April 28, 2004: Headlines: COS - The Gambia: Pesticides: Pest Management: Fibers: Inventors: The Peace Corps sent Sally Fox to the Gambia in West Africa. There she observed the extensive misuse of pesticides which magnified her concern for the environment, encouraging her to develop safer methods of pest management

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Gambia: Peace Corps The Gambia : The Peace Corps in the Gambia: April 28, 2004: Headlines: COS - The Gambia: Pesticides: Pest Management: Fibers: Inventors: The Peace Corps sent Sally Fox to the Gambia in West Africa. There she observed the extensive misuse of pesticides which magnified her concern for the environment, encouraging her to develop safer methods of pest management

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-16-191.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.16.191) on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 6:34 pm: Edit Post

The Peace Corps sent Sally Fox to the Gambia in West Africa. There she observed the extensive misuse of pesticides which magnified her concern for the environment, encouraging her to develop safer methods of pest management

The Peace Corps sent Sally Fox to the Gambia in West Africa. There she observed the extensive misuse of pesticides which magnified her concern for the environment, encouraging her to develop safer methods of pest management

The Peace Corps sent Sally Fox to the Gambia in West Africa. There she observed the extensive misuse of pesticides which magnified her concern for the environment, encouraging her to develop safer methods of pest management

Sally Fox and Natural Cotton

Colored cotton agriculture began around 2700 B.C. in Indo-Pakistan, Egypt and Peru. It was then common for cotton to grow in a variety of natural colors: mocha, tan, gray, and red-brown.

The industrial revolution brought us industrial cotton looms. Short-fibered colored cotton was replaced by long-fibered all white cotton that processed better in the industrial looms. The natural-colored varieties grew almost extinct, until Sally Fox rediscovered a small amount of brown cotton seeds in 1982. Fox began to research creating a commercially viable long-fibered colored cotton (better for the looms of today). The invention was called FoxFibre, a strong long-fibered colored cotton.

The Peace Corps sent Sally Fox to the Gambia in West Africa. There she observed the extensive misuse of pesticides which magnified her concern for the environment, encouraging her to develop safer methods of pest management. After returning home, Sally Fox entered a graduate program at the University of California, and, in 1982, received her Masters degree in Integrated Pest Management.

Sally Fox was introduced to colored cotton while working for a cotton breeder, whose focus was developing pest-resistant strains of cotton. The peoples of Central and South America had spun these strains for centuries, but the fiber qualities were not sufficient for modern machine spinning. Here was Sally Fox’s opportunity to combine her concern for the environment, work in her field of entomology, and practice her favorite pastime, spinning and weaving.

Sally Fox took on the challenge of improving an ancient agricultural art. Fox successfully bred and marketed varieties of naturally coloured cotton she calls FoxFiber ®. In 1989, she opened Natural Cotton Colours, Inc. Today, Sally Fox designs fabrics with her cotton and continues research.


Naturally colored cotton

When Sally Fox first saw brown cotton seeds and lint, she had no idea she was about to become a pioneer.

Fox began her life as an inventor in 1982 in Davis, California, as a handspinner for a cotton breeder. Although cottons are usually bleached white, then dyed to suit the needs of the clothing manufacturer, Fox fell in love with their natural brown color. Noticing that the fiber was significantly shorter, weaker and thinner than that of commercial white varieties, and therefore difficult to spin, Fox went to work on selecting the best possible quality brown cottons, hand-ginning each seed and hand-spinning the fiber. Year after year, she planted the best of the yield and designed and spun a series of unique yarns that could be made only with her naturally colored cottons.

Two of the numerous advantages of naturally colored cottons are: they eliminate the need for the dyeing and finishing steps so detrimental to the environment, and they are innately more fire-resistant than white cotton.

Fox has received a patent and three Plant Variety Protection Certificates for her naturally colored cottons which, in addition to browns, she now grows in reds and greens. Her invention has been so popular it has sprouted two successful companies -- Vreseis, Ltd. and Natural Cotton Colours, both operating in Arizona.




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Story Source: Inventors

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - The Gambia; Pesticides; Pest Management; Fibers

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