Why Should I Buy Organic Cotton?

Why should you buy organic cotton? What’s the difference from regular cotton?

Well, there is quite a bit different from organics, otherwise people would be buying non-organic. Let’s take a look for at why you should buy organic cottons! Non organic cottons are usually sprayed with many pesticides and other chemicals that can cause environmental damage, and also be absorbed by the plant. This means that fresh cotton that has been exposed to agrochemicals is pretty much big-proof, but at the same time this means that many of the carcinogens are still present on the clothing itself. In fact cotton growing accounts for nearly sixteen percent of all pesticides used. Organic Cotton uses no pesticides, and is not genetically modified.

By buying organic cotton you are promoting less usage of pesticides and are buying cotton that has not been drenched in potentially (actually it really is hazardous) chemicals. What do you think happens when you get a shirt wet? It also gets the chemicals in the shirt wet - so if it is non-organic it can release small amounts of pesticides and dyes used for coloring if it is brand new. Obviously that is a bad thing.

Another downside to regular cotton production is the overall impact on the environment itself. Pesticides will pollute the water when crops are irrigated, thus contaminating the ground, and any runoff water will carry contaminants to streams, rivers, and then the oceans. Additionally the chemicals used and the process of making those chemicals pollute the air, giving off more harmful emissions and pretty much making it more costly in the long run as far as cleanup goes.

However, with organic cotton production crop rotation and biological controls are used, meaning the environmental impact is nil when compared to the other methods. It is, however, economically more expensive because of the ratio of work and manpower that goes into it. The prices will go down if more people switch to organic clothing and organic cotton based clothing because as demand goes up, production methods improve, and the sustainability will be easier on the growers.

One more major advantage organic cotton has over chemically treated cotton is that once the clothing has lived out its life cycle and is thrown out, it will biodegrade much quicker, decreasing the time it takes to go back to natural resources for future plants. This means less landfill usage, less economic impact of trash, and also the ability to compost it slowly with other compostable materials. In essence the clothing can and will be easily disposed of when it has reached the end of the string, so to speak.