https://www.willowandclaude.com/water-efficient daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602471173967-YVVASIX21RNKPZC3S60P/orange+tree+irrigation.jpeg Water efficient - Water licensing Water is a precious resource in Australia, especially in drought. When there is less water available to everyone because of drought, less water is allocated to farms. In order to use water on a farm, you must have a water license, and the amount of water you are legally allocated for use varies depending on availability. Water is allocated to crop farms after communities, environment, fruit tree and animal farms are supplied. Because cotton is an annual crop, farmers are able to decide how much cotton they will grow each year, based on how much water they have access to. For example, Renée, who grew our cotton, received no water allocation in 2020, when the nation’s cotton production halved. Image: Orange trees, which receive water allocation before cotton to ensure they don’t die. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602470525698-5G7CW1UG34LSRTZXPJYU/CSIRO_ScienceImage_3079_Hand_feeding_sheep_in_feedlot.jpg Water efficient - Farm water use compared Cotton does require a lot of water. However, most of the foods and fibres we grow do too. In the 2018-19 year, 1.3 million mega litres (ML) of water was applied to cotton, 2.2 million ML to pasture and crops fed to farmed animals (including sheep), and 1 million ML to fruit and nuts. Looking at plant agriculture’s water use per hectare (ha) in the same year, cotton grew on 7.1ML/ha of water, rice with 9.9ML/ha. Pumpkins used 6ML/ha, some tomatoes 8ML/ha. Comparing cotton with another natural fibre, hemp, a CSIRO report stated ‘both cotton and hemp require reasonably significant inputs… an average of 5.5 ML/ha over 90 days for industrial hemp versus 7.8 ML/ha over 180 days for cotton…the water requirement for industrial hemp, depending on the location and season, is probably very similar to cotton.’ Image: Most lambs raised for their wool and meat are sent to feedlots for ~one quarter of their lives, where they eat grain before they are slaughtered. Photo via CSIRO. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602472039119-6B9NMMTUMGIK8PWFEB4A/cotton+irrigation.jpg Water efficient - World class water efficiency Based in such a dry country, the Australian cotton industry has worked to become as water-efficient as possible, and continues to. We get a lot of cotton from the water we use. The Water Footprint Network found that the ‘virtual water content’ of Australian cotton textiles is 3,000 cubic metres of water per tonne less than the global average. This is due not only to practices on farms, but to the processing of cotton fibre as it is transformed into a textile in Australia. Australian cotton farmers have reduced their water use by 48% since 1992. Image: Cotton being fed water through gravity pipe feeders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602468915018-H0X5VT7ME6E6XGM2YVNE/recycled+cotton+post+consumer.jpg Water efficient - Compared to other cotton While not the case at Renée’s farm, some cotton in Australia and around the world is even entirely rain-fed. This is of course the most water-conscious option for raw material production. Cotton recycling, which is continually being improved and worked on by industry, is another way to have an even more sustainable material. Through fibre recycling, we are using what we have already, rather than growing more. Image: Post-consumer cotton fabric during the recycling process. https://www.willowandclaude.com/mutilation daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590404565179-5VWVZB77CSINUQKIR0P2/dog%2Bsheep%2Banimal%2Bcruelty%2Blaws.jpg Mutilation - Lack of legal protection Despite lambs and sheep having the exact same capacity to feel pain and suffer as puppies and dogs or kittens and cats, Australian laws do not protect them in the same way. The Australian Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (POCTA) states that an act of cruelty that ‘wounds’, ‘mutilates’, ‘abuses’, ‘worries, torments or terrifies an animal’ is an offence. However, it also states that ‘any act or practice with respect to the farming… or killing of any farm animal’ is not relevant to the act. There are Codes of Practice for the treatment of farmed animals, but such codes, like those relevant to sheep, are not yet mandatory to follow. For this reason, violence and abuse against sheep is legal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590405304497-YA2XQ2833PRU8V3SOOE6/willow+sheep+tail+docking.JPG Mutilation - Tail docking Tail docking, where a lamb’s tail is cut off or otherwise severed, is standard farming practice. The most common and recommended methods in Australia are cutting lamb’s tails off with a sharp or hot knife, and using tight rubber rings which cut off circulation to the tail, until the nerves slowly die and the tail drops off. Tail docking young lambs without pain relief is legal. Tail docking is performed to prevent fly strike, a parasitic condition. Rescue animal sanctuaries in Australia do not dock tails, instead regularly crutching sheep (shearing the wool around their backsides and on the tails). While this method prevents flystrike just as effectively, it is more costly and time-consuming, which is why the wool and meat industry docks tails instead. Willow and her free-from-harm tail, captured by Rachael Michelle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590406159322-OTKO834I9E03F70MJ37H/lamb+marking+knife.jpeg Mutilation - Castration Male sheep are castrated to prevent unplanned breeding, which may result in untimely births, or lambs with a ‘lesser quality’ genetic makeup. The most common and recommended methods in Australia are slicing the lamb’s scrotum open and cutting out their testicles with a sharp knife, or using tight rubber rings which cut off the circulation to the testicles, until the nerves slowly die. Again, no pain relief is legally required for castrating young lambs. A ‘lamb marking knife’ with a ‘testicle removing hook’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590406315803-HXN7MASSSVZF4Z0J5HX0/mulesing+sheep+pain+relief+patty+mark.jpg Mutilation - Mulesing Mulesing is a widely-known mutilation subjected to sheep. To mulese is to slice off the skin around a lamb’s backside. Like tail docking, mulesing is performed to prevent fly strike, but it is a barbaric practice rendered needless by crutching. In Australia, mulesing without pain relief is legal in all jurisdictions except for Victoria, though documentation shows this is not always followed. While this legislation should reduce suffering, we would never deem it acceptable or ethical for a cat or dog to have their skin cut off of their backside. In 2020, a bill attempting to ban mulesing in NSW was rejected by the state parliament. When discussing a potential change in regulations surrounding mulesing, the chairman of the NSW Farmers Wool Committee, stated ‘The concern is, where will this demand for pain relief stop?’. His greatest concern was about ‘people telling us what we should be doing on our properties’. Image: Patty Mark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1600253918627-FPEW1R9FAL7W173N5LR3/wool_shearing_101-1000x559.jpg Mutilation - Shearing violence Rather than being paid by the hour, shearers are normally paid by the number of animals they shear, or by wool weight. Being paid this way incentivises speed and leads to both extreme occupational health and safety concerns and violence towards sheep. Across five years, multiple global investigations, including in Australia, have shown rampant cruelty in the process of sheep shearing. Not only are animals seen regularly cut by the shearing clippers, but also sewn back together without pain relief by untrained workers. They are seen beaten, punched and thrown, some with their heads being stood on by workers. With no real regulation, this abuse continues unchecked. Sheep only need to be shorn because we have selectively bred and even in some cases genetically modified them to produce more wool for our profit. Sheep originated from mouflon, a wild animal who of course is never shorn, and lives perfectly well. Image: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals https://www.willowandclaude.com/land-clearing daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578109319177-PR6F4930JWEEDLX7N0AW/habitat-loss-koala.jpg Land Clearing - Biodiversity loss and species extinction Over the last 200 years, the highest recorded mammalian extinction rate has been seen in Australia. More than 50 animal and 60 plant species have become extinct. Conservative estimates put more than 1,800 plant and animal species and woodlands, forests and wetlands at risk of extinction. The United Nations identified agriculture as one of the primary causes of biodiversity loss globally, with about 28% of Earth’s land surface being grazed by farmed animals. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578109003637-VHV0ZFCO5UO4OZI8KHIA/wooleen+2004+2009.jpg Land Clearing - Land damage and soil erosion Hooven animals like sheep, especially where they are non-native like in Australia, greatly damage the land. In Dark Emu, 17th century colonists on stolen Australian land are quoted reporting on the severe impact imported sheep had on land and edible vegetation. Wooleen Station and even the wool industry itself has found that ‘destocking’ land of farmed animals (removing them) results in important revegetation and land regeneration. In the first half of the 20th century, Patagonia, Argentina was second only to Australia in wool production. We can see the power of ‘destocking’ at Patagonia Park. Patagonia Park stated that intense sheep ranching on their land resulted in widespread desertification, due to soil erosion. Since the removal of these sheep, project biologists are ‘impressed with the speed at which these grasslands have regained their vitality’ as those working to restore Patagonia Park ‘watch the land heal and transform at an astounding rate’. https://www.willowandclaude.com/contact daily 0.75 2021-07-20 https://www.willowandclaude.com/knit daily 0.75 2021-06-07 https://www.willowandclaude.com/lambing daily 0.75 2022-07-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602479949373-01327SJ17PNBB0H2PZWQ/winter%2Blambing%2Bwool%2Bindustry%2Bsurvival%2Bgraph.jpg Lambing - Selective breeding: lambs Farmed sheep have been selectively bred for many years, so that they regularly give birth to twins and triplets. This is because more lambs means more profit. However, multiple-birth pregnancies result in smaller and weaker lambs being born, and so more lambs dying. As well as being at much higher risk of dying from hypothermia, smaller lambs are often rejected by their mother in favour of the strongest baby in hopes they may survive – an already tough battle for many winter lambs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1600252524622-D4BP727HZUV0J6PHX1KS/winter+lambing+wool.jpg Lambing - Winter lambing The wool and meat industry practices winter lambing in order to produce the most lambs for the lowest cost. Sheep are impregnated to give birth in winter so that pastures are most fertile when their lambs are weaned in spring, allowing surviving lambs to grow fatter faster. This method of breeding reduces feed costs. Newborn lambs are tiny and unable to regulate their temperature. In the freezing cold winter, and without sufficient shelter to protect them from rain and wind (as is often denied to them), hypothermia is common. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578099867560-YGFYL6QIJJDWLSHT7KOX/lamb+predation+photographed+by+emma+hakansson+with+animal+liberation+victoria.jpg Lambing - Lambing deaths and predation Winter lambing practices and selective breeding result in high rates of lamb death. A high rate of just below 30% of merino lambs dying is considered acceptable by the wool industry. The national average flock size is 1,730 sheep and lambs, so that’s about 519 dead lambs. When so many dead bodies litter farms, foxes, crows and other predators are more likely to be lured near the flock. This puts weak and downed lambs and sheep in danger of being preyed on while alive. A very small number of lambs actually die due to predation rather than mismanagement, neglect and selective breeding issues. Image: Emma Hakansson https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578099988963-HMZFY4TMBX5NJOODZF70/preyed+on+birthing+mother+animal+liberation+victoria+emma+hakansson.jpg Lambing - Selective breeding: ewes Mother sheep selectively bred to bear twins or triplets are more likely to die if in poor condition. These ewes are also more likely to prolapse and become downed, making them more susceptible to predation. When mother sheep die orphaned lambs are left to starve or be preyed on. Industry codes of practice support clubbing such lambs to death if farmers are not willing to take them in. Additionally, ewes who are ‘under-performing’ during lambing season, are often slaughtered to ‘increase the lamp crop’. This sheep was found alive and breathing, unable to get up, at the very beginning of the cold season. Her eyes had been pecked at and she showed signs of a troubled birth. Image: Emma Hakansson https://www.willowandclaude.com/why-not-wool daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590398196927-ZQNV7IAWVXUZKUAHJE4T/lambing+season+willow+and+claude.jpeg why not wool? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590406503333-4Z4LHBE2L8J0T096LXU6/willow+sheep+tail+docking.JPG why not wool? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590398058592-6F0PPCOS99YFO8DMBXEL/lamb+carcass+meat+wool+industry.jpeg why not wool? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590407545334-Z2FTL4OH8ZM84K5W100J/land+clearing+livestock+wool+industry.jpg why not wool? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602462794615-ZZKNNBGFHIOFTTLQGZFL/wool%2Bgreenhouse%2Bgas%2Bemissions.jpg why not wool? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602466484256-VJBWEJNNR6TQ8I1X0AJI/australia+rewilded+sheep+farm.jpg why not wool? https://www.willowandclaude.com/meat-industry daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578101106303-3VRXXUSYNQSTYU7X0V0L/learn+about+wool+sheep+breeds.png Meat industry - ‘Dual-purpose’ Sheep who are bred for their wool are also used for their meat, often defined as ‘dual-purpose’ for this reason. Some breeds and cross-breeds are ‘favoured’ for meat production, but even merinos, who are known as ‘wool sheep’ are considered ‘wool and meat’ sheep. Most sheep meat in Australia is lamb meat, considered of a ‘higher quality’. Lambs are slaughtered between 6-9 months of age for this purpose, and are often shorn of their wool before slaughter. Opposite is an excerpt of an industry fact sheet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578100860189-A83A27PH8E53387DT760/prince+liberation+sanctuary+animal+liberation+victoria.jpg Meat industry - ‘Cast for age’ Merinos, sheep that produce the ‘highest quality’ wool, are generally farmed for 5-6 years when deemed worthy for wool-growing. After this age, a sheep’s wool degrades in quality, just as human hair gets more brittle and thin as we age. When this happens, a sheep is no longer financially viable, and so is slaughtered. Naturally, sheep can live to be up to 14 years old. Opposite is Prince, a rescued merino sheep who lived at Liberation Sanctuary from ‘lambhood’ until he passed peacefully at 10 years old. Other sheep here, like Split, continue living at 14 years old this year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578103122532-QIOQ7AP884M6KYHF99RS/victoria+australia+slaughterhouse+footage+leaked.com.jpg Meat industry - In the abattoir In standard Australian abattoirs, sheep must be stunned, most often by shooting an electrical current through the brains, or with a captive-bolt gun. Following stunning, sheep are slaughtered by having their throats cut open. Stunning is not always at all or entirely effective, and never renders an animal permanently unconscious. Animals can regain consciousness within minutes, and be conscious during slaughter. Every year in Australia, 30 million lambs and sheep are slaughtered. No animal walks willingly into a slaughterhouse, and most of their final moments are full of adrenalin, fear and terror. Still from Leaked Australia footage from an abattoir in Victoria, Australia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1578103626951-LKJ0P0G44DIE8T933UBW/animals-australia-live-export.jpg Meat industry - Live export When sheep are no longer financially viable for their wool, the wool industry makes hundreds of millions of dollars in profit by selling them to the live export industry for slaughter. In 2018, 973,651 sheep were exported live from Australia to be slaughtered overseas. 5,982 of those sheep died on their way there. Undercover investigations of Australian live export ships have been shown to be overcrowded, with sheep often unable to move or access food and water. Sheep on the long voyages have been documented lying stuck in a ‘soup’ of weeks worth of urine and faeces, and even being cooked alive in the heat. A still from an Animals Australia investigation into live export. https://www.willowandclaude.com/biodegradable daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623041947849-BZNTC7GGF9P8TPTANVG6/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Renewable and biodegradable - Renewable A renewable resource is one which is natural and can be replenished and replaced when depleted by consumption. Renewable resources in fashion are the key to a non-wasteful, circular industry. Cotton is a plant and just as we can grow it, it can biodegrade and return to the ground without doing the earth harm. Cotton is also able to be recycled effectively — a process occurring in the picture opposite — with many innovative fashion labels recycling, alongside the agricultural industry. While wool as a fibre is renewable, sheep are not. Unlike plants, animals are individuals with brains, thoughts and feelings – just like us. When sheep are slaughtered in the wool industry, there is no coming back, no renewing. Repeatedly ensuring the impregnation of ewes so more lambs can be bred and ultimately slaughtered is not renewable - life and death is utterly linear. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623041805692-8E3N4M09GKXTMZGUFEVY/cotton+biodegradable.jpg Renewable and biodegradable - Biodegradable Cotton is a plant, so of course it is biodegradable and compostable. While it is environmentally imperative that we change the wasteful patterns of over consumption we see in fashion currently, it is of great value to know that if a cotton garment does end up discarded, it will be returning to the earth, rather than polluting it. In fact, farmers from all different industries use the ‘soil your undies’ test to measure how healthy their soil is! By placing pure cotton underwear in the ground for two months and pulling them up again, farmers can see how much of the cotton has already been eaten away by microbes in the soil – the faster the cotton biodegrades, the ‘happier’ the soil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590640709117-4PBYCSNDL7HYK9UP81EP/microfiber+pollution+fashion+knitwear.jpg Renewable and biodegradable - Micro-plastic problem Today, 65% of textile fibres produced are petrochemical-based synthetics that will never decompose. When synthetic materials like polyester or acrylic are washed, micro-plastic fibres are shed and released through waterways. The fibres are so small that up to 40% are not caught in water treatment facilities. One study found that ‘the number of microfibres released from a typical 5 kg wash load of polyester fabrics was estimated to be over 6,000,000 depending on the type of detergent used.’ While ocean plastics are not from a singular source, with a vast amount caused by fishing industries, textile micro-plastics are a serious issue. Natural fibres using biodegradable dyes are a great solution. https://www.willowandclaude.com/home daily 1.0 2021-07-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626763672070-4LCQKVAUG3Z24EL68Z9K/cotton%2Bwillow%2Band%2Bclaude.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626763619724-SOX4FBKEWCRBJFFHMDD4/sheep%2Bsaleyard%2Bwool%2Bwillow%2Band%2Bclaude%2Banimals%2Buncovered%2Bcopy.png.jpeg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626316838849-PZPL2CS4WVKDZSQC5Z4R/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626763531033-O6UJEPFGVQ8G6SII18FD/willow+and+claude+knitwear+label.jpg Home - With the release of the willow & claude film comes a limited edition knitwear collection. For those who want to keep cosy in winter without costing anyone’s life, wellbeing or the health of the planet. 100% of profits support the work of Collective Fashion Justice. https://www.willowandclaude.com/meet-willow-claude daily 0.75 2021-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623044500342-LUAXC29TFZ3GZHNJF51Q/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg meet willow & claude - This is Willow. She’s cheeky, a bit demanding in an endearing way and loves a head scratch. Runs over to people she loves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623044519749-67SYDAYJSEIBF602V84B/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg meet willow & claude - This is Claude. He’s a gentle, friendly boy and he loves a cuddle. He’s got a crooked tail, is a bit sleepy, and is very handsome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602473317484-44J5CQIIDNZAIU3C3LHE/winter+lambing.JPG meet willow & claude https://www.willowandclaude.com/why-cotton daily 0.75 2021-06-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602468171326-VF1M872OXI6NVMA75QO7/willow%2Bwool%2Bfree%2Bfashion.jpg why australian cotton? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602468293974-9EMJSHGDP9KLDD1IGBVK/cotton%2Bbiodegradable.jpg why australian cotton? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602467957495-TPF0HGR9WHQB04GL2XHZ/rewilded%2Baustralia%2Bsustainable%2Bagriculture.jpg why australian cotton? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602472435991-PNL4Z2HS36TFVF65ND0U/cotton%2Birrigation.jpg why australian cotton? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1611202894885-USWHRIQ2C32MPNFGBOW8/renee%252Band%252Bdog.jpg why australian cotton? https://www.willowandclaude.com/greenhouse-gas-emissions daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1594968730804-QBP5BNWR0EB63SOGHAXN/sheep+saleyard+wool+willow+and+claude+animals+uncovered+copy.png Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Animal agriculture ‘Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.’ - Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations ‘In Australia, direct livestock emissions account for about 70% of greenhouse gas emissions by the agricultural sector and 11% of total national greenhouse gas emissions. This makes Australia’s livestock the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after the energy and transport sectors. Livestock are the dominant source of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), accounting for 56% and 73%, respectively, of Australia’s emissions.’ - Government of Western Australia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623040552570-EE3PLLK9ZSCDR1INP0KT/cotton+v+wool+emissions+knit.jpg Greenhouse Gas Emissions - The CO2e emissions in your knit CO2e , or carbon dioxide equivalent, is a term for describing all greenhouse gas emissions in one common unit. When you make the exact same lightweight knit garment in wool and cotton, the difference in CO2e emissions is enormous. A 350g Australian wool jumper = 12.81kg of CO2e A 350g Australian cotton jumper = 476.1g of CO2e In other words, the wool knit emits almost 27 times more CO2e emissions than the cotton knit. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623041447093-WPNIWM21DIJQY7BNB2W2/methane-02.jpg Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Methane Some greenhouse gasses pose greater risks to our planet, having a higher global warming potential. Methane is 84x more potent than CO2 in the short-term. Enteric methane from ruminant animals like sheep and cattle contributes around 64% of Australia’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, so any reduction in methane will help to lower national emissions. From the Australian Government: ‘Methane has a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, but it also has a much shorter half-life, so reducing methane now will have a much faster impact on global warming potential in the future... If you want to reduce enteric methane emissions, you can increase the proportion of land area under cropping.’ https://www.willowandclaude.com/mill daily 0.75 2021-06-07 https://www.willowandclaude.com/frequently-asked daily 0.75 2021-07-20 https://www.willowandclaude.com/positive-land-use daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1590454805783-EZCMK3VYA047HHBPPD5E/chickpea+farming+australia.jpg Positive land use - Rotational farming Australian cotton farmers practice rotational cropping, meaning they grow different plants on their farms, and in the same fields. This practice is good for soil nutrition, pesticide reduction and soil disease prevention. Cotton farmers in Australia particularly practise rotational farming which includes nitrogen-fixing crops like legumes – such as chickpeas. These plants fix and release nitrogen into the soil, acting as a natural fertiliser. This is important as cotton needs nitrogen. On Renée’s farm, she grows cotton, chickpeas, mungbeans, popcorn, wheat and other plant fibres, proteins and grains. In between harvests, the ‘stubble’ of plants like chickpea stay in the soil to prevent erosion. (See below) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1615522094612-7URJWMXR1GW6MJWV27LF/land+clearing+wool+v+cotton.png Positive land use - As compared to wool The more land used for agriculture, the less land available for trees which can store carbon and for native plants and animals to live and thrive on. For this reason, land-efficient agriculture is of vital importance. To produce 1 bale of wool, 44.04 hectares of land must be cleared or kept cleared, and grazed. To produce 1 bale of cotton 0.12 hectares of land must be cleared and planted. While both bales will be processed and usable fibre yield will be different than the bale weight itself, it is clear cotton that is significantly more land efficient. Australia is largely desert and only has limited fertile land available for much of agriculture. The large majority of this land is used by inefficient industries like wool. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623042339792-4VVMIQZ3SQIRCWD40YAF/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg Positive land use - Soil health To ensure soil health, Australian cotton farmers implement lower tillage practices. Tillage is a kind of soil disruption which helps remove weeds and prepare land for planting, but it can lead to soil erosion and damage, too. Australia grows Bt cotton, not ‘conventional cotton’. This cotton is genetically modified to hold the biological soil bacterium ‘Bacillius thuringiensis’. These natural genes produce a protein which gives cotton inbuilt protection against the larvae of bollworms. This innovation has resulted in insecticide reduction of 97% per bale since 1993. ‘Bt’ is actually sprayed over organic crops and cotton, but it is more targeted within the plant than sprayed everywhere. https://www.willowandclaude.com/about daily 0.75 2021-07-29 https://www.willowandclaude.com/supply-chain daily 0.75 2021-07-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1591952374940-Q14HV2CJQ1NN3VF4OSH7/cotton+australia+renee+anderson+willow+and+claude.jpg supply chain - Farming Our cotton is grown with love by Renée and her team. The farm also grows legumes, popcorn and other crops in rotation. This all takes place in Emerald, a town in Queensland, Australia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623044102559-IXBTY4JDRGOZTPPCI36S/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg supply chain - Milling Our cotton is processed and spun into yarn by Stuart’s team at the CSIRO, where the last short staple spinning mill is homed. It’s done in Geelong, a city in Victoria, Australia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626759727075-GGGSMMEIUASC7SO7A4AX/dyeing.jpg supply chain - Dyeing Our cotton yarn is dyed by Leading Textiles, by people like Leo. The dyes are BlueSign and OEKO-TEX 100 approved and certified, biodegradable, and free from toxic heavy metals. It’s done in Tullamarine, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626759757720-35YN3FQBA0KLL1015XYA/spinning.jpg supply chain - Spinning One the yarn is dyed, it’s spun so that three cones of yarn become one that is more thick, sturdy and comfy. This takes place in Campbellfield, Melbourne, at a place called Industrial Yarns, run by Paul. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626759775491-R6OT5ILJQNX372LYGUAL/20140301_Trade-151_0124-copy.jpg supply chain - Knitting Our cotton yarn is made into knitwear clothing by a Whole Garment Knitting Machine, run by Patricia. This all happens at KNIT.Melbourne. https://www.willowandclaude.com/farm daily 0.75 2021-06-07 https://www.willowandclaude.com/rewild daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602467557540-DUSAII180LB4XG4KINY5/australia+rewilded+sheep+farm.jpg Rewild - Carbon sequestration The use of land for inefficient animal agriculture incurs a ‘carbon opportunity cost’ of sorts. A study from leading environmental experts shows that if, we transition to an entirely plant-based agricultural system by 2050, we would see the sequestration – or long-term, secure and sustained storage of greenhouse gases – equivalent to 99-163% of our carbon emission budget. This budget is the total amount of carbon emissions we have left before it’s all out of our hands. In other words, with this action alone, never mind the also necessary clean energy revolution, we would see a 66% chance of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Image: The Ikara-Flinders Ranges are home to the Arkaba Conservancy, a former sheep station that now hosts eco-tourists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1623042504323-ZNUCX85WDTQIT5BRA9BO/land%2Buse%2Bgraph.jpeg Rewild - Inefficient land use With a transition away from animal-based agriculture and consumption, global farmland could be reduced by 75%, and we could still clothe and feed the world. When we look at knitwear specifically, 0.12 hectares of land must be cleared to produce one bale of cotton, compared to 40.5 hectares of land for wool. This is an inefficient use of precious land, which could instead be rewilded; with native plants grown and cared for by First Nations peoples who have a knowledge of how to care for country. Through this process, native wildlife would thrive, as would the wider ecosystem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1602467635774-Z9Z9CTOBWOUSRN8R9QB5/Northern_Quoll_endangered__Jonathan-Webb.jpg Rewild - Biodiversity regeneration Shifting baselines, where we remember a different environment full of plants and animals than our parents, and their parents, means we do not realise just how much biodiversity we have lost. Australia has recorded the highest rate of mammalian extinction across the world in the past 200 years, with great loss of plant species, too. Australia’s biodiversity is utterly at risk, and we need to do all we can to protect and regenerate it. By freeing up land through agricultural transition, rewilding is an effective way to do this. Image: The northern quoll is on the Australian endangered species list. Photo by Jonathan Webb https://www.willowandclaude.com/transparent-supply-chain daily 0.75 2021-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1611207674721-MIV37OV5G9CQGT8DAZB1/forced%2Blabour.jpg Transparent Supply Chain - Forced and child labour The vast majority of the world’s cotton is produced in China, India, the US, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Turkey. All but two of these countries have documented cases of forced labour or child labour. Fortunately, Australia is not one of them. As many as 1 in 5 cotton garments globally can be tied back to the Xinjiang province of China, where the Chinese government is accused of forcing Uyghur Muslims to work for them, while living in camps against their will. Forced and child labour is not legal in Australia. While that doesn’t mean it never occurs in the country, the myBMP (Best Practice Management) program that most cotton farmers opt into, audits farms and ensures labour is voluntary, fair and safe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1611207459435-VJP3TJITOG8EAS7NRZAG/what-is-organic-cotton-and-is-it-worth-it-image-via-cruz-label-store.jpg Transparent Supply Chain - False claims of ethical and sustainable credentials Without transparency as to where cotton is grown, it can be difficult to know not only how the people in supply chains were treated, but how sustainably the cotton was grown. False, fraudulent claims that cotton is organic when it is actually not have been documented to be rampant. Similarly, cotton products labelled as grown in Egypt, have been recorded to actually be from India. When there are false claims in the marketing of cotton products, and when that is made possible by a lack of transparency, the ethics and sustainability of a product are lost. https://www.willowandclaude.com/spinning daily 0.75 2021-06-07 https://www.willowandclaude.com/dyehouse daily 0.75 2021-06-07 https://www.willowandclaude.com/next daily 0.75 2021-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626837757215-EHAUP7W8TNU23LDLR3F9/image-asset.jpeg next - Make a difference for sheep Our online sponsor, Animals Australia, currently has a petition in place to protect sheep like Willow and Claude from extensive suffering in the industry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5deedb4467a5b420e8511e06/1626837783384-X0LP9NSGZEHBI7VD2WO8/image-asset.jpg next - Support our work Share this film, buy some of our limited edition knitwear, which supports our non-profit, and learn more about total ethics fashion on this website, and over at Collective Fashion Justice. 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