When you hear the word “cotton,” what do you think? Do you think white, fluffy, soft and absorbent? Do you think about t-shirts, socks and summer dresses? What many people do not think about is the process and chemicals used to get those cotton products we know and love. Now when I think about cotton, I cannot help but think about chemicals, toxins and health risk factors.

Here are some numbers to consider. 

When I walk throughout my neighborhood in the middle of the hottest and usually driest months of July and August, I find that I am dodging the water shooting from sprinklers and jumping over puddles of water on sidewalks. Because clean water is so accessible to us, we consequently tend to be wasteful with its uses like leaving sprinklers on too long, creating a saturated yard and those sidewalk puddles. In our ignorance, we are taking advantage of a natural substance – water- without any regards to its limitations.

Now most of us know that sticking our noses in a bleach bottle is harmful to us and that drinking any household product is equally as dangers, if not deadly. But what about wafting and smelling the scents left behind, from the smells of our fabric softener to the air fresheners strategically placed throughout our homes? Although we are made to believe that all of these smells equal fresh and clean, these smells are the result of chemicals. They are deceiving our noses and us.

A 1991 “Environmental Health Perspectives” article said it best,

It seems that politicians, the people we claim represent us, are far to eager to give speeches, gallantly proclaiming their beliefs and making promises. Although these politicians and their speeches at first sound like music to your ears, it soon turns into annoying relentless chatter. Politicians’ beliefs and promises quickly turn into lies and broken promises.