Cotton replaced hemp in the world of fiber by chemical giant Dupont

Cotton replaced hemp in the world of fiber by chemical giant Dupont
                        
Many years ago I attended a conference in Washington, D.C., titled Beyond Pesticides. It was quite the eye opener, and being an avid amateur seamstress, I made sure to sit in on the sessions discussing organic cotton and alternatives to traditional fabrics. Cotton is not pure white when harvested from the plant. It must be bleached using large quantities of chlorine. After the process of bleaching, long fibers are used to create cotton fabrics. The remaining broken fibers are left in large bins, but these do not go to waste. The short, broken, dioxin-laden fibers are used for things such as Q-tips, diapers and sanitary products. Bluntly stated, the waste material is used to make products that we place against our skin and even inside our bodies. Even though these fibers are contaminated with dioxin, one of the most dangerous compounds known, they are still passed on to the consumer. Needless to say, this is troubling. Because feminine hygiene products are classified as medical devices, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have to release the data from testing to the consumer. Considering how permeable our skin is and how many years we use these medical devices, our exposure can be quite extensive. There are alternatives, and one is organic cotton. Cotton as a crop is very damaging to ecosystems and to humans. Cotton requires enormous amounts of water and pesticides. It takes 5,200 gallons of water to make a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. More than $2 billion a year are spent on pesticides to spray cotton. According to the Rodale Institute, the World Health Organization classifies eight of the 10 pesticides used to grow cotton in the United States as moderately to highly toxic to humans. Additionally, unless cotton is clearly labeled as being organically grown, it is highly likely to be genetically modified cotton. The USDA has stated 93 to 98 percent of all cotton grown in the cotton-producing states of the USA is genetically modified to produce its own pesticide for bollworms. That insecticide is called Bt (bacillus thuringiensis). It also is modified to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate). The process of dyeing cotton also is very damaging to the environment. It uses dyes that are in some cases carcinogenic. These include azo dyes and dyes that contain chromium, copper and zinc. Many times these dyes are illegally released into streams and rivers, killing fish and causing the water to turn blue or red. The Rodale Institute points out 65 percent of cotton directly and indirectly enters our food chain. Cottonseed oil is in Crisco and is used to make Vitamin E. Cottonseed meal is fed to cattle. Those short fibers have another use as well: food additives. Have you ever noticed the labels on some foods say cellulose? Unlike termites we cannot digest cellulose, so it basically goes in one end and out the other. It gives you a full feeling without adding calories. The list of foods containing cellulose is extensive and includes sports drinks, pizza, milk, cereals, soups, canned vegetables and many more. A better choice would be organic cotton. It is not grown with synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides and is not genetically modified. Hydrogen peroxide, the stuff in your medicine cabinet, is used to replace chlorine in the bleaching process. Plant-based dyes for cotton are becoming very popular and use plant extracts rather than heavy metal based dyes. In some cases Mother Nature has produced rogue cotton plants that are not white but light pastel tones. These colored cousins of white cotton were believed to be first cultivated in the Andes Mountains. They literally grow in the colored state. You can find browns, greens, reds and tans. In the late 1980s Sally Fox expanded on the idea of growing colored cotton and patented her FOX Fiber. Historically speaking, there was a time when cotton wasn’t king; hemp was the chosen fiber of the country. Many of our founding fathers had hemp farms. In fact farmers who owned land were required to grow hemp on some of their acreage. Hemp is four times stronger than cotton, requires a fourth of the water, doesn’t require fertilizing or herbicides and is very pest resistant. Prior to 1820 when the cotton gin was invented, more than 80 percent of clothing, textiles, bedding and even schoolbooks were made from hemp. Henry Ford’s first Model T was made to run on hemp gasoline. Hemp oil was used for paints and varnishes, and hemp made up over 90 percent of ships’ sails and ropes. Hemp was the largest cash crop in the US until the 20th century. In the early 1900s during the Hoover presidency, the Dupont Chemical Company developed a process to make nylon from cellulose. It also was beginning to develop toxic pesticides. Andrew Mellon became the principal investor in this company. In order to crush the hemp industry, Dupont, along with other corporate interests and lots of yellow journalism, convinced policy makers to declare hemp a dangerous drug and made cultivation illegal in the United States. However, given that hemp is less than 0.3 percent THC (the active ingredient in marijuana), you could smoke a boatload of hemp and never get high. Note: I am not speaking from experience here. Many countries have legalized industrial hemp cultivation including Canada and Great Britain. Some states have also legalized it but cannot move forward due to DEA regulations. Now as we witness many states voting on various marijuana regulations and uses, isn’t it time to bring hemp back as a textile material? I’d rather look out at eco hemp fields than GMO cotton fields.


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