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The Sustainability of Cotton Compared to Synthetic Fibers
Unlike petroleum-based fibers, cotton is energy self-sustaining, and does not contribute to net greenhouse gas emissions. Most synthetic fibers are derived from some form of a petroleum product. By the most optimistic estimates, the world’s petroleum reserve will be depleted in 100-years;i therefore, even with recycling, ultimately it is difficult to label synthetic fibers “sustainable.” Unlike synthetic fibers, cotton has the potential to be energy self-sustaining, even energy generating (see the section of this web-site that addresses cotton and energy resources). And in addition to being energy positive, cotton fiber is over 40% carbon, thus actually reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.ii No petroleum-based, synthetic fiber has the possibility of being energy or carbon positive since their manufacture does not utilize solar energy and includes a net movement of carbon from stored petroleum to released and consumed carbon.
Cotton Compared to Other NATURAL Fibers
There are other natural fibers, but none are as biologically efficient as cotton in producing a product ideally suited for apparel. For example, both wool and silk require “processing” of plant-based energy through an animal before a fiber is produced, while, cotton takes sunlight and converts it directly to fiber without intermediate processing steps. Furthermore, wool requires almost four-times the amount of land as cotton to achieve equivalent production mass.iii That is, if all the fiber needs met by the cotton grown in the U.S. were to be replaced by wool, it would take 48 million acres to support wool production as opposed to 12.5 million acres of land for cotton. Applying the same reasoning to silk production, where an acre of mulberry trees is needed to generate 35 pounds of raw silk,ivover 20 times the land would be required to produce fiber from silk as opposed to cotton.
Fibers that are based on corn and bamboo also require intermediate processing and harsh chemicals to create a rayon fiber – which is still not a direct plant-based production of fiber.v Other plants do directly produce fibrous material, but none have been domesticated for thousands of years for use in clothing the human race besides cotton. This has lead to cotton having fiber length, strength, and fineness properties that make it the ideal natural fiber for textile applications. Hemp is marketed as an “environmentally-friendly” fiber, but it is typically associated with fiber uses similar to those of jute and flaxvi - not fibers that have found a significant market for apparel. A USDA report in 2000 found that hemp production would not be economically sustainable in the US.vii
Finally, market demand and production also provide evidence that cotton is the superior natural fiber in the world. Based on average natural fiber production from 2001 to 2005, cotton globally represented 71% of the natural fibers produced; even when other natural fibers not used in apparel were included such as jute and hemp. In same time period, wool represented 11%, and silk only 0.3% of natural fiber production. viii
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