Could do better

Last week I ordered and received a cotton polo neck jumper from the John Lewis sale, a cosy wardrobe addition to wear under a cardigan or jacket. It was just right except for the label above extolling their ethical sourcing of better cotton, even  though there might not be any better cotton in the garment.

A Google search for what the label is trying to tell me didn’t enlighten me at all.

Better Cotton is sourced via a chain of custody model called mass balance. This means that Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we source.

Mass Balance is the chain of custody model that laid the foundation of the entire Better Cotton initiative, making our programme easy to scale and bringing immense value to the farmers. It was first introduced in the Better Cotton Chain of Custody (CoC) Guidelines, the guidance document that set the requirements for organisations in the supply chain that are buying or selling Better Cotton or cotton-containing products through Mass Balance Better Cotton orders. After the introduction of the CoC Standard v1.0 in 2023, Mass Balance remained a key offering alongside physical chain of custody models. 

Any wiser?  Me neither.  I imagine the scheme makes very little difference to the cotton farmers or the environment but gives a tidy income to those who thought it up, wonderful career and travel opportunities for its board of international directors and cons the unwary purchaser.