Debunking those cotton myths

A report published on World Cotton Day 2021 aimed to debunk four key myths about cotton. But what are those myths and why are they incorrect?

We all think we know the ins and outs of cotton. We are all led to believe that using organic cotton is better for the environment. But is that really true?

In a report titled ‘Cotton: A Case Study In Misinformation’, the Transformers Foundation and the International Cotton Advisory Committee jointly try to debunk four key myths that surround the global production of cotton.

But why does this matter? Well, cotton is the second most produced fibre in the world after polyester, accounting for 24.4% of global fibre production in 2020. It is also estimated that the cotton industry supports the livelihoods of 22 million households across 75 countries. So, it is vital that the statistics reported are accurate and that misinformation is eradicated for this global industry.

The report says that fashion has a serious and growing misinformation problem and that outdated figures are widely shared, as is data, without any context. Below are the four key myths and what the report claims is incorrect about them.

Myth 1: Cotton consumes 20,000 litres of water per kilo of fibre

This myth’s origins lie in a 1999 report by the World Wildlife Fund titled ‘The Impact of Cotton on Fresh Water Resources and Ecosystems’, coupled with the WWF Cotton page, which from at least 2013 to late 2020 featured a large infographic saying ‘20,000 litres: The amount of water needed to produce one kilogram of cotton, equivalent to a single T shirt and a pair of jeans’.

This myth is not exactly true. According to the ICAC, cotton uses around 1,931 litres of irrigation water to produce 1kg of lint. Globally, cotton uses 6,003 litres of rainwater to produce 1kg of lint.

The report carried out its own internal calculations into this figure by consulting with cotton farmers and mills. Findings revealed that 1kg of lint produces approximately one T shirt and a pair of jeans.

However, the amount of water used fluctuates globally depending on where the cotton is grown. The report says that climate, rainfall and irrigation vary greatly from one country to another. For example, in the US, cotton farmers in the southeast use 234 litres of irrigated water per kg of cotton, compared to farmers in the west, which uses 3,272 litres of water per kg.

The report states that global averages about cotton cotton’s environmental impact can be misleading, as they fail to capture huge local variations in resource usage and impacts. While global data can be useful to tell whether cotton’s overall impact is going up or down decade over decade, context and local data are key.

Myth 2: 25% of the world’s insecticides are used on cotton

Several variations of this statistic are in circulation. Sometimes it’s presented as cotton uses 24% or 25% of all insecticides globally, or 16% to 25% of pesticides. This claim originates from data collected in the 80s or 90s when cotton’s pesticide and insecticide usage was at its peak.

Based on 2019 data from the ICAC, cotton accounts for 4.71% of all pesticides measured as a percentage of total pesticide sales and 10.24% of all insecticide sales. However, the report warns against using global sales data about pesticides, as sales data is not an indicator of actual pesticide usage, the type of pesticide used, or conditions of use.

Myth 3: Cotton is a water-thirsty crop

The report says that calling cotton water-thirsty in isolation without any additional context is misleading. One of the original sources of this claim is from a 2003 report by the WWF called ‘Thirsty Crops: Our food and clothes: eating up nature and wearing out the environment?’.

The reason being, cotton is grown in many water-stressed regions and can contribute to water management challenges. Cotton is a drought-tolerant plant adapted to arid regions. It is not a proportionally high consumer of irrigation water compared to many other crops. Seed cotton uses 3% of the world’s agricultural water globally, based on the latest available data from 2010, which is roughly equal to the 2.7% of arable land planted to cotton.

In summary, the relationship between farming, cotton and sustainable water management is complex.

Myth 4: Organic cotton uses 91% less water than conventional cotton

Global retailers such as H&M and Patagonia have in the past used what the Transformers Foundation report says is an inaccurate claim, which illustrates the scale of the misinformation. This figure originated from the Textile Exchange’s comparison of two life cycle assessments (LCAs) from seven years ago that have not been critically reviewed.

Textile Exchange noted in the report that as scientific understanding has evolved, it is now understood that comparison of specific LCA studies should not be used to make broad claims about material categories, given the differences in regionally appropriate parameters and other assumptions used in each LCA study. Textile Exchange has confirmed this figure will be removed from its forthcoming website update.

There is no known critically-reviewed correlation between organic cotton farming and reduced water consumption in cotton farming. Nor is cotton’s irrigated water consumption known to be determined by its organic or conventional status.

In conclusion

For Andrew Olah, founder of Transformers Foundation, the main takeaway is that there needs to be better transparency and traceability over materials. Rather than demonising a single material, brands and companies across the fashion supply chain should offer better reporting, monitoring and data on their environmental practices.

He says: “We envision a future where farmers tabulate the amount of pesticides they use, the amount of water they use, all of the different inputs to compare this with their yield and continue retrieving the stream of data to a product’s end of life.”