Organisation | Organic Exchange Discussions - Ethical Fashion SOURCE Network2024-03-29T09:53:23Zhttp://ethicalfashionforum.ning.com/group/OEoutreach/forum?feed=yes&xn_auth=noOrganic Exchange to host sustainable textiles conference New Yorktag:ethicalfashionforum.ning.com,2010-07-30:2622461:Topic:549012010-07-30T01:04:11.343ZDavidhttp://ethicalfashionforum.ning.com/profile/David
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<p class="newsByline">Over 300 international representatives will meet in New York City, New York USA October 27-28, 2010, to attend the 2010 Organic Exchange Sustainable Textiles Conference.</p>
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<p>Participants will include those involved in making key decisions on sustainable textiles including; brands and retailers, manufacturers, farmers and producers, academics, NGO’s, and certifiers. Attendees will learn about and discuss best practices, emerging…</p>
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<p class="newsByline">Over 300 international representatives will meet in New York City, New York USA October 27-28, 2010, to attend the 2010 Organic Exchange Sustainable Textiles Conference.</p>
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<p>Participants will include those involved in making key decisions on sustainable textiles including; brands and retailers, manufacturers, farmers and producers, academics, NGO’s, and certifiers. Attendees will learn about and discuss best practices, emerging issues, and strategies to improve sustainability of textiles, and organic cotton. An exhibit area will demonstrate and profile the best of sustainable fibers and technologies. Organic Exchange will host a separate one-day seminar focused on organic cotton on Friday, October 29. Also, at our 2010 annual conference, we will introduce the new OE (complete with a new name and logo), poised to help you navigate through the unending shifts in the textile marketplace with the right array of services and products. Yvon Chouinard, Chairman and Founder of Patagonia, will provide insight on transparency during his keynote address. Other plenary speakers include: Eileen Fisher, designer and owner of fashion leader Eileen Fisher, Inc., and Tensie Whelan, President of Rainforest Alliance. Workshop speakers include leading experts in environmental footprinting of textiles, water conservation and management in the textile chain, eco indexing, environmental issues in dyeing and finishing, natural textiles, recycled textiles, bio-based textiles, ensuring product integrity claims, understanding the regulatory landscape, and more. <br/></p>
<p><br/></p> Organic cotton more profitabletag:ethicalfashionforum.ning.com,2010-06-28:2622461:Topic:515042010-06-28T20:44:00.144ZDavidhttp://ethicalfashionforum.ning.com/profile/David
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<p>Greenpeace has launched a new report which says that farming organic cotton in India is more profitable than growing genetically engineered varieties of cotton because of the higher input costs of GM and a greater potential for debt accumulation. Greenpeace says this difference is magnified during periods of drought. In its report titled "Picking Cotton – The choice between organic and genetically-engineered cotton for farmers in South India" Greenpeace has…</p>
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<p>Greenpeace has launched a new report which says that farming organic cotton in India is more profitable than growing genetically engineered varieties of cotton because of the higher input costs of GM and a greater potential for debt accumulation. Greenpeace says this difference is magnified during periods of drought. In its report titled "Picking Cotton – The choice between organic and genetically-engineered cotton for farmers in South India" Greenpeace has conducted a comparative study among cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh, southern India. It claims that farmers cultivating rain-fed cotton through organic practices earned 200% more net income than similar farmers who grew Genetically Engineered cotton [Bt cotton] in 2009/10. <br/></p>
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<p>Other results of the survey claim that the cost of cultivation is almost twice as expensive for Bt cotton farmers than for organic cotton farmers, both in 2008/09 and 2009/10. “The higher expense includes higher costs of seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and interests for loans. Higher loan costs are a direct consequence of higher cost of inputs for cultivation for Bt cotton farmers,” the report reads.</p>
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<p>It also says that during the period under study, farmers in Andrah Pradesh growing Bt cotton continue to use a large amount and variety of chemical pesticides, especially insecticides. “We recorded in total 26 different chemical pesticides used by Bt farmers,” said Greenpeace. The report also says that cotton yields do not differ significantly between Bt and organic cotton farmers, although in the favourable rainfall year, 2008/09, Bt cotton reached slightly higher yields than organic cotton. “But the small yield increase in Bt and chemically-intensive cotton farms does not translate into income benefit for the Bt farmer, due to high cultivation costs,” says the report.</p>
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<p>The report contradicts other recent findings which have indicated the success of Bt cotton in reducing pesticide use. Agronomists that support the use of GM seeds also highlight the importance of utilising multiple methodologies to deal with pest control and the consequent improvement of profitability as opposed to one single solution.</p>
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<p>In the US, for example, broad toxic pesticide use has been almost completely eliminated in some regions where GM cotton is grown and where secondary insect pests have been controlled with a variety of other techniques. <br/></p>
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<p>Greenpeace says the objective of the study was not to undertake a technical analysis of the performance of the genetically-engineered Bt trait isolated from its surrounding circumstances, but more an analysis of what happens when farmers grow Bt cotton under the conditions faced by the majority of farmers in India (and other developing countries) - i.e. smallholding farms, rain-fed and poor.</p> C&A outlines organic cotton commitmenttag:ethicalfashionforum.ning.com,2010-06-28:2622461:Topic:515022010-06-28T20:37:37.620ZDavidhttp://ethicalfashionforum.ning.com/profile/David
<p>C&A says it is planning to sell 23 million organic cotton products in 2010, which equates to 10% of its total cotton products. The announcement from the European retailer came in its latest sustainability report, Acting sustainably - C&A Report 2010. In 2008, C&A sold 15.3 million articles of clothing made of organic cotton, a figure that was set to rise to 18 million items by 2009. “Within C&A’s complete cotton collection in 2009, therefore, as much as 8% was made of…</p>
<p>C&A says it is planning to sell 23 million organic cotton products in 2010, which equates to 10% of its total cotton products. The announcement from the European retailer came in its latest sustainability report, Acting sustainably - C&A Report 2010. In 2008, C&A sold 15.3 million articles of clothing made of organic cotton, a figure that was set to rise to 18 million items by 2009. “Within C&A’s complete cotton collection in 2009, therefore, as much as 8% was made of organic cotton, predominantly certified organic cotton from India,” the report said, making the company Europe’s<br/> largest buyer of the raw material. “With our commitment to organic cotton, C&A was able to build a business of €200 million at retail by using organic cotton in 2008,” said Philip Chamberlain Head of Sustainable Business Development at C&A. “This has made us Europe’s largest provider of clothing made of organically grown cotton.” The report also outlines how since its last update in 2008, C&A and Organic Exchange have run workshops for more than 200 farmers from almost two dozen organic cotton projects in India, offering introductions to the theory and practice of growing cotton according to organic principles. The company has also been able to help finance social development projects, such as water collection systems, new wells and community water projects in the Akola district of the Madra Pradesh region. Organic cotton has featured heavily in C&A’s product portfolio since 2004. In 2005, the company became a member of the Organic Exchange and then in 2008, together with the Shell Foundation, initiated a five-year project in India to focus on scaling up our use of organic cotton. The intention was to establish a sustainable textile value-added chain that would eventually also be transferable to other regions of the world. At the end of 2009, C&A had 1,111 branches, 214 Kids Stores, 11 Clockhouse Shops and 17 Women Stores across 19 European countries, employing more than 36,000 people.</p>
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<span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">- Dawn Adams<br/><br/><br/></span><div class="newsBody"><br/> <br/></div>