After spinning the cotton fibre into yarn, it's time to dye the yarn the famous indigo colour of jeans. Indigo has been a very popular dye for thousands of years, but it was only in the last century that a synthetic indigo was invented. The dyeing process requires large quantities of synthetic dye and huge amounts of water. These synthetic dyes are made of chemicals that are toxic, which means any waste water from the dyeing process needs to be treated before being allowed to re-enter the water supply. Unfortunately, many factory-owners try to cut costs by not treating the water properly, leading to the pollution of rivers. This means that the products of conscientious factory-owners who follow the rules are more expensive and less competitive.

The city of Xintang in China produces over 250 million pairs of jeans a year and has become known as the ‘Jeans Capital of the World’, which is some 40 per cent of the jeans sold in the United States. The wastewater from the many factories in Xintang has polluted the River Dong. In the photo below you can see how the dyes are flowing from the river into the Pearl River Delta.

Pictures by Greenpeace

And don't forget about the people working for you. You will need to pay for the operators to work the machines, administrative staff to take care of your accounts, and a cleaning team. All these workers also need medical insurance and salaries.

Copyright Agriculture Corner

Match the titles below to each paragraph.

a. The use of herbicides and pesticides.

b. The benefits of organic cotton

c. The use of water in cotton production

d. The use of genetically modified cotton seeds

e. The use of fertilizers in cotton production

Cotton production and the environment

Paragraph 1_______________________________________

The heavy demand for water in cotton production has many interrelated effects on the environment. One of the most obvious and devastating effects is the depletion of lakes and rivers to supply irrigation systems for the cotton fields. The use of water from the Aral Sea to irrigate cotton, for example, has reduced what was one of the four biggest lakes in the world to just 10% of its original size. The eastern basin of the lake is now a desert. The destruction of the Aral Sea’s ancient ecosystems, including the extinction of many species found only in this basin, together with the multiple effects of this destruction on local communities and the fishing industry, is one of the worst environmental disasters ever caused by humans. Throughout the world, the use of water for cotton has had complex and harmful effects on groundwater and the water table, as well as causing the salinization of soils, reducing their fertility

Paragraph 2____________________________________________

Another major damaging effect of cotton irrigation is that the water that runs off cotton fields is contaminated with herbicides and pesticides. This is because the vulnerability of cotton to diseases and pests means that industrial producers of cotton spray the fields with massive amounts of chemical herbicides and pesticides. Over 15% of all insecticides and over 6% of all herbicides worldwide are used for cotton production. These chemicals not only have a range of harmful effects on ecosystems and human health, but also end up in the water that runs off cotton fields, polluting freshwater sources and thus depriving people of drinking water.

Paragraph 3_____________________________________________

As well as water, pesticides and herbicides, large-scale industrial cotton production also requires massive amounts of synthetic fertilizers. The fertilizers used in cotton production are amongst the most environmentally damaging of all fertilizers. This is partly because the production and use of these nitrate-based fertilizers involves processes that not only use up a lot of energy but also create nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is one of the major contributors to climate change.

Paragraph 4_________________________________________

Genetically modified cotton seeds have been introduced on a large scale in recent decades, partly to reduce the costs of herbicides and pesticides. Over 80% of the world’s cotton is now grown from genetically modified seeds. Despite the apparent benefits in terms of yield and lower costs, however, the effects of GM cotton on the environment and on cotton farmers are a matter of major and ongoing controversy. Many complex scientific issues are involved in this controversy, but one clear problem with GM cotton seeds is that their success in resisting some pests has led to an increase in the number of other pests – requiring new pesticides. Farmers, meanwhile, have less and less choice about the kinds of seeds they can buy, since the powerful companies that produce GM seeds (i.e. Bt cotton) now dominate the world seed market.

Paragraph 5_________________________________________

An increasingly popular alternative to GM cotton is to grow organic cotton without using any synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Compost and manure are used instead of chemical fertilisers, a method that enriches rather than depletes the soil. Despite these clear benefits for sustainability, organic cotton products are more expensive than non-organic cotton products. This is partly because governments support non-organic producers with funds and do not make them pay for the environmental costs of their production, making their products more competitive on the market. The big question is whether more big fashion brands will switch to organic cotton if environmentalists and consumers demand more sustainable practices from the textile industry.

After the finished jeans have been packed in the factory, they are sent to a distribution centre. This is a centralised space that receives all the garments produced around the world. For example, if a shop in Copenhagen runs out of black jeans, the shop will ask the distribution centre to send some more.

The distribution centre not only needs enough space to store all the garments it receives, but also workers who can control the machinery and the storage, as well as administrative staff to take care of the accounts and all the orders from the shops. The owner of a distribution centre needs machinery to scan the garments and sort them into the right sets of clothing for each shop. They also need to purchase hangers, cardboard boxes, and plastic bags to repackage some of the garments.

Pictures by www.worlds-luxury-guide.com

We all know what fashion shops look like: large, well-lit and attractive spaces full of beautiful clothes organised in collections. But how do these shops get to look so nice and always have the right sizes and styles available for customers?

To ensure that a shop has all the styles and sizes in demand, the shop managers need to be in constant communication with the distribution centre. While shop assistants are needed to serve customers, refill the stock and keep the stock records up to date. Cleaners are needed to keep the shop looking attractive. And all of these employees must paid a fair salary and provided with health insurance. Other major expenses for retailers include the rent of the building and the bills for electricity and machinery like computers and tills.