Why Organic Cotton?

Did you know that approximately 1.25 lbs. of agricultural chemicals were used in growing the cotton in a single set of queen size sheets?

In fact, cotton crops are the second largest user of agricultural pesticides in the world (coffee is the first and tobacco the third). 25% of the world's insecticides and more than 10% of the world's pesticides are used on cotton. The worst part is not all of those pesticides stay on the cotton fields. It is estimated that only 25% of pesticides sprayed from a crop duster actually hit the crop. The remainder drifts for miles and lands on other food crops, residential areas and water sources.

These pesticides are harmful. Four of the top nine pesticides used on cotton, (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite) are classified by the EPA as cancer-causing chemicals. According to a 1997 study by the International Labour Organization, "14% of all occupational injuries in the agricultural sector, and 10% of all fatal injuries can be attributed to pesticides." Not to mention, in the food we eat, there are 71 known carcinogenic pesticides sprayed on food crops.

Pesticides don't just hurt humans. For example, in 1995 approximately 250,000 fish were killed in Lawrence, Alabama, when heavy rains washed lethal concentrations of methyl parathion and endosulfan from cotton fields into a 16-mile stretch of a creek that emptied into a nearby lake (C. Cox, 1995, Cotton Spraying Kills Fish).

Ironically, pesticides do not help to grow better crops. Since 1945, total U.S. crop losses from insect damage have nearly doubled. During the same time insecticide use has increased tenfold.

In 1997, large apparel companies purchased 2.15 million pounds of organic cotton, which eliminated an estimated 43,000 pounds of pesticides and 485,190 pounds of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (Organic Fiber Council).

When you buy organic cotton you are supporting a movement to end the use of deadly pesticides. Go organic!