City students discover Aussie cotton

Cotton Australia’s education team taught city-based students about the cotton industry at an event in Sydney last week.

Education Manager Jenny Hughes ran workshops for primary school students at the Farm Days event, hosted by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.

The event was a hands-on, interactive excursion for city students who are geographically isolated from farming communities. It gave them an understanding of the origins of food and fibre, and how farmers are supported with the use of advanced technology to sustainably manage the country they live and work on.

More than 300 students attended during the week.

Cotton Australia’s workshop focused on the management of water, and the properties of cotton as a natural fibre that can be part of the circular economy when end-users practice the four ‘R’s’ of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink.

After a quick presentation on the field to fibre story of cotton, students were challenged to think about how water can travel uphill using a siphon, and participated in a water-sharing game to better understand water allocations and licences. Students were amazed by a pair of cotton underpants from the Soil Your Undies challenge, which showed only man-made fibres remaining. This led to a conversation around being responsible consumers by checking product labels to see what they are made from.