So, here is an interesting statistic for you. Around 4% of all pesticides used worldwide are used in the cultivation of non-organic cotton. An even more shocking number: Cotton crops use 10% of all insecticides used globally. That’s…. a lot. Reason why organic cotton is a much needed alternative for cotton clothing. Unfortunately in the 2019-2020 harvest, organic cotton didn’t even make up 1% of the total harvest.
Routonomy & Organic Cotton T-Shirts
Let’s be real. Just our Organic Cotton Tees won’t push that number past the 1%. What you and I can surely push is others to go Organic. But why go Organic?
Although all cotton needs significant amounts of water, cotton grown organically doesn’t damage the soils as its conventional counterpart. Organic cultivation can even improve soils as it allows for more soil life and a healthier above ground balance. In other words, it is a lot better for all insects, both in and above the ground.
Cotton is the largest non-food crop and is grown in 80 countries. 75% of all cotton is grown in 5 countries: The USA, India, China, Pakistan and Brazil. That is a lot of people working cotton nowadays. We are sure you can imagine how the chemical pesticides and herbicides affect the working conditions of the people on those fields.
So, organic cotton ends up being significantly better for both people working in the fields and the animals around. It is simple. We won’t use conventional cotton. Our cotton clothing will only be made of organic and/ or recycled cotton.
What is Recycled Cotton?
That latter term was new for us when we started Routonomy, so maybe it is for you too! Let’s look into it a little more.
Recycled cotton is usually recycled from pre-consumption cotton. The fabrics that aren’t used are selected by color and then shredded to make “new” fibers. It is then spun into yarn and made into fabric. Interestingly, recycled cotton can also be made out of worn and thrown away garments. They are selected by material and color and then go through the same process.
Cutting the cotton does make the fiber a little shorter and it always has to be mixed with virgin material to get a good quality fabric. For our Tees, the recycled cotton is mixed with organic cotton or recycled PET. Both are very good alternatives.
The main advantage of recycled cotton, other than reducing waste, is that cotton growing requires a lot of water. By using already existing cotton fibers, that water usage is almost completely eliminated from the equation.
This is what Routonomy is about.
So we are. So we’ll be.