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Maggie's Story - The Environment
| Maggie's journey into the organic
cotton business was inspired by the following statistics
about conventional cotton. Maggie's mission has been to
raise awareness about the harmful impacts of cotton, and
more importantly, to lead the way to a more sustainable
and responsible industry and product. |
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Cotton is considered the world's 'dirtiest' crop due
to its heavy use of insecticides, the most hazardous pesticide
to human and animal health. Cotton covers 2.5% of the
world's cultivated land yet uses 16% of the world's insecticides,
more than any other single major crop (1).
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Bringing a new pesticide to
market requires a major investment of nine years
of development and $180 million plus the cost of
manufacturing. The effectiveness of these agrochemicals
is only temporary as pests develop immunities (2).
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Insecticides are designed
to effect nervous and reproductive systems
of insects, which are similar in both animals
and people. This makes insecticides the most
hazardous pesticide to human health, causing
a wide range of acute and chronic conditions, behavioral
changes, increased risk of cancer, and death (1).
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Aldicarb, parathion, and methamidopho,
three of the most acutely hazardous insecticides
to human health as determined by the World Health
Organization, rank in the top ten most commonly
used in cotton production. All but one of the remaining
seven most commonly used are classified as moderately
to highly hazardous (1). |
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Aldicarb, cotton's
second best selling insecticide and most
acutely poisonous to humans, can kill a man
with just one drop absorbed through the skin,
yet it is still used in 25 countries and the US,
where 16 states have reported it in their groundwater
(1). |
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Insecticide use has decreased
in the last 10 years with the introduction of
Biotechnology (BT), the fastest adapted yet
most controversial new technology in the
history of agriculture. As of 2007, Bt cotton already
commands 34% of total cotton cropland and
45% of world cotton production. In Bt cotton,
the insecticide is always present in the plant rather
than applied in periodic spraying sessions which
will lead to rapid rates of pest immunities
and possibly produce superpests (3). |
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Organic farming prohibits
the use of synthetic chemicals to control pests,
except in extreme cases. Instead, natural predators
and intercropping are used to control pests and
special machinery and fire control handle weeds
(1). |
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It can take almost a 1/3 pound of synthetic fertilizers
to grow one pound of raw cotton in the US, and it takes
just under one pound of raw cotton to make one t-shirt
(4).
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Nitrogen synthetic fertilizers
are considered the most detrimental to the environment,
causing leaching and runoff that freshwater
habitats and wells (5). |
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Nitrogen synthetic fertilizers
are a major contributor to increased N2O emissions,
which are 300 times more potent than CO2 as
greenhouse gas (5), which is ominous for global
warming as synthetic fertilizer use is forecasted
to increase roughly 2.5 times by mid-century
(6). |
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Organic farming methods use
natural fertilizers, like compost and animal manure,
that recycles the nitrogen already in the soil rather
than adding more, which reduces both pollution and
N2O emissions (5). |
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The cottonseed hull, where many pesticide
residues have been detected, is a secondary crop sold
as a food commodity. It is estimated that as much
as 65% of cotton production ends up in our food chain,
whether directly through food oil or indirectly through
the milk and meat of animals (1).
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Cottonseed and field trash
is usually sold for animal feed. Studies in Brazil
and Nicaragua have show traces of common cotton
pesticides in cow milk, fueling concerns about
chemical residues on the cottonseed (1). |
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Cottonseed oil accounts for
8% of the world's edible vegetable oil (1). |
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Organic meat can only be
fed by organic feed, and organic feed can not use
any pesticides, including cottonseed. Likewise,
organic food can only use ingredients that are pesticide-free.
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The developing world is home to 99% of all
cotton farmers and produces 75% of the world's total cotton,
so it bears the brunt of cotton's environmental and health
concerns (1).
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Rural farmers lack the necessary
safety equipment, protective clothing, and training
for handling hazardous pesticides. In India,
one in ten pesticide applications results in three
or more reported health symptoms related to pesticide
exposure (1). |
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Surveys show that rural cotton
farmers often store pesticides in their bedrooms
or in close proximity to their food and some
even reuse pesticide containers for drinking water.
These farmers and their families are at highest
risk for acute pesticide poisoning as well as chronic
effects (1) |
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The production of pesticides
in the developing world is also of concern. In 1982,
the worst man-made disaster occurred in Bhopal,
India when a substandard pesticide plant exploded,
killing 20,000 people and injuring 120,000 (1).
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US cotton subsidies artificially
lower cotton prices while production costs for
Biotech (Bt) seeds and pesticides are rising, causing
financial stress in the rest of the world's cotton-producing
areas. India's once prestigious cotton belt is now
referred to as the "suicide belt" due to
farmers unable to accept growing debts. Since 2003,
the suicide rate has averaged one every eight
hours in Vidarba, India (7). |
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Organic farming poses no
health threat from the use or production of agrochemicals
and many farmers profit from organic premiums (1).
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During the conversion of cotton into conventional clothing,
many hazardous materials are used and added to
the product, including silicone waxes, harsh petroleum
scours, softeners, heavy metals, flame and soil retardants,
ammonia, and formaldehyde-just to name a few (8).
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Many processing stages result
in large amounts of toxic wastewater that
carry away residues from chemical cleaning, dyeing,
and finishing. This waste depletes the oxygen
out of the water, killing aquatic animals and
disrupting aquatic ecosystems (8). |
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The North American Organic
Fiber Processing Standards prohibits these and similar
chemicals. These standards are optional for organic
apparel manufacturers to recognize, yet Maggie's
produces every product according to these standards. |
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Sources:
(1) EJF. (2007). The deadly chemicals in cotton. Environmental
Justice Foundation in collaboration with Pesticide Action
Network UK: London, UK. ISBN No. 1-904523-10-2.
(2) Whitford, F., Pike, D., Burroughs, F., Hanger, G.
Johnson, B., & Brassard, D. (2006). The pesticide marketplace:
Discovering and developing new products. Purdue University
Extension, report # PPP-71.
(3) Chaudhry, M.R., (2007, March 6-8). Biotech applications
in cotton: Concerns and challenges. Paper presented at
the Regional Consultation on Biotech Cotton for Risk Assessment
and Opportunities for Small Scale Cotton Growers (CFC/ICAC
34FT), Faisalabad, Pakistan.
(4) Lauresn, S. E., Hansen, J., Knudsen, H. H., Wenzel,
H., Larsen, H. F., & Kristensen, F. M. (2007). EDIPTEX:
Environmental assessment of textiles. Danish Environmental
Protection Agency, working report 24.
(5) Kramer, S. B., Reganold, J. P., Glover, J. D., Bohannan,
B. J. M., & Mooney, H. A. (2006). Reduced nitrate leaching
and enhanced denitrifier activity and efficiency in organically
fertilized soils. PNAS, 103 (12), 4522-4527.
(6) Tilman, D., Cassman, K., Matson, P., Naylor, R., &
Polasky, S. (2002). Nature (418), 71-677.
(7) de Sam Lazaro, F. (2007). The dying fields: India's
forgotten farmers [Television series episode]. In WNET
(producer), Wide Angle. New York: Public Broadcasting
Station.
(8) Kadolph, S. J., & Langford, A. L. (2002). Textiles
(9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. |
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