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Cleaning up Cotton in California
Growing and harvesting one pound of cotton fiber to make a T-shirt impacts the earth’s air, water, and soil as well as the health of people living in cotton growing areas. The Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP) partners with conventional growers who recognize the need to reduce chemical use, helping them implement reduced-risk farming methods to minimize this impact.
Why not organic cotton? The answer is simple: the cost to grow organic cotton in California is higher than retailers are willing to pay. Organic cotton acreage is minimal therefore the chemical reduction corresponding to this acreage is also minimal.
Because Cleaner Cotton™ is grown on significantly more acres than organic cotton it achieves chemical reductions far greater than organic cotton in California.
• In 2007 there were 2 organic cotton farmers growing 240 acres, reducing
• chemicals by a little over 500 pounds9
• In contrast there were 22 cleaner cotton farmers growing 2000 acres,
• reducing chemicals by about 2000 pounds10
SCP launched the Cleaner Cotton™ Campaign to bring this cotton to market. Creating demand for Cleaner Cotton™ will encourage more farmers to convert more of their cotton acres to Cleaner Cotton™.
With your participation, we will achieve the market demand necessary to convince an ever-increasing number of farmers to transition to biologically integrated farming practices.
9 Estimate based on average of 2.13 pounds of chemicals per acre applied to conventional
3 cotton grown in Fresno, Merced, and Madera Counties where the SCP program is active. California Pesticide Use Reporting data: 2002, 2003, and 2006.
10Estimate based on an average of 1.14 pounds per acre applied by SCP growers in
3 Fresno, Merced, and Madera Counties. California Pesticide Use Reporting data: 2002,
3 2003, and 2006. |
