Environment
Focus on cotton and the environment
H&M wants to actively contribute to reducing the environmental impact of cotton growing. Our strategy consists of two parts: promoting organic cotton by demanding it, and improving conventional cotton growing.
Continued investment in organic cotton
Our intention is to gradually use more cotton that has been grown organically – that is without the use of chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. We want to contribute towards increased demand and thereby motivate more growers to invest in organic cotton growing.
H&M has been using organically grown cotton since 2004, when we began to mix some organic cotton into selected children’s clothing. Since 2007 we have had garments made from 100 percent organic cotton in all departments. We also have some garments made from 50 percent organic cotton and 50 percent conventional cotton. All garments made with organic cotton are marked with an “Organic Cotton” label.
During 2009 we expect to use around 3,000 tonnes of organic cotton – a marked increase from the 30 tonnes used in 2006. The increase is down to us expanding the number of garments made in 100 percent organic cotton and the fact that we are mixing organic cotton into more garments too. Our venture into organic cotton will continue with the aim of increasing volumes by at least 50 percent a year in the next five years.
All the organic cotton we use in our clothes is certified by Control Union and IMO.
H&M is also a member of Organic Exchange, an organisation designed to promote the growth of organic cotton.
Read more on www.organicexchange.org.
H&M supports transitional cotton growing
By increasing our use of organic cotton, we want to increase demand and motivate more cotton growers to start growing cotton organically. Converting from conventional to organic cotton growing usually takes three years. During the transitional period the cotton harvest is often reduced, which can mean financial risks for cotton growers.
To support the cotton growers during the crossover period from conventional to organic cotton, H&M has started to use so-called transitional cotton in selected garments. The aim for 2008 is to use 50 tonnes of transitional cotton in our collections.
Improvement of conventional cotton.
Almost all the cotton produced in the world is still grown using traditional methods. As well as investing in organic cotton, we are therefore working to improve conventional cotton growing through the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). The aim of the project is to measurably reduce the negative social and environmental effects of traditional cotton growing. The initiative for this cooperation was taken by organisations such as WWF in 2004.