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Release Date: Thursday, March 01, 2007
New York, NY - With the assistance of strategic partners, Cotton Incorporated is developing new uses for virtually every part of the cotton plant and constantly reducing the environmental footprint of the crop's cultivation. Among these ecological contributions are: research exploring the use of cottonseed as a food source; the development of erosion-control hydromulches made from ginning by-products; calling attention to the use of repurposed denim for natural home insulation and the varied agricultural advances that are increasing yields and reducing the land, water and chemicals used to grow cotton.
Cotton Incorporated was recently singled out as one of the top 50 companies making a difference in the world. The company's recognition as one of Fast Company magazine's "Fast 50" was an acknowledgement of Cotton Incorporated's role in breakthrough research that could offer cottonseed as a high-volume, low-cost food source.
Cottonseed is nearly 23% protein, but the presence of the chemical gossypol has historically rendered the seed unsuitable for consumption to humans and most livestock. At the same time, the cotton plant needs gossypol to fend off pests that would destroy it. The trick was to find a way to suppress gossypol levels in the seed, while leaving the chemical in tact in the plant.
Years of research at Cotton Incorporated were successful in identifying the enzyme that creates gossypol, but additional studies were needed. The company turned over its findings to Texas A&M University and provided funding for the continuation of the research there. In November of last year, Dr. Keerti Rathore, the plant biotechnologist leading the research at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, announced they had achieved their goal.
What does this mean for the world? Considering that for every pound of fiber, cotton plants also produce 1.6 pounds of seed, this breakthrough could lead to approximately 48.5 million tons of cottonseed, annually. If the gossypol is successfully repressed in the seed over successive generations of the plant, the world may be eating as much cotton as it wears.
The "green side" of cotton also showed through, quite literally, with the introduction of two hydromulch products from Alabama-based Mulch & Seed Innovations, LLC. In cooperation with the company and the United States Department of Agriculture, Cotton Incorporated helped refine the process that converts cotton ginning by-products into superior land erosion-control products. Hydromulches, used to stave off erosion and encourage grass growth in recently-constructed areas, benefit from the porous nature of cotton; which creates a tight "cling" to the land, while providing a viable growth medium for grass seeds.
The two hydromulches are trademarked under the names Cotton Fiber Matrix™, for steep slopes, and GeoSkin™, for semi-flat terrains. Both significantly outperformed more conventional wood pulp-based hydromulches, and the GeoSkin product is now approved for use by currently by the Department of Transportation in 14 states. By-products of the cotton ginning process create 2.5 million tons of bio-mass, annually. By converting a portion of this waste into hydromulches, the cotton industry is creating a new revenue channel, and one that profits the environment, as well.
Cotton's natural properties allow even finished goods to be easily recycled and repurposed. Take the transformation of old denim jeans to energy-saving insulation as an example. The innovative insulation company Bonded Logic uses post-industrial denim and cotton fibers sourced from denim manufacturing facilities to create its UltraTouch insulation. The product is a high-performance, natural insulator that has the added benefit of being "non-itchy," as well as ecologically sound. As part of its recent Cotton's Dirty Laundry Tour to 14 college campuses, Cotton Incorporated collected denim that Bonded Logic then converted into UltraTouch insulation. The recycled and repurposed denim will be donated to construction efforts in Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Louisiana.
The most compelling of cotton's environmental contributions can be seen at its source; the cotton fields themselves. Over the past few decades, agricultural innovations have enabled the cotton producers to grow more cotton on less land, using less water and less pesticides than ever before. Advancements such as computer models to identify how much water or imputs are required on specific acreages are creating a cost savings to the growers and an environmental savings for all.
If efficiency is defined as the optimal use of time and resources to produce results, then eco-efficiency is the optimal use of time and resources to produce eco-friendly results. The cotton industry fits into this category of environmentally-minded businesses. It wastes little by converting plant and processing by-products into new products that benefit the world we share. And, it wants little with regard to land, water and imputs; having significantly reduced its environmental footprint over the past few decades.
Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton. The Program is designed and operated to improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.
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