Textile Exchange and the Organic Trade Association have entered a joint effort to strengthen the North American organic textile industry. The two groups will work together on legislative advocacy, public outreach and consumer education initiatives.

A major goal of the partnership is to boost outreach to North American consumers on the benefits of organic fiber and textiles, particularly the environmental and social benefits of growing and processing them. US organic fiber sales were the fastest growing non-food sector, reaching $1.1 billion in 2014, up 18 per cent from the previous year. The leading organic fiber is cotton. In 2014, US growers planted organic cotton on 18,234 acres, the largest number of US acres devoted to organic cotton since 1995.

Global sales of organic cotton products reached an estimated $15.7 billion in 2014, up 10 per cent from 2013. Founded in 2002, Textile Exchange is a global non-profit that works with all sectors of the textile supply chain to find the best ways to minimise and reverse the negative impacts on water, soil, air and the human population created by this $1.7 trillion industry. Organic Trade Association is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America.

textileexchange.org/ https://www.ota.com/