{"id":13028,"date":"2018-11-09T10:33:10","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T15:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=13028"},"modified":"2018-11-09T10:33:10","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T15:33:10","slug":"a-sustainable-future-for-cotton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/a-sustainable-future-for-cotton\/","title":{"rendered":"A Sustainable Future For Cotton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the next few decades, global population will propel to 9 billion people and counting. What then will it take to clothe the world in a sustainable way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry experts in textile sustainability addressed that question and more during the Cotton and Sustainability Symposium, which the Wilson College of Textiles hosted on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe, as an industry, provide a product that touches every single person on the planet,\u201d said Mark Messura, Cotton Incorporated\u2019s senior vice president for global supply chain marketing, in his keynote address. \u201cThat also means we draw the attention of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly, many textile companies and organizations have been working to reduce the industry\u2019s impact on the planet. Cotton, which is grown in more than 75 countries and used by more than 100 countries in manufacturing, is just one area where textile sustainability advances are being made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best Practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Through life cycle assessment, Cotton Incorporated has measured the entire environmental impact of a cotton garment, starting from the field where the cotton is grown to the manufacturing facility and finally to the consumer. This data helped Cotton Incorporated create sustainability goals, according to Jesse Daystar, an NC State graduate and the company\u2019s vice president of sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data also helps measure sustainability progress. For example, today\u2019s cotton fields are harvested with equipment that also collects data. This data enables farmers to monitor production efficiency and manufacturers to trace supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProducers can trace cotton down to which part of the field it came from,\u201d said Ed Barnes, Cotton Incorporated\u2019s senior director of agricultural and environmental research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most productive fields now feature sensors that optimize water and fertilizer use, as well as plants made more resilient and pest-resistant through biotechnology. Additionally, farmers are using cover crops, precision planting and crop rotation to sequester carbon and mitigate the impacts of flooding and droughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educating Consumers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These best practices and technology advances are allowing companies such as Wrangler to better report environmental impacts of the cotton used in its products. According to Messura, this consumer education is vital to boosting the industry\u2019s sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustainability will never be easily captured through a scorecard or single number. It\u2019s complex, and the goal line keeps moving. What\u2019s important is the process of how we make decisions about sustainability,\u201d he said. \u201cConsumers will not pay more for sustainable textile products; they expect the industry to provide them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event also featured student poster presentations about sustainability and displays of student-designed products utilizing cotton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustainability is something that is extremely important to our industry,\u201d said Wilson College of Textiles Dean David Hinks. \u201cThese are major challenges to us but also major opportunities for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event was sponsored through a grant from the Importer support Program of the Cotton Board with supervision from Cotton Incorporated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in Sustainability News.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

Over the next few decades, global population will propel to 9 billion people and counting. What then will it take to clothe the world in a sustainable way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry experts in textile sustainability addressed that question and more during the Cotton and Sustainability Symposium, which the Wilson College of Textiles hosted on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe, as an industry, provide a product that touches every single person on the planet,\u201d said Mark Messura, Cotton Incorporated\u2019s senior vice president for global supply chain marketing, in his keynote address. \u201cThat also means we draw the attention of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly, many textile companies and organizations have been working to reduce the industry\u2019s impact on the planet. Cotton, which is grown in more than 75 countries and used by more than 100 countries in manufacturing, is just one area where textile sustainability advances are being made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best Practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Through life cycle assessment, Cotton Incorporated has measured the entire environmental impact of a cotton garment, starting from the field where the cotton is grown to the manufacturing facility and finally to the consumer. This data helped Cotton Incorporated create sustainability goals, according to Jesse Daystar, an NC State graduate and the company\u2019s vice president of sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data also helps measure sustainability progress. For example, today\u2019s cotton fields are harvested with equipment that also collects data. This data enables farmers to monitor production efficiency and manufacturers to trace supply chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProducers can trace cotton down to which part of the field it came from,\u201d said Ed Barnes, Cotton Incorporated\u2019s senior director of agricultural and environmental research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most productive fields now feature sensors that optimize water and fertilizer use, as well as plants made more resilient and pest-resistant through biotechnology. Additionally, farmers are using cover crops, precision planting and crop rotation to sequester carbon and mitigate the impacts of flooding and droughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educating Consumers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These best practices and technology advances are allowing companies such as Wrangler to better report environmental impacts of the cotton used in its products. According to Messura, this consumer education is vital to boosting the industry\u2019s sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustainability will never be easily captured through a scorecard or single number. It\u2019s complex, and the goal line keeps moving. What\u2019s important is the process of how we make decisions about sustainability,\u201d he said. \u201cConsumers will not pay more for sustainable textile products; they expect the industry to provide them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event also featured student poster presentations about sustainability and displays of student-designed products utilizing cotton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSustainability is something that is extremely important to our industry,\u201d said Wilson College of Textiles Dean David Hinks. \u201cThese are major challenges to us but also major opportunities for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event was sponsored through a grant from the Importer support Program of the Cotton Board with supervision from Cotton Incorporated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in Sustainability News.<\/em><\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Industry experts in textile sustainability gathered for the Cotton and Sustainability Symposium hosted by the Wilson College of Textiles on Nov. 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"caption\":\"\",\"displayCategoryID\":2130}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[490,512,502,496],"tags":[532,753,519,658,505],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"A Sustainable Future For Cotton - Wilson College of Textiles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/textiles.ncsu.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/a-sustainable-future-for-cotton\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Sustainable Future For Cotton - 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