Water Wise towards Healthier Communities

Let’s start with the BIG Myth: Cotton uses too much water and is a water-intensive crop.

In reality, the cotton produced in Australia today is a highly drought-resistant, heat-tolerant crop. Cotton does NOT require excessive amounts of water. In fact, cotton's global water footprint is only about 2.6 percent of the world's agricultural water use, lower than that of many other commodities and proportional to cotton's land use of three percent of all cropland worldwide. Simply, cotton uses less water than many other major crops produced in the country

Australian Cotton farmers are incredibly water conscious.

We watched this interview with Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay about why water efficiency is so important to the Cotton Industry and how Cotton growers strive to grow in a sustainable and more efficient way.

Water is critical to the cotton industry to maximise crop yields and fibre quality.
We now know that:

·      The Australian cotton industry has achieved a 40% increase in water productivity over the last decade with cotton only planted when sufficient water is made available from rivers and groundwater sources. This is regulated through water licensing schemes.

·      Australia's cotton growers produce more crop per drop than any other cotton producing country: Australian irrigated lint yields are the highest of any major cotton producing country in the world, being about three times the world average.

·      Interestingly, cotton is an efficient plant, with the latest industry data showing approximately 70% of all water is used by the crop. Cotton seeds used in Australia are especially bred for Australian conditions with a range of technologies used to monitor soil moisture and plant temperature probes so the plants only receive water when it’s required.

·      Once planted, Australian cotton farmers are smart about the way they manage water resources. The Australian Grown Cotton Sustainability Report 2014 showed that cotton growers are using a range of techniques to constantly improve water use efficiency.

In fact... as DIVAs: Dedicated Informed Visionary Activists, it's important for us to realise that, when we look at a Life-cycle assessment of an Australian Cotton T-shirt the major environmental impact is the "USE" aspect of the garment (the wearing and washing) rather than the production. Check out this infographic that contains lots of amazing alternatives to the FAST FASHION culture. 

DIVAS Reduce

DIVAS Reuse

DIVAS Recycle