It’s designed to bolster the American cotton industry, which has been steadily declining in recent years due to increased prices and enhanced competition from synthetic materials.
The USDA even publicly admitted that “Cotton is natural, breathable, biodegradable, and proudly grown by American farmers — not manufactured from petroleum-based plastics that can shed microplastics into our soil, water, and bodies.”
Well, from the perspective of Gotchies - a company that is all about healthier fabrics and anti-synthetic clothing, this is fantastic, right?
It’s a double edged sword.
The Good
The outspoken admission that synthetic clothing is harmful to our health and the environment is a very important statement.
About 60 - 70% of the world’s clothing is synthetic.
And here we have the federal government of theUnited States stating:
“Supporting natural fibers like cotton also aligns with the Make America Healthy Again agenda as Americans grow increasingly concerned about microplastics and synthetic materials in everyday products.”
Most people are wearing plastic.
Most people don’t know that wearing plastic is really bad.
This will help bring awareness to the topic, and get more consumers to investigate their clothing.
The Bad
USDA had a wide-open slam dunk and they ended up bricking the ball off the backboard.
If you are going to push cotton, and cite health reasons as a major reason, then it needs to be organic.
Regular cotton is often equally bad, or worse than synthetic clothing.
Why?
Because it’s full of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides.
Things that are indeed harmful to human health.
Cotton is one of the world’s most pesticide-intensive crops.
And there are no controls in place to ensure that toxic finishes and dyes don’t end up on the end product.
This is why this announcement seems fishy.
If you really are trying to push fabric that’s pro-human health, you’d explicitly mention the need to bolster America’sorganic cotton industry.
The real winner here is not the end-consumer, it’s the pesticide companies.
The Ugly
Imagine being told that McDonald’s is bad; just for that same person to push you towards Burger King.
This is ugly because consumers will be consciously aware that they shouldn’t wear synthetic clothing, just to swap to conventional cotton.
Conventional Cotton is a Trojan horse for chemicals on your body.
You think you’re getting a “natural” fabric, but you’re really getting a plant that was sprayed with pesticides and finished with carcinogenic dyes.
Such a shame.
If America really wants to promote healthier fabrics, organic cotton should be the baseline.
