The touch, the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives.
The people who came up with the logo "The Fabric of our Lives" could not have known how accurate and foretelling this statement is. The Sustainability of Cotton talks about the water used for cultivation and processing. Cotton production is taking up the majority of our water sources because rivers are being dammed off. This is having a huge effect on the environment, more importantly it is even effecting the availability of water for humans. Different irrigation techniques would be one way to reduce this salinisation. Salinisation is a term used for when evapo-transpiration is a threat for irrigated areas. Farmers should consider different regions that would accumulate more rainfall than others. If farmers do this than they will be able to reuse the land that they have already farmed fresh chemical free soil and not have to use dam water.
One day I was watching a documentary about global warming and it talked about how farmers could simply use different livestock manure to fertilize the crops, rather than using synthetic fertilizers. Doing this would help farmers keep up to date with farming techniques and they would not have to wait until the soil is ready to be used again. This process could sometimes could take up to about two years. Using natural fertilizer would bring nutrients to the soil and, simultaneously help with water retention.
The Web Site Cotton, Inc. talks about how cotton helps the earth by preventing erosion with using cotton mulch. After going through the processing it because a natural mulch for grass. Cotton is beneficial for the earth, therefore, it is imperative that people remain advanced in this process.
As I stated earlier, by using natural fertilizers for soil and crops we can help reduce toxic chemicals and pesticides that accumulate in the air, water and in food. Simply stated, organic means that no toxic pesticides were used, therefore, I believe that organic products would be a better way to protect this crop.
Hi, Maggie! It has been hypothesized that it is unrealistic that organic cotton will ever become a mainstay, but will remain in small-batch production, available for a certain niche of products. What do you think about that?
ReplyDeleteMaggie, I really enjoyed the focus of your blog this week. I also liked the solution you discussed involving the manure. It seems practical and promising--are there any negatives to this solution? Or alternatives?
ReplyDeleteMaggie, I really liked the information you discussed in your blog this week! Do you think that there is a likely chance that we can get all manufacturers to go 100% organic? I agree that organic products are a much better solution to help the sustainability of our environment.
ReplyDeleteDr. Armstrong, I agree with this statement, I don't think that it will ever get to be a mainstay unless farmers step up, which I don't think will happen for several years unless someone can sway them toward all the positives that it includes.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I think that after researching this that there hasn't been any negatives to the manure, but obviously there has been several alternative solutions.
Kelli, I think that it is highly likely that we could get a lot of manufacturers to go 100% organic, but not all. I think that it would take a lot of time and money to make everyone change their ways.