Cotton is omnipresent in fashion; it can be used to create t-shirts, pants, jackets, playsuits, and the list goes on.
But where does this raw material come from? How is it cultivated? What is its ecological impact?
Cotton cultivation
Cotton is a natural plant material produced by the cotton plant which generally grows in a fairly humid tropical environment.
Climatic conditions play an important role in the type of cotton produced. In Egypt, a desert country, you'll find fine cotton. In the United States, the cotton harvested is medium-weight, while in countries like Thailand, where rainfall is high, the cotton is rich.
After being harvested, the cotton must undergo a three-step manufacturing process :
- Carding: the fiber is washed and combed.
- Spinning: the fiber is transformed into filament.
- Spinning: The threads are assembled and twisted to create spools of thread.
Once all these steps have been completed, the cotton can be dyed and then woven to create the fabric used to make clothing.
Cotton, what is the ecological impact?
The world's annual cotton production is 20 million tons . As we have seen previously, the cotton plant needs moisture and water to grow in good conditions. In hot countries like Egypt, irrigation systems have been set up to allow its cultivation. Thus, cotton is the world's third largest consumer of irrigation water.
The ecological impact is significant, for example to produce 1kg of cotton , it takes between 5,400 and 19,000 liters of water .
This massive cotton cultivation is notably responsible for the drying up of part of the Aral Sea. This has led to the disappearance of fish species killed by the excessive quantity of pesticides. The cotton plant is a fragile tree because it is subject to numerous diseases as well as attacks by insects and mites, hence the use of pesticides.
Faced with this natural disaster, it was necessary to find alternatives in order to cultivate cotton in a more environmentally friendly way.
Also read: upcycling your clothes
Organic cotton
Organic cotton is therefore an alternative to regular cotton. It is more environmentally friendly because it reduces the use of pesticides.
Organic cotton production began in Türkiye in the 1990s and is now becoming increasingly important in the textile industry.
Organic cotton farming is not only an ecological issue, but also an ethical one. The use of pesticides has a serious impact on farmers' health. According to the World Health Organization, cotton farming is responsible for the deaths of 22,000 people each year .
To regulate cotton production, labels have been put in place to guarantee that the cotton has been grown with moderate use of pesticides and that farmers are fairly compensated.
Among these labels we can find the following: GOTS, Global Recycled Standard, Demeter and OEKO-TEX .
Conclusion
At Ludis, we are committed to promoting ethical fashion because it is part of our values . For the production of our playsuits, we only use fabrics certified at least OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and for our future collections we wish to favor GOTS-certified organic cotton.
Additionally, there is a path that virtuous players in the fashion world are mastering: the recycling of textiles made from a single material (such as cotton, for example). In the future, if this technique were to develop on a large scale, we could imagine a reduction in cotton production in favor of recycling cotton already existing in clothing. This will considerably reduce the carbon footprint of clothing!
We hope this article has helped you understand what is behind the cotton used in the textile industry.
See you soon !
Mathias & Lucas 🐍