The Fabric of Our Lives

“The touch, the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives” has become a common household slogan throughout the United States causing the desire for cotton products to gain rapidly, but is cotton really as amazing as advertising has shown it to be? Cotton can be argued to be very unsustainable which is why there has been a recent interest in researching and developing the plant to make it healthier for the environment.

Cotton has not always been the most amazing crop as not only can it be harmful for our environment, it can be harmful towards humans also. The book The Sustainability of Cotton: Consequences for man and environment discusses many different reasons as to why this product is terrible for our society. The first main point discussed is it’s excessive need for fresh water. Cotton is considered to be one of the “thirstiest” plants during cultivation consuming 10,000-17,000 liters of water to produce 1 kg of cotton lint. The most common way to water these cotton fields is through irrigation. One of the most common irrigation methods is flood-or-furrow irrigation which can waste our water supply if the plants are over watered leading to runoff or there is too much distance between the water source and the crops as often there is damages and leaks in the irrigation canals.

A second main point discussed is the use of pesticides to produce cotton. As much of the world’s cotton in produced overseas in developing countries, there is less protection used when spraying these cotton fields with pesticides, as it can be very costly. Inefficient methods and the lack of proper safety methods are harming our environment: contaminating our water, killing many animals, such as fish, and harming the workers and farmers producing cotton. The use of pesticides can lead to different diseases, such as affecting the nervous system causing constant twitching that can eventually lead to paralysis. Another negative affect of the use of pesticides is that the crops are increasing in the number of times they must be sprayed each year as harmful insects are adapting and becoming more immune to it.

As of right now it is hard to say that cotton is a sustainable crop, but as the concern for our environment has taken hold more research is being done to modify it. Cotton Inc. has already began to develop efficient methods to make it more sustainable, such as altering cotton genetically to use less water and with stand drought better for longer periods of time. They are also developing it genetically to better withstand insects which would help in using lest pesticides. As more research is gathered, cotton becomes a more efficient crop. The only problem now is has it done too much irreversible damage?