A Cotton Graveyard

Australian Farmers: Telling Our Story

Have you ever been roped into the fast fashion frenzy of buying a new piece of clothing on a weekly or monthly basis, only for it to end up in landfill a short time later? There is a world-first movement on the Queensland/New South Wales border to tackle that very issue. On a farm near Goondiwindi, you’ll find a cotton graveyard where customers are welcome to return unwanted clothes to be shredded and deposited back into the soil. Our guest today is the tireless Sam Coulton from Goondiwindi Cotton. The energy and passion he brings to turning rubbish into riches is truly inspiring. Today we speak with Sam Coulton from Goondiwindi Cotton and discuss:

• Looking over his favorite place on the farm called ‘Blue Knob’.
• At the North Star family farm, Sam is a 3rd generation farmer with now the 5th generation on the ground.
• Since 1924 the farm had been set up for sheep until the early 50s, when Sam’s grandfather switched the focus to crop farming.
• In 1973 they bought an irrigation farm at Goondiwindi, which is where the story of Cotton begins after a flood wiped out all their crops.
• The story of the their first 212 bales, which made 1000 t-shirts per bale, for brands like Piping Hot.
• The Circular Economy Project whereby old garments are collected, shredded, and spread across his fields to battle the issue of 800-thousand tonnes of textile waste in Australia each year.
• The reason Sam started shredding cotton garments to go back into the soil and the impacts of this pilot.
• If successful, this could change the industry globally as we re-use these natural materials.
• Sam shares what it looks like to have shredded fabric all over the fields at 40cm thick.
• The advantages of the program to cattle farming through the Circular Economy Project.

Sam accommodates tours on his farm and says, ‘The solution for textile waste is education.’ We hope to see you back on the road soon, to learn more about how Australia grows on the next episode of Australian Farmers with Angie Asimus. Links: Angie Asimus Connect with @angieasimus on Instagram Partnered with Australian Farmers Follow @australianfarmers on Instagram Goondiwindi Cotton Follow @goondiwindicotton on Instagram Produced by Pretty Podcasts