YORK – Host Philip Berman is joined by Ecotextile News cotton expert – and campaigner – Simon Ferrigno to consider claims that environmentalists are inadvertently undermining the global cotton industry.
It follows a recent article in Cotton Grower which claimed that campaigners, in their quest to clean up fashion, may be unintentionally contributing to the declining market share of cotton.
Berman asked Ferrigno whether the article was right to accuse environmentalists of a binary “cotton bad, synthetic fibres good” narrative which had led brands to move away from cotton to synthetic textiles.
Ferrigno agreed that many campaigners had flagged cotton’s pesticide use and water footprint – but argued this was aimed at cleaning up cotton production, not replacing it with polyester.
I wear cotton all the time, I avoid synthetics like the plague
“We weren’t campaigning to stop the use of cotton. We were campaigning to stop the use of pesticides in cotton. I wear cotton all the time,” he said.
Ferrigno did agree that coverage of cotton’s environmental impacts had been over simplified – which he blamed on a tendency of both campaigners and industry figures, as well as journalists, to jump on the most sensational data available.
But he added: “The synthetic industry doesn’t really need help from environmentalists. It’s done a very good job itself of making itself, by and large, the biggest provider of fibres to the textile industry on its own.”
Listen to the full podcast for a detailed breakdown of why Ferrigno feels environmentalists and the cotton industry should work together – and why cotton could one day regain its crown.
Subscribe to Ecotextile Talks podcasts and radio shows by following us on Apple, Spotify and Amazon Music. Also, check out our complete podcast archive.
