Spotlight to shine on e3 cotton in New York
Chemicals group BASF’s agricultural chemistry division, home to the e3 Sustainable Cotton programme, has joined hands with the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network in planning a series of New York-based roundtable discussions for 2022.
The events will be centred around the United Nations (UN)’s seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Taking the SDGs as the blueprint of its educational mission, the “impartial” Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network platform is the fruit of a collaboration between several UN departments and female-focused entrepreneurship charity the Fashion Impact Fund.
Meanwhile, e3 Sustainable Cotton is rooted in what it calls the three e’s: socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally responsible cotton. Through a combination of BASF cotton seeds FiberMax (engineered to withstand “the roughest growing conditions”) and Stoneville (designed to resist weeds and insects), e3 cotton can reportedly be traced and independently verified from retailer back to the individual farmer’s field.
Participating e3 growers commit to tracking eight sustainability measures across 100% of their eligible cotton acres, including water use and quality; pesticide use and management; soil conservation and fertility management; greenhouse gas emissions; energy use and conservation; worker health and safety; identity preservation; and soil carbon.
It is hoped that this year’s tie-up between e3 Sustainable Cotton and the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network will inspire meaningful links between fashion and lifestyle industry stakeholders and those working to broadcast and deliver on the SDGs.
Co-founder of the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network and executive director of the Fashion Impact Fund, Kerry Bannigan, commented: “The e3 Sustainable Cotton programme is an industry-leading programme that delivers a true farm to fashion story, bringing transparency and traceability to the forefront of the conversation.
“The e3 programme’s mission and goals are aligned with ours to educate and accelerate impact, making them an ideal partner to spark conversation and evoke positive change."
On behalf of BASF’s agricultural solutions arm, regional seed sustainability manager and fibre development manager, Jennifer Crumpler, added that its own participation in the discussions will allow it to raise awareness of “a better way to create sustainable cotton clothing”.
Cotton harvesting on a Louisiana farm. Credit: Karl Wiggers
