This morning when I did my first check of my social media streams, I came across a post from the fine folks at Cotton Incorporated who celebrate “the touch, the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives.” The article begs the question “The Cotton Controversy: Does Green Have To Be At Odds With Our Whites?”

The author of the piece — Alden Wicker — and I differ significantly in our background knowledge and experiences with cotton, but we both appreciate dialog with people on other parts of the spectrum and realize that is an important part of learning. Her introduction to the article shows she listens to very different descriptions of cotton than you normally see here on my blog but I think it’s important that I acknowledge this sort of information is out there.

You wouldn’t think a nice, bland textile like cotton would be so controversial. But “The Fabric of Our Lives” has become a flashpoint in the battle for more sustainable and ethical clothing. Advocates of eco-friendly fashion accuse the cotton industry of heavy pesticide and herbicide use, dangerous working conditions, and even putting the consumer’s health at risk when we wear its products.

Given how passionate I am about the aforementioned issues, I jumped at the chance to debate a real, live cotton scientist. As a 12-year employee of Cotton Inc., Dr. Ed Barnes’ loyalties definitely lie with conventional cotton. But, I hoped he, being a scientist, would treat me to some real talk.

via Conventional Cotton Facts And Numbers- Is It Safe?.

It is clear that Alden listened and did some checking back on things too. One of the first questions she asked that Ed Barnes of Cotton Incorporated answered challenged what she knew & she checked his facts.

Alden Wicker: Thank you for speaking with me. As you know, the impetus for this interview was Amber Valletta’s April story for Refinery29. The first thing said was that conventionally grown cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed plants in farming.

Ed Barnes: That is definitely not the case. Critics like to say that cotton uses 25% of the world’s pesticides. It’s one of the urban legends that floats out there on the Internet. Global data is hard to get, but we use data from Cropnosis that tracks sales of pesticides around the world. It’s not the perfect data source, since it’s based on dollar values, but we know that cotton uses about 6% of pesticides used. This was surprising to me, but there’s a lot more pesticide use in fruits and vegetables.

Editor’s note: However, also according to Cropnosis, a private company in the U.K., cotton’s share by value of global pesticide consumption declined from 11% in 1988 to 6.8% (worth $3 billion) in 2008. Similarly, the share of insecticide use declined from 19% in 2000 to 15.7% in 2008.

The facts show what I have seen throughout my career — cotton farmers –like my friend Kenneth Hood in the photo — are always improving, doing better for their farms, the environment, their communities and their families. And while I know a lot of people say there is no perfect industry, I would suggest that continual improvement is perfection!

I can’t highlight all the interesting pieces in the article, cause to me all three pages were interesting and that would be theft if I ran more than a couple of excerpts but I encourage you to read Conventional Cotton Facts And Numbers- Is It Safe?.

Beyond the facts, there is a passion that, at the very least, matches Wicker’s, it even leads people like me to tweet about my love of cotton and to create series of posts about the natural fiber here… we also passionately seek improvements!

Related articles

• What’s with that Hayden Panettiere cotton commercial?
• C is for Cotton – an A to Z Series about Agriculture
• First Visit to a North Carolina Cotton Farm
• G is for GMOs – What are GMOs & Why Do Farmers Plant GMO Crops?

The post Taking Time to Check on Cotton Sustainability Facts appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

One of the things I really got used to the last several years is seeing cotton seed and plants throughout the season. Its amazing how much I miss it when I live somewhere else. I’ve lived other places before and was able to keep up on the crop and with social media, I have lots of people willing to help me stay up-to-date on the crop in various areas, but its not the same. So when I was back in Memphis recently, I decided to take the backroads for a while rather than popping on the Interstate and making a bee-line out of town. I didn’t see many cotton fields on this trip, but once I was able to row a field (that means see rows of plants from the highway), I turned in and decided to take some photos and soak up a little of my favorite fiber!

Related articles

• Planting Considerations
• Thinking through Selecting Cotton Varieties
• Planting Cotton in California
• What does a cotton plant look like?
• more related posts on the Cotton 101 page

The post Cotton 101: Saw My First Cotton Plants for the Season appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

With the guest post series, I had no idea how diverse some of the posts would become and have to admit that Kevin surprised me when he sent me a post he published on the Cotton Boll Conspiracy and asked if I’d like to repost it for his submission.

Kevin’s goal has been first and foremost to write this blog as though he was “the only one reading it. The Cotton Boll Conspiracy exists simply because it’s something I enjoy doing. Its topics are ones I enjoy, find interesting or believe to be of significance to someone somewhere. I never saw a need to attach my name to something that I was essentially writing for my own enjoyment.” So I love that somewhere along the way, he came across cotton as a component for paving roads and that it stuck for him.

Cotton Roads: Recalling an Ill-Conceived Idea

Using cotton as a key ingredient in road building seems difficult to fathom today but during the 1930s it was all the rage, at least for a short while.

Part of the reason was that because in the midst of the Great Depression there was an abundance of three things: Unemployed Americans, cotton and roads that needed to either be built or refurbished. Someone somewhere came up with the idea of combining the three.

Hence, for some time, cotton roads were said to be the wave of the future, and the soft, fluffy staple fiber became a major element in road building across a good part of the US.

The idea apparently came about when a New Deal entity called theAgricultural Adjustment Administration sought ways to increase consumption of American cotton, the price of which had been driven down through overproduction.

At the same time, the Works Progress Administration was on the lookout for a means to create more jobs for the unemployed, and in 1935 the government launched an experiment, dubbed “cotton roads,” that filled both needs, according to Michigan History magazine.

Some 24 states, including South Carolina, participated in the project to use cotton fabric on the road base as a reinforcement.

A 1930s government film explained the process:

After a dirt roadway has been graded, a priming coat of asphalt is spread over it. On top of this, strips of cotton fabric are laid like so much carpet and the overlapping edges tacked down. With the pouring of a final coat of asphalt, the cotton is embedded between the two layers, forming a strong reinforcement which is said to prevent cracking and erosion. Gravel is then spread on the surface and a steamroller completes the job. The road costs a trifle more than average but lasts from three to five years longer.

While Michigan History reports that within two years, the venture was deemed unsuccessful and abandoned, a 1944 book titled ”Better Living in the Postwar World” apparently didn’t get the message:

… ’cotton roads’ have been built in a number of states to try out a specially woven cotton mesh used as reinforcement for asphalt highways. ‘Some day, perhaps,’ declared the National Association of Manufacturers, ‘you will ride on partly cotton roads in a partly cotton automobile on partly cotton tires to a picnic where you will use cotton seed oil on a salad which you will eat with a cotton-handled fork.’

And then again, maybe you won’t.

One thing is for certain, a bunch of PR folks somewhere must have been on the ball, because the articles, films and other mentions of the concept behind ”Cotton Roads” during the 1930s are all unfailingly rosy.

Has anyone heard about cotton being used in paving since the 30s?

PS. – In no way do I think I’m that good of a PR person!

The post Instead of Country Roads, They Could Have Been Cotton Roads? appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

Earlier this week, I made a plea for guest posts…. I want to share the various stories about how cotton is the fabric of our lives. Those special moments and the day-to-day that include my favorite fiber. Good friend Val Wagner is the first to take me up on the offer! Val didn’t send her own bio, so she’s at my mercy.  Val is one of a kind and at the same time, so familiar. She doesn’t fit the stereotypes others set up, but it’s not because she tries not to, she is simply being her awesome self! She lives in Monango, ND (which I will be visiting this summer – do or die!)

I first met her at the 2010 AgChat Foundation Conference (the photo at left is from our laughter at the airport as we headed home) but we had talked quite a bit on Twitter so I felt a little like I knew her. By the time we caught up at another ag meeting, we were dear friends. She had started her blog Wag’n Tales, that tells the story of her family’s farm where they raise beef cattle, corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa hay and four boys. Val is a farm mom in the traditional sense in that you’ll see her post recipes and talk about the crazy schedule of keeping the household of four sons running. But she also writes about going ice fishing or hunting, spending time driving tractors or helping deliver calves. Thanks Val & I hope you enjoy the post!

Cotton. I’ve always known what it was, but never gave it much thought. I mean, I like it in my clothes, I love it in my bedding, it’s everywhere I look…but I didn’t think about it. Much like many of us, I would guess. 

But that all changed not so long ago. I met this lady who has a passion for all things cotton…and when you come face-to-face with that kind of excitement and energy, you can’t help but feel a little excited and energized yourself.

I started reading labels, and watching what I bought, and realizing (without ever knowing it) that I was heavily in the cotton court…or maybe I should say field?

My hubby’s new Carhartt spring work shirt is 100% cotton. 

My youngest son’s favorite blanket is 100% cotton.

My wrestling son’s wrestling shirt is 100% cotton.

Yes, cotton is woven through every nuance of our lives…and I realize now, just how important that is.

Cotton is truly the fabric of our life.

You can learn about how cotton is grown through the Cotton 101 series of posts or more about the natural fiber in a variety of cotton posts.

The post Paying More Attention to Cotton Clothing & Textile Labels appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

Recently, when I wrote a blog post about the fact farmers are the ones paying for the ads that support the fabric of our lives campaign, a cotton farmer from the Texas High Plains left a comment on my Facebook page. I’ve been thinking about it since. He said:

“Few people have any idea how much cotton means to our lives. Last week I helped with the funeral of a man whose ground we have farmed for the past 23 years. I had a boll of cotton in my pocket through the service. In our home we have cotton in a vase like most folks would have flowers… Thank you for all you do to spread the word of the fabric of our lives!!!”

Since I started my blog in 2009 I have written a bunch of blog posts over the last year or two trying to help tell the story of cotton. I even tried to put the basics of the crop in a cotton 101 series of posts. I have been able to talk about all sorts of things but I keep thinking something is missing and I realized, its the stories of other people…. people like Steve who have spent most of their lives growing the fiber and people like a friend who told me that one of the things that reminds her of her dad who died too young is a paisley handkerchief or a bride-to-be who had her daddy grow the perfect crop to surround her nuptials. These people all feel the fabric of our lives in a way that their voices should be heard. I want to share them here on the blog too in a series of guest posts!

Why Write a Guest Post

Whether the cotton connection you have is a fashion show or helping it grow, I’d love to have a glimpse of it here on my blog! I want to celebrate the incredible people who are involved in our favorite fiber’s path to market as well as the ones who enjoy making cotton products a part of their lives. Something so simple connects us all.

I’m thinking about friends who had cotton in their wedding arrangements, people who take photos of their kids out in the crop every year, connecting back to family stories from generations ago. There’s the cotton farmer in California who gave his wife Pima flowers on their first date, cotton ginners who spent months getting the crop ginned, designers who made a classic clothing item new again, textile workers who take pride in making thick cotton towels. If you remember your daughter’s first fashion show and the great cotton jumper she wore, or that blanket that was needed for you to sleep…. the concert shirt you feel 18 again in or that pair of Wranglers George Strait wore when you saw him in concert. I’d like you to share your story about how you connect with cotton. (As you can see here, I regularly share stories of cotton from my cotton 101 series to how much I love hoodies!)

Surely you have some really happy memories that would be fun to share, or something near and dear to your heart that will touch the hearts of the people who read what gets posted here. I know a lot of you don’t share your stories on a blog or YouTube everyday. This would be a great way to just dip your toe in.  I’d love to have a bunch of people share their stories through my blog. And I’ll link them up with this logo I made up.

If you are willing to help me celebrate cotton in a series of posts here on my personal blog, shout either here, on the blog’s Facebook page or send me an email to guestpost at janiceperson dot com (written this way to try & reduce spam). Feel free to tell any friends you think would be interested to join us too! I’d love to have a few posts each week for a couple of months but have to say, this could really be a great series of posts for far longer than a month since there are so many incredible people who have close relationships with cotton! I’ve already written as much here as you’d be committing to!

How to Write a Guest Post

If you haven’t written a blog post before, don’t worry. Its a snap! Here are a few things to get you going:

• Think about the story you want to share & start writing it down! If you are nervous about what to write or how much to write, don’t be. There is no real rule (yes, this is part of the reason I love blogging!) A guideline to consider for length is 500 words, but really you want to tell a complete story so shorter or longer is fine. Remember the people who read this blog have a wide range of backgrounds, it may be good to reread the post & think about whether you are using any words you may want to explain. If you don’t write a lot, maybe you want to ask someone to give it a look. I am willing to help you be sure your best foot is put forward if you like.
• Find a few photos that help tell the story. With the wonders of digital, its amazing what you can do for photos. If you are talking about an event, we’d love to see it. If you refer to that poodle skirt your mom wore in high school, we’d love to see it too! Snapping a quick photo with your mobile phone is an option, you don’t have to have a really expensive camera though with a few folks I’m sure I’ll have great photos, there is a full spectrum for a reason.
• Prepare a short bio with links to your social media sites as applicable. And a photo.
• Send it on in! You can get in the cue by sending to jplovescotton at janiceperson dot com.
  

Any Questions?

Guest Posts Written for the Series (so Far)

Why would a farmer plant GMO cotton?

Cotton is the Fabric of the Classroom for @HouseAgBuilt

Wanted: Job that Pays Well for Napping / Cocooning in Comfort

It been a couple of years since a college kid seemed to stumble into my social media world. Okay, other college kids stumble in, but this one — Kelly Rivard took up residency! I got to know Kelly through Twitter (@kmrivard) and before long she was appearing all around me! Facebook, Skype, the now nearly […] Continue Reading

The post What is it that you love about cotton? Please join a series of cottony goodness! appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.