World Cotton Day: Know about different types of environmentally friendly cotton

On World Cotton Day today, here’s looking at different kinds of organic and sustainable cotton that are more environmentally friendly.

Cotton is perhaps the most common plant used to make fabrics, and is considered to be of excellent quality. However, conventional cotton cultivation is detrimental to the environment due to its heavy reliance on water and the use of harmful chemicals, which contribute to soil degradation, water pollution, and climate change. On World Cotton Day, we talk about organic and sustainable cotton, which causes less harm to the environment.

Trenchcoat made from Kala cotton from Lafaani, and a tailor-made shirt made with Kala Cotton and dyed Indigo from Ekaja India

Organic cotton is grown with a low environmental impact, avoiding toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilisers. Then, there is recycled cotton, which is produced from waste cotton materials, such as factory scraps (pre-consumer) and discarded clothes (post-consumer). These materials are then shredded, cleaned, and re-spun into new yarn to create fresh fabric. Kala cotton is also another type of sustainable cotton, which is grown in the region of Kutch in Gujarat. This unique, ancient, and purely organic variety of cotton is a rain-fed crop, meaning it relies solely on rainwater and is cultivated without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilisers.

“Kandu cotton from Karnataka is naturally brown-coloured and is sustainably farmed, rain-fed, and pesticide-free, emphasising a connection to the earth. Ponduru cotton refers to a type of Khadi (handspun and handwoven cotton) produced in the village of Ponduru, Andhra Pradesh. It is made from a rare, indigenous, and organic short-staple hill cotton that requires no chemicals and is spun and woven by hand using traditional methods,” explains designer Shruti Sancheti.