Textile Insight

Who We Are In a period of ever-greater supply chain scrutiny and a growing demand for transparency and traceability, The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol sets a new standard for more sustainably grown cotton. It brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to sustainable cotton production and drives continuous improvement in key sustainability metrics. The Trust Protocol underpins and verifies U.S. cotton's sustainability progress through sophisticated data collection and independent third-party verification. Choosing Trust Protocol cotton will give brands and retailers the critical assurances they need that the cotton fiber element of their supply chain is more sustainably grown with lower environmental and social risk. Brands and retailers will gain access to U.S. cotton with sustainability credentials proven via FieldtoMarket, measured via the Field Calculator and verified with Control Union Certifications. The Trust Protocol is a complement to existing sustainability programs. It is designed from the ground up to fit the unique cotton mass-growing environment of the United States. To Learn More www.TrustUSCotton.org F or the past 35 years, Amer- ica's 16,000 cotton growers worked tirelessly to sow the seeds of sustainability, and now the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is helping them – and fashion brands – reap the benefits. e U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is a system that will work with partic- ipating U.S. cotton growers to track data in six key sustainability areas – land, water and energy usage, soil loss and soil carbon, and greenhouse gas emissions. When the growers sign up, they complete an online questionnaire about their farming practices. at data will be verified by a third party, Control Union Certifications (CUC), and shared aggregately with registered members, including both farmers and brands and retailers. Brands will be able to use that data to prove they are making progress towards their science-based targets. "We have a lot of growers who want to have an opportunity to show their work," said Trust Protocol President Dr. Gary Adams. "ey know brands and retailers will ask more of them in the future, so we want to walk a path of constant improvement with them. We want it to be an educational resource for them, and eventually we want to touch every acre of cotton grown in the U.S." e Trust Protocol's objective is to have more than 50 percent of all U.S. production—or 8 million bales—in the program by the 2025 growing/ harvest season. Many farmers say they welcome the chance to prove their farms' sustainability improvements. "Our biggest focus has been on protecting and rebuilding the soil —it's our most important resource," said fih-generation Tennessee cotton grower Matt Griggs. "In fact, we're already doing what the Trust Protocol is asking. But they will collect the data to prove it, and to help us further our practices and give them more ways to be sustainable as we evolve." In addition to providing the data brands and retailers need for their own sustainability reporting, the questionnaire and the FieldPrint analysis of the collected data will give growers the information they need to implement insights and best practices from across the cotton belt is data will also be used to track the sustainability progress of the whole U.S. cotton industry as it works to meet the Trust Protocol's ambitious goals of further reductions in these key metrics by 2025: • 13% decrease in land use • 50% cut in soil loss • 18% decline in water use • 15% decline in energy use • 39% cut in greenhouse gas emissions • 30% increase in soil carbon is program will make it easier for brands and retailers to find respon- sibly grown cotton in the quantities they need. A recent survey the Trust Protocol conducted of Sourcing Journal read- ers found that brands and retailers say providing quality and origin assur- ances to their customers has become even more important to them aer the impact of the COVID-19 pan- demic. e Trust Protocol will also meet that need by providing brands and retailers full transparency for raw cotton from the farm to the laydown. Grown in the USA Cotton farmers harvesting data to prove their sustainability credentials SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION This program will make it easier for brands and retailers to find responsibly grown cotton in the quantities they need. 28 • Textile Insight ~ September/October 2020 textileinsight.com

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