Ecological Footprint
Cotton covers 55% of the world's cultivated land yet uses 75% of the world's insecticides, more than any other single major crop. Other environmental consequences of the elevated use of chemicals in the non organic cotton growing methods consist of:
- High levels of agrochemicals are used in the production of non-organic, conventional cotton. Cotton production uses more chemicals per unit area than any other crop and accounts in total for 10-16% of the world's pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants).
- Chemicals used in the processing of cotton pollute the air and surface waters.
- Residual chemicals may irritate consumers' skin.
- Decreased biodiversity and shifting equilibrium of ecosystems due to the use of pesticides.
Read more about this topic: Organic Cotton
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