Towards Sustainable Batik

Published in the Batik Guild Magazine, March 2007

Cotton - White Gold

The Soil Association's (SA) three-day annual conference has just ended. Both their conferences and Organic Food Fairs feature exhibitions of art inspired by organic farms. Showing batiks at them tests my morals: the subject of the art is fine but considering the SA's ethos I feel my art itself should be sustainably produced. Especially since 2003 when the SA began certifying organic cotton, the same year that I last researched using it for batik. Back then the fabric wasn't ideal and anyway dye take-up seemed problematic. But now, with organic clothes available in market town high streets, it's time to re-research in the belief that suitable sustainable cotton exists.

But what is "sustainable"? Sustainability is widely accepted to mean meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Fritjof Capra expands this: "where... the human community's ways of life, businesses, economy, physical structures and technologies do not interfere with nature's inherent ability to sustain life".

So what is the problem with cotton?

Cotton is the world's oldest commercial crop and today's biggest non-food crop. One hundred million rural households are involved in its production, most growing 2 hectares or less. Subsidies paid to US and EU cotton farmers distort world market prices; in 2001-2 prices were the lowest for 30 years. Surplus cotton is dumped on world markets - and small producers suffer. West African nations have made cotton a major issue at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They fear the buying price could fall below production costs for the first time in 40 years. Before European CAP reform in January 2006 EU cotton growers (mostly Greek, also Spanish) were subsidised up to four times the crops' market value, encouraging overproduction. Hopefully the new subsidies (per hectare cultivated) will stimulate greater diversity in crops and reflect the real market, especially as 2006 was a bad year for Greek cotton.

Cotton growing uses 10% of the world's pesticides and 25% of its insecticides. Between two and nine applications of insecticide are applied per crop (up to twenty in China), including organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids and sometimes organochlorines. Toxic to humans, carbamates and organophosphates are moderately persistent in the environment while organochlorines are highly toxic and persistent. Pyrethroids are highly toxic to non-target species.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that poisoning by agri-pesticides is responsible for 20,000 deaths in the developing world, many attributable to cotton growing. As I have witnessed in SE Asia, pesticides get misused: sprayed by hand without adequate protection, clothing or concern for wind drift; unable to read labels farmers choose their own dose. In Benin, where cotton is 64% of the country's exports, there were 260 cases of poisoning by cotton pesticides in 2000. Twenty-four resulted in death, eleven of which were children under 10.

Pesticides and fertilisers required for conventional cotton growing are expensive. Taking out loans can force farmers into long-term debt. Some Indian cotton farmers have consumed their pesticides to end their lives - their only escape from unpayable indebtedness.

To turn raw cotton into fabric, clothing, bedding and other everyday items over 8000 chemicals are used. WHO classifies many as moderately to extremely hazardous; cancer, birth defects, and hormonal and reproductive changes (such as male fish developing female characteristics) are associated with some.

Wild cotton grows in dry areas in Asia, Africa, Australia and America. Drought tolerant it has no serious pest problems, and four species are cultivated commercially. But breeding for improved quality, yield and range of growing environments (Ukraine to Argentina) introduces unfamiliar pests. Commercial cotton is mostly attacked by six bollworm species, plus 40 other pests from 32 different countries. Insects can develop resistance to many pesticides leading to further pesticide application. Pesticides also kill beneficial insects, birds and other non-target species. Long-term use is detrimental to soil, as is regular use of synthetic fertilisers.

That t-shirt you're planning to batik tomorrow? Around a cupful of pesticides and fertilisers were used just to grow the cotton!

Water use

Water use in irrigated cotton has much higher environmental impacts than rain-fed cotton, grown in small holdings. Organic cotton generally uses rain-fed systems. Cotton growing is large scale and irrigated in the US, central Asia, Australia, South Africa and Sudan.

Water, a global common, is in serious short supply according to Jeffrey Sachs, director of the UN's Millennium Project, with "no more rivers to take water from" and no global policy existing for replenishment of aquifers. He singles out India and China especially for using water unsustainably. China uses 368 million cubic metres of irrigation water annually for cotton alone. Greece's agricultural heartland, the plain of Thessaly, is drying out - due to the excessive water requirements of its cotton crops that use around 20% of the country's total water.

Inputs to cotton's different processing stages generally end up as highly contaminated effluents in local waste water systems, with most arising in the finishing stage. In Sweden, where half a kilogram of chemical is used for manufacturing just one kilogram of textiles, most effluent is discharged to waste water.

Genetically modified cotton

I surprised myself four years ago by acknowledging a potential role for genetically modified (GM) cotton in commercial cotton growing, especially if it reduced not just chemical input but also was engineered to require less water. But GM cotton remains far from a panacea: the same companies developing GM cotton also supply chemicals to treat the plants. There's little profit for them in a crop requiring less water! Though, with GM cotton development in China largely in the public sphere, its development remains possible.

In 2005, GM cotton accounted for 11% of the global cotton-growing area. It is grown commercially in the USA, South Africa, China, India, Australia, Mexico, Columbia and Argentina.

Herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant are the two main types of GM. Insect resistance is introduced through Bt toxin genes which when ingested bind to the insect's gut, disrupting feeding and digestion. But Bt cotton still requires insecticide applications as the plant may not have enough toxin to kill bollworm caterpillars (tolerance levels vary among species). Also other insects may feed on the cotton.

Herbicide tolerant (HT) cotton has had genes introduced to allow for the plant's toleration of broad spectrum herbicides that will kill most plants, or for an ability to reduce it to a non-toxic form. Glyphosate-tolerant and bromoxynil-tolerant are two commercially-grown HT cottons. Glyphosate is not directly toxic to mammals but its preparation often includes a surfactant that increases toxicity to aquatic species, and can cause eye irritations and allergies. Bromoxynil is highly toxic to fish, is a recognised possible human carcinogen, and causes birth defects in mammals. Both herbicides have implications for biodiversity.

GM cotton yields show mixed results. For Bt cotton, yields increased 17-38% on four smallholder farms in South Africa, but only on irrigated farms; yield differences were insignificant for rain-fed Bt and non-Bt cotton. Data from the US for 2001 reports higher yields of HT cotton than conventional varieties; however yields also have been variable.

Recent experience for China's five million GM cotton farmers has seen all the early economic and environmental benefits wiped out. Bt cotton has eradicated bollworm larvae, but seven years later mirids had proliferated to the extent of requiring up to twenty sprayings of pesticide each season. Yet for the first three years of planting Bt cotton pesticide use was reduced by over 70%. Bollworm hadn't developed resistance to Bt cotton though research suggested it would after 20-30 generations. Short-term solutions proposed are wildlife refuges and siting of non-Bt alongside Bt cotton fields; and long-term, the introduction of mirid predators or modifying cotton with a new toxin gene to kill them. Curiously most of these solutions are also organic methods of pest control.

Indonesia was the first SE Asian country to allow GM cotton. Farmers joined a credit scheme for Bt cotton seed, pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser costing sixteen times more than non-Bt. But average yields were a third or less than that promised by Monsanto, and the crop failed completely in a seventh of the area. Results were similar in the following year. But higher seed prices and lower cotton prices meant 76% of farmers in the credit scheme were unable to repay their debts. Many burnt their cotton in protest. Two years ago, Monsanto was penalised and fined US$1.5 million for payment of bribes to at least 140 Indonesian officials to forestall environmental reviews of the Bt cotton.

Organic cotton

Cotton growers in Northern India have moved on from chemical pest control in favour of beneficial insects, insect traps, crop rotation and organic pesticides such as neem tree extract. Organic cotton cultivation works to the precautionary principle - awareness of the ecological balance whilst avoiding negative economic effects of pests. Unlike cotton monocultures, crop rotation allows marketable food crops to be grown, benefiting soil fertility and biodiversity while providing a second income source, especially welcome while cotton prices are low. The need for loans and expensive purchases are avoided with organic systems, as is dependency on companies for new pest control solutions. Generally organic cotton is handpicked, unlike machine-harvested commercial cotton, enabling better quality cotton to be selected. Organic cotton farmers generally report better health for themselves and their families.

India and Turkey are the world's top organic cotton producers, with just over a third each of the global total in 2005-06. Although less than 1% of global cotton production, today's expanding organic cotton market is demand-driven, compelling some brands and retailers to develop organic cotton ranges alongside environmental declarations.

Certified organic cotton was first marketed internationally in the mid-1990s. The Soil Association was the UK's first certifier. Other organic cotton certifiers include KRAV (Sweden), Demeter (Germany), IVN (Germany), and CUC (Holland). The SA and IVN have also adopted global standards for textiles.

Under SA organic cotton standards, herbicides are prohibited, artificial pesticides greatly restricted, and GM inputs banned. Processing and manufacturing are also covered, and must ensure minimal damage to environment and humans. Inputs require assessment for biodegradability and toxicity to aquatic life, and are banned if suspected or proven to cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive organ changes, or are allergens. However organic standards do not yet include water use.

Fair trade cotton

Fair trade is a social movement linking farmers, companies and their workers, retailers and the public. Fair trade cotton farmers are guaranteed a minimum price that covers the cost of sustainable production plus a premium, under a long-term, more direct trade relationship. Guaranteed incomes allow farmers to keep children in school, improve rainwater conservation and plant fruit trees and other secondary crops. Fair trade premiums are used communally for democratically agreed social, educational or environmental projects, or business enhancement. Cotton carrying the UK's Fairtrade kitemark guarantees production to the international fair trade standard.

Whether the purpose of art is communication, reflection, recording, enrichment, education or entertainment, artists need to travel beyond the surface and into the substance and process.

Commercial cotton production is clearly unsustainable. Overproduction, environmental degradation from pesticides, soil exhaustion and excessive water demands - all need to be addressed both for "future generations to meet their own needs", and to allow "nature's inherent ability to sustain life".

By choosing fair trade cotton for our batik we would be acknowledging a connection between ourselves as user, and the original producer, consciously aware that our purchase will, in a small way, be helping a few people, their community and environment.

Fair trade is a system suitable for small-scale producers and transactions, but not for industrial-level production where mass market demands would override small-scale capabilities and sensitivities, expecting uniform standards and becoming a new kind of colonialism. So, for instance, fair trade and fashion are incompatible, due to the fashion industry's consumerist hunger for fast turnover at lowest possible cost. Similarly, the organic ethos of working with nature not against it means organic cotton production could never provide for a throwaway society without foregoing its principles. Unless consumerism itself changes, it would seem fair trade and organic cotton have little chance of making substantial difference to sustainability and people's lives.

But we should not forget Gandhi, who brought an end to colonial rule in India by calling for 'khadi' (hand spun and woven cloth) at a time of British-enforced exports of raw cotton and re-importation of English-woven cotton. Could fair trade and organic be the new khadi?

How can you discover how your cotton has been produced? Ask your supplier but don't expect much response - the textiles industry is notoriously secretive. I researched Prima's and Primissima's origins. The Gaffneys buy from Yogya: the cotton is from China and finished in Java. Ian Bowers' reply was also more informed than expected: Fibrecraft's Prima and Primissima are grown, spun and woven in the Philippines. Both though acknowledged the difficulty in identifying the source or method of growing.

I have samples from three UK suppliers of certified organic and/or fair trade cotton, and will be experimenting on some soon - findings in the next issue. Anyone also interested to experiment do contact me. The fabrics, from Greenfibres, Bishopston, and Fabrics Ltd include calico at £5.35-5.95/m, voile (£6.80), percale (£13.90); satin (£9.70); and handloom cotton (£5.30). Agrocel cotton is also available through Gossypium.

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