What happens when Cotton goes to a Landfill?

Citations
Because cotton is a plant, it is
biodegradable! This means that cotton
will not pile up in a landfill, and can even
be recycled and composted. Though this
is like good news, there can be some Denbow, Rachel. “Hammock Chair DIY.” A
negative side effects as well. Beautiful Mess, Domino Collective, Pinterest, 6
June 2014,

When cotton is grown in an
inorganic way, such as using pesticides or
chemicals to enhance growth, those
chemicals are released when the cotton
decomposes. These harmful chemicals
can be damaging to plants, animals, and
the entire surrounding environment.
According to the Rodale Institute, 90% of
cotton today is genetically modified.
Burning trash in landfills is a
popular method of disposing of it, but
there are negative consequences when
cotton is burned. Cotton releases several
chemicals when it is burned, such as
Nitrogen Oxide, Formaldehyde, and
Acrolein. All of these chemicals are
considered moderately toxic to
extremely hazardous poisons.
To keep cotton out of landfills
and prevent it from harming our
environment, there are ways to recycle
and reuse it. You could either donate the
desired garments to a charity or a textile
recycling facility or compost them using a
compost bin at home.
Did You Know?
Recycling
abeautifulmess.com/2014/06/hammock-chair-
diy.html.
Expert, Textile. “What Is Cotton Fiber.” Textile
Fashion Study, WordPress, 23 June 2012,
textilefashionstudy.com/what-is-cotton-fiber-
chemical-composition-of-cotton-fiber/.
Cotton
LeBlanc, Rick. “Fashion Recycling: Just the Facts.”
The Balance, 31 Jan. 2017,
www.thebalance.com/textile-recycling-facts-and-
figures-2878122.
Howell, Stacey. “How Much of the World's
Clothing Is Made From Cotton?”
LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 18 July 2017,
www.livestrong.com/article/1001371-much-
worlds-clothing-made-cotton/.
Meyer, Melody. “Dig Deeper: Chemical Cotton.”
Rodale Institute, 4 Feb. 2014, By Brooke Peterman
rodaleinstitute.org/chemical-cotton/.
“The Plant.” Cotton's Journey - The Story of
Cotton - THE PLANT,
www.cottonsjourney.com/storyofcotton/page3.a
sp.

More than 15 million tons of textile waste

is produced by Americans each year,
accounting for 5% of municipal waste in
the U.S.
History
Chemistry
Cotton usage dates back to late 3000 bc
and 1500 bc. Even back in those times it was
My Product Modern Day cotton is much different than the
spun into cloth and used as fabric to make
cotton from the 1800’s because of advancements
clothes, blankets, and household goods. Materials:
in genetically modified agriculture. The chemical
Production of cotton was limited by the tedious
3ft wood plank percent composition of cotton is 94% cellulose,
manor it had to be manufactured, but Eli
($2.09), Braided 2% Acids and Sugars, 1-1.5% Protein, 1% Petrik
Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793, a
polypropylene rope Acid, and 1% mineral substances. Many of the
machine to separate the cotton seeds from the
($9.20), 2 steel snap harmful chemical components of cotton are
lint. This invention revolutionized the cotton
links ($4.74), 2 yards added through pesticides or while the plant is
business and quickly caused cotton to become a
of 100% cotton still a seed.
profitable cash crop.
fabric (free).
It only takes a Cotton cloth about 3-5
Cotton became known as “White Gold”
Cost: $16.03 months to decompose, not nearly as long as say a
because it had such an important impact on the
Styrofoam cup, but why not eliminate that time
U.S. economy. Although the U.S. came later on in
all together. Recycling is not only good for our
the cotton trend, they became a major cotton
environment but for the economy as well.
producing countries.
Because we are reusing materials, it creates a
cycle of sustainability with no need for new
products or energy.

Cotton

My product was designed to be a comfortable,

unique place to sit and rest. I transformed an old
100% cotton blanket into a hanging hammock “Cotton is
chair and would be a peaceful place to enjoy still the most used
reading a book or taking a break from a long day. fiber among
I included a pillow to complete the project, made naturally produced,
from scraps of the blanket. Using my sewing non-synthetic
skills, I was able to complete the vital steps in materials.”
putting the final project together.
- Livestrong