Katherine Martinko on Treehugger.com is enthusiastic about a new brand of organic underwear being put out by Marc Skid:
Why organic? Cotton is one of the most polluting crops in the world, accounting for nearly a quarter of agricultural insecticide use. Opting for organic supports much cleaner, safer production, both for the Earth and the farmers who raise it. From the Marc Skid website:
“Organic cotton is grown free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and defoliants. It’s also free of GMOs – contaminants so dangerous Peru bans them – and is always hand picked to minimize environmental impact and maximize quality.”
There’s a lot of good things here, but one element I don’t see considered here – and perhaps it’s covered elsewhere – is the question of scalability. Later on, Katherine notes the folks at Marc Skid want to influence the big boys:
[Company founder Dan Barry] believes that small companies play a crucial role in influencing bigger companies to rethink their production models. When the small ones are successful, the big ones see it’s feasible, and that’s when the real change can occur. He hopes that Marc Skid can be a model for the industry.
OK, assume they’re successful at convincing the big boys to shift over to organic cotton. What then? Remember the ongoing palm oil debacle? What are the unforeseen consequences of attempting to do the right thing in this case? Like most folks, I’m not sure the environmentalists are correctly considering the consequences of the success of a tactic, no matter how well-intentioned, in a world over-crowded with consumers.
And that’s what I mean by scalability. Success may result in Peru becoming one big cotton plantation – and dozens of little Aral Seas. For those readers not up on the Aral Sea, it has been drained and despoiled because of Soviet addiction to the “white gold” – cotton.
I don’t know if this would happen. I just worry when the question is not addressed by the advocates of a solution.
