Organic Cotton ― Is It a Sustainable Solution?

This book highlights the traditional boundaries of the textile industry and discusses to what extent organic cotton is sustainable. It also examines the domestic and international influences of agricultural practices on cotton. Sustainability issues in the textile and fashion sectors require the influences that arise from beyond the boundaries of the conventional textile industry to be taken into account. These “external” influences—from (international or domestic) agricultural practices and energy policies to consumption patterns and levels of ecological notions of the society—have a significant impact on the sustainability of the textile and fashion sectors as a whole. Ecological and social concerns go far beyond individual companies and industries; therefore, in order to become more sustainable, the textile (and fashion) industry needs to address these concerns appropriately and connect with other disciplines, industries, communities, and international groups.

Dr. Miguel Angel Gardetti has been the head of the Center for Study of Corporate Sustainability (IESC) since its foundation in 2002, and he also holds the same position at the Center for Study of Sustainable Luxury. He is head professor in MBA and master’s programmes both in Argentina and abroad. He has provided training within frameworks of executive education and in house programmes to CEOs and corporate managers from both domestic and multinational companies in Argentina and Latin America. In the field of textiles, fashion and sustainability, he also developed several publications in the area of sustainable luxury as, for example, the special issue of the Journal of Corporate Citizenship on Textiles, Fashion and Sustainability and a book titled Sustainability in Fashion and Textiles; Values, Design, Production and Consumption. Miguel was a member of the United Nations Global Compact Promoting Group in Argentina and a member of its governance body—the Board of the Argentine Chapter of The Global Compact—for two consecutive terms. He was co-founder of the Global Compact Chair in Argentina, and he was also part of the task force that developed the ‘Management Responsible Education Principles’ of the United Nations Global Compact.

Dr Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu holds PhD in Textiles Sustainability and he has over 40 books to his credit along with 80 research publications. He is well known in the field of Textiles Sustainability due to his notable contributions to the society in terms of his academic and industrial experiences. He is an editor in chief of Textiles & Clothing Sustainability Journal.