Posts tagged pesticide
startling facts
Nov 27th
- Farmers in the U.S. apply one third of a pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for every pound of cotton harvested
- Cotton crops account for 25% of all pesticides used in the U.S. Some among the most toxic classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Perspective. Just 2.4% of the world’s arable land is planted with cotton, yet it accounts for 24% of the world’s insesticide market and 11% of global pesticides sales, making it the most pesticide-intensive crop grown on the planet.
- At least 3 Million people are poisoned by pesticides every year and 20-40,000 more are killed
- Over 1 Million Americans will learn they have some form of cancer and 10,400 people in the U.S. die each year from cancer related to pesticides
From Field to Fabric
Jan 28th
We can break the process from cotton field to fabric in to 4 steps: 1) Growing, 2) Harvesting, 3) Cleaning or “ginning” and 4) Manufacturing.
Step 1) Growing.
Although cotton is grown on just 2.4% of the world’s arable land, it accounts for 24% of the world’s insecticides, making it the most pesticide-intensive crop on the planet. Not only do these insecticides kill “harmful” creatures, they ravish beneficial instincts as well, including ladybugs and wasps.
