H&M declares itself green but cotton is GMO

H&M is once again in the spotlight of investigative journalism, it seems that more than 30% of the garments of the new spring / summer 2010 collection have been made with genetically modified cotton.

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H&M is once again in the spotlight of investigative journalism. After the news reported by the New York Times on the questionable choice to literally give a cut to clothing for the sales at the beginning of the year, the well-known Swedish brand has launched a sustainable spring / summer 2010 collection in organic cotton that is sustainable, but above all biological, it seems to have very little.

 

To say it is the German edition of the Financial Times which reports the data of the analyzes performed by the independent Impetus laboratory, directed by Doctor Lothar Kruse, on some cotton samples used by the Scandinavian brand for the new clothing line.

It would seem that more than 30% of the garments were made with cotton genetically modified. A big problem after the promise of green dresses, with natural colors, flower-child style but above all using products 100% organic and recycled materials.

The management of H&M admitted the possibility of an error, however dissociating itself from the hypotheses of intentionality that emerged in recent days. The hot potato was then passed on to producers, India, notoriously a major exporter of organic cotton on a global scale. The Indian agriculture authority, Apeda, which H&M itself has taken into consideration, has reported a large-scale fraud accusing in turn Peterson Control Union and EcoCert, international quality certification agencies, of having labeled organic cotton that does not it was.

In response, the two accused defended themselves by stating that none of the cotton farms had genetically modified seeds found.

It seems that the chain of production and distribution of certified cotton is still too weak, and it is not the first time that we have seen phenomena of this kind. Do you remember the problem of uncertified leather denounced by Greenpeace in the report "Amazonia che Macello"?

We need stricter rules and stricter controls and, we add, an ethics consistent with the declarations issued by the major international brands. The phenomenon of greenwashing, widely exploited by companies and companies in the wake of the green appeal, is just a false promise addressed to uninformed consumers.

Serena Bianchi