How many of you have that favorite T-shirt that you just love to wear on a lazy day. I bet all of you immediately thought of one particular t-shirt. Go ahead, go check that t-shirt and see what the fiber content is on it. My favorite comfy day t-shirt is made out of 100% cotton. I bet your favorite is either 100% cotton or at least a mixture of cotton and polyester. Although cotton t-shirts are some of the most comfy pieces of apparel we can buy, there are a lot of wasteful processes that go into making those shirts.
There are several effects that growing cotton can have on the environment. According to The Sustainability of Cotton, land and water use are two of the big ones, but there are other damages as well. A lot of water is used to grow cotton; sometimes it is mainly rainwater used to grow it, but in times of drought or when there has been little rainfall a farmer has to use a lot of water from wells or ponds to make it grow. Did you know that it takes256.6 gallons of water to grow, clean, and process just one t-shirt. Land erosion is an even bigger issue; soil can only be used to grow so many plants and crops before all the nutrients and luster are used up. A lot of farmers have different pastures that they use on different years to grow the same crops. The alternate which pasture they use each year to let the soil rest and rebuild nutrients.
Another big thing effecting the environment is the use of pesticides on cotton crops. The farmers use pesticides to keep bugs from ruining the crop and the pesticides eventually make there way into our lakes and rivers through water runoff cause by rain. According to The Sustainability of Cotton, around 13% of cotton plants have been sprayed with pesticides by airplane. This is extremely hazardous because it goes into the air and can drift into neighboring communities. Other methods are using tractors to spray and hand spraying. This is better for everyone except the farmers applying it because they usually end up either breathing it in or getting it on themselves. Even though that is better for all but the farmer, the pesticides still get into our water-stream.
After reading all of this information, we kind of have to wonder if the impacts on our environment and on ourselves are worth the soft, comfy clothes we all have. Isn't it worth it to find a t-shirt that is almost as comfy and made with a lot less water and pesticides. In last weeks blog I talked about how synthetic fibers were better and more economically friendly than natural ones and I think this weeks reading has justified last weeks claims even more. I think it is time to find a better fiber and a better t-shirt.
Hi, Laura;
ReplyDeleteYour blogs are showing steady improvement. Continue to tighten your sentence structure and watch for homonyms like effecting-affecting and there-their. What is your perspective on the Cotton, Inc. video(s)?
Thank you, I thought this was my best one yet. I meant to do a paragraph on my thoughts of the cotton Inc. website and videos. I was going to put it right before the conclusion paragraph, but forgot. I will also watch my homonyms.
DeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteYou provide a lot of great information about how unsustainable cotton farming is. I also really liked how you connected your blog to last week's blog at the end. Your introduction helped me to connect with the blog as well. My only suggestion is that you watch your punctuation. Also, you didn't reference the Cotton Inc. videos anywhere in your blog. Did they make you change your mind about Cotton?
On the punctuation, I think that the font I use sometimes covers up the periods. Mainly with d's y's and m's. I think I am going to go in and change the font that it uses so that it will not happen anymore. I completely forgot to reference the cotton Inc videos and website I was planning on putting it in right before the conclusion paragraph and forgot. The Cotton Inc videos made me believe that cotton has a potential to be good, but the way we process it and dye it really counteracts any overpowers any good that it can do. If we can find a better, less consuming way to process it than I think it would be better than synthetic after all. But until that happens I think I am going to stick with polyester.
DeleteAh! Fonts are quite tricky sometimes. Your view on the Cotton Inc video is great and I agree. We really do need to work hard on the manufacturing aspect of textiles.
Delete