• In silk production, silkworm cocoons are gassed, boiled or roasted whilst still alive

Fashion – How to set animal welfare at the heart of your company’s ethical policy, RSPCA, www.rspcagoodbusinessawards.com

SYNTHETIC FABRICS

Synthetic fabrics are generally made from oil by-products. These products are non-renewable and take a long time to degrade.

Textiles have become more affordable and we are consuming significantly more clothing than ever before. The growth in volumes is almost entirely associated with synthetics (polyester).

We have been unable to find statistics for Australia, but in the UK consumers send 30kg of clothing per capita to landfill each year. Considering that it can take around 50 years for a synthetic item to biodegrade, this level of disposal is not sustainable.

For more information:

Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom, www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/sustainability

OVER CONSUMPTION

One of the main reasons the textile industry has fallen into a cycle of unsustainability is because of the dramatic rise in global consumption of textiles. Once, clothing was kept for years and worn until the end of its life. In recent times, clothing has become more affordable and fashionable. Fashion pieces generally stay in fashion for a short period of time and are consumed at a fast rate – making clothing more like a disposable commodity.

The consumption of cotton has doubled in the last 30 years with demand in excess of 25 million tones annually. Cotton only accounts for about 20% of the market. The dominant fibre is synthetic and its use is continuing to increase rapidly.

For more information:

www.katefletcher.com/lifetimes

Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom, www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/sustainability