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There are many claims that cotton has been grown in an environmentally friendly manner such as "Naturally produced", "pure", "organic cotton", "hand-picked". These are some of the concepts used. "Hand-picked cotton," says nothing about if the environment has been taken into account during its growth or cultivation. It only states that machines there have been no use of machines at during harvest. The hand-picked is considered better since it does not require any chemical defoliation of cotton plants before harvesting. Although mechanical harvesting can take place without the use of defoliants, such as harvesting after that the frost has hit the plants. One factor to be considered is health and safety problem at hand-picking - especially if the cotton plant has been treated with pesticides before harvest.
For cotton, and for some other fiber plants requires certain established criteria before they can be regarded as "organically grown". The EU has published criteria for organic farming; "Organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs," Council Regulation 2092/91. It establishes a set of rules for organic farming. Among other things it states that the land must be farmed organically during a transitional period before the crop is considered to be organically grown (normally 3 years). Another very important rule of organic farming is that the soil fertility must be maintained according to prescribed rules, such as crop rotation and plowing of organic material. There is also a set of rules about how nutrients may be added to the soil. In the event of an immediate threat to the crop some certain specified chemicals may be used, including plant and animal oils, kerosene, etc. To ensure that the cultivation has been organically it requires a so-called third-party audit by an approved agency or private organization.
Controls can be handled by KRAV Kontrollförening för ekologisk odlig, (Control organization for organic farming) through its branch Aranea Certification or other organizations approved by IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement). Cotton that meets the Texas Department of Agricultures Organic certification programs are also considered to be organically grown.