Textile Exchange has released a Quick Guide to Organic Cotton, which gives an overview of the positive environmental benefits of organic cotton, in a bid to kick-start the growth and adoption of organic cotton by apparel retailers and brands. Textile Exchange (TE) has also published a series of frequently asked questions, with answers that claim organic cotton is the preferred fibre to choose.

Launching the new publication on organic cotton, TE managing director La Rhea Pepper, noted that the Quick Guide to Organic Cotton, highlights the benefit of organic production as a pathway to restorative, resilient and regenerative landscapes and communities and cotton production has evolved over the last 15 years and greater awareness of the health, economic and environmental benefits of organic farming practices by farmers and buyers has influenced corresponding improvements in many cotton production systems, including the input intensive practices of chemically grown cotton.

TE, has claimed the adoption of preferred cotton production methods grew to represent 8.6 per cent of the total cotton market in the 2016. But, as per Textile Exchange, organic cotton continues to have the lowest environmental impact. It is assumed that yields of conventionally grown agricultural systems are higher than organic systems of production. However, Carl Pepper, an organic cotton farmer in Texas, noted that farm 4,000 acres of organic cotton in the middle of the world’s largest cotton patch.

The guide also tackles the issue of water use in cotton agriculture. Typically, it’s suggested that cotton production, organic or conventional automatically requires huge amounts of water. But, Textile Exchange says it is “the geographical location of the cotton production that dictates the environmental impact of cotton production on water usage,” claiming conventional cotton production uses more water than organic cotton production, pointing to a Life Cycle Assessment that claims organic cotton production for an average t-shirt would use 1,982 gallons less than a shirt made with conventional cotton.

An upcoming meeting of the Preferred Fibre Working Group, in partnership with the Organic Cotton Round Table, is being held at the annual Textile Sustainability Conference, which begins on 9 October in Washington D.C.