Consumers Willing to Buy Sustainable U.S. Cotton, MU Researchers Find

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2012/0206-consumers-willing-to-buy-sustainable-u-s-cotton-mu-researchers-find/

[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][font size=5]Consumers Willing to Buy Sustainable U.S. Cotton, MU Researchers Find[/font]
[font size=4]Studies show importance of transparency in U.S. apparel production[/font]

Feb. 06, 2012

Story Contact(s):
Nathan Hurst, [e-mail], 573-882-6217

[font size=3]COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the interest in environmentally responsible business practices grows globally, researchers are interested in how that interest translates into consumer sales. Researchers from the University of Missouri have found that United States consumers are more willing to buy clothing made from sustainably grown U.S. cotton than apparel produced using conventional practices in an unknown location. Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor in the textile and apparel management department in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at MU, says transparency is the key.

“It is important for the apparel industry to remain transparent about its products, especially if they are produced in a sustainable manner,” Ha-Brookshire said. “We have shown that consumers want to know where their clothes come from and would rather buy sustainably produced clothes. Many apparel companies use sustainable practices; however, they don’t promote them very well.”

Ha-Brookshire and fellow researcher Pamela Norum, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the textile and apparel management department at MU, define sustainable cotton-growing practices as using fewer pesticides and less water, land, and energy compared to traditional practices, which result in a decreased environmental impact.

For their research, Ha-Brookshire and Norum surveyed 500 respondents nationwide. They found that not only were consumers more willing to buy sustainably produced cotton apparel grown in the U.S. over nonspecific cotton apparel, but consumers were willing to pay up to five dollars (16.7 percent) more for a $30 cotton shirt produced sustainably in the U.S.

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[msongs]

1. sustainable hemp = cheaper, more drought tolerant, need less fertilizer and poisons to grow...

but the cotton lobby has lots of $$ to keep commercial hemp in check

[hunter]

2. I've seen some lovely organic cotton/hemp clothing.

It's durable too.