I believe our destinies are linked and we are far more powerful than we realize. ‘Our’ includes all of us – the unborn children in remote villages of India and the soccer Moms buying her clothes at Target or Macy’s. Let me illustrate this with just one example.
Cotton as a textile fiber has always been considered natural, since it originates directly from plant sources. The truth is vastly different. In places like India, where a lot of the cotton you use daily may be grown, cotton occupies less than 5% of the cultivated land, but represents an estimated 54% of agricultural pesticide use. Pesticides such as methyl-parathion and monocrotophos, classified as extremely hazardous to human health by WHO are being used in India.
A large-scale study conducted by `Panna’, a non-profit organization found that children living in the regions of intensive pesticide use might be at risk for impaired mental development. The cause and effect problem does not stop here. These pesticides and fertilizers used on cotton find their way into groundwater, surface water and contaminate the entire ecosystem.
Organic cotton, on the other hand is grown without fertilizers and processed without chemicals. Your seemingly innocuous choice of what type of cotton bed-sheet or t-shirt you buy, organic or ‘regular’ has a direct connection to the health of the planet. The choice, as they say, is YOURS, (and not those evil large corporations people like to blame)!
