Earth Hour And How Organic Cotton Benefits The Environment
The popularity of all things organic continues to grow, from food, textiles, cleaning products to cosmetics, and in our case, tampons. But whilst emphasizing the benefits to the individual consumer’s health and wellbeing, it’s easy to forget the dramatic impact that buying organic can also have on the environment.
As we celebrate WWF’s Earth Hour www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour – where individuals turn off the light for an hour as a symbolic show of support for action on climate change – we’d like to reflect on how organic cotton is both better for the environment as well as for the user
Why is organic cotton better for the environment?
Organic cotton is not dependent on dangerous pesticides and insecticides which can be harmful to the health of farmers and their families and local ecosystems. Friendly species that control pests can be destroyed by industrial agriculture
When there is heavy rain, chemicals running off the land can poison rivers and waterways
“Conventional cotton uses as much as 25% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the pesticides used in the world versus 3% of the cultivated area”.
Organic cotton can be part of a more sustainable crop rotation scheme, allowing farmers to grow other crops for food and income
Organic farmers are not dependent on GM seeds which can be expensive and can still remain reliant on high cost pesticides
Organic cotton uses less water because for this most thirsty of crops, organic systems are more reliant on rainwater. This is critical where groundwater is being rapidly depleted
Organic cotton farming uses far less energy – predominantly sourced from petrochemicals and other depleting fossil fuels – which contributes to climate change
Organic soil is a much better carbon “sink” – it stores CO2 released into the atmosphere
And for the user?
100% organic cotton tampons are totally biodegradable and free from chemicals, pesticides, glues, fragrances and dyes often found in popular brands.