U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol

We are pleased to welcome Gerson Fajardo to the US Cotton Trust Protocol team as Supply Chain Director. He will oversee and guide the work of the Supply Chain team, leading initiatives and functions related to the improvement of tools, data, and traceability platforms to provide transparency and enhanced functionality to Trust Protocol’s supply chain members. Gerson is an accomplished and innovative leader with a successful track record spanning over three decades across diverse industries including retail, apparel, textiles, food, paper, rubber, and home goods. Most recently holding leadership positions at Walmart, he specializes in sustainability, quality assurance, ethics and compliance, raw materials sourcing, supply chain, and manufacturing. Gerson is a textiles and apparel expert who has a passion for sustainability and extensive experience implementing environmental, social, and transparency programs in a global scale. #TrustUSCotton #TrustProtocolTeam #SupplyChainTransparency

Trust Protocol growers surpassed the 2025 National Goal for energy reduction in the 2023/2024 crop year, demonstrating 27% less energy use when compared to 2015, emphasizing the importance of analyzing energy use throughout the supply chain. Read more in our annual report at the link below. report.trustuscotton.org #TrustUSCotton #SustainableAgriculture #AnnualReport

Daren Abney, Executive Director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol will be speaking today about the Trust Protocol at TRIPPIN’BLUE. Please tune in to hear more about the program. #TrustUSCotton #Responsible Sourcing #SustainableFashion

With a 21% decrease in GHG emissions per pound of fiber compared to 2015, Trust Protocol growers made consistent progress in the 2023/2024 crop year. Data transparency is also being used to identify key areas for further improvement, like nitrogen management. Read more in our annual report at the link below. report.trustuscotton.org #TrustUSCotton #SustainableAgriculture #AnnualReport

We welcome the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol as a new member to the Make the Label Count coalition. Launched in 2020, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is the voluntary sustainability program for U.S. cotton growers and traceability platform for all U.S. Cotton. The Trust Protocol is the only system that provides quantifiable, verifiable, and measurable sustainability goals that drive continuous improvement to the key sustainability metrics of U.S. Cotton production and the only cotton fibre program to offer article level traceability. Daren Abney, Executive Director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol says: “Becoming a member of the Make the Label Count coalition is a demonstration of our commitment to continuous improvement and integration with other industry initiatives. We look forward to closer collaboration towards the achievement of credible and objective sustainability claims, highlighting the benefits that natural fibres can bring to consumers, brands and retailers.” https://lnkd.in/gEsBtwE

In the 2023-2024 crop year, Protocol growers achieved a 14% increase in water use efficiency compared to the 2015 baseline, with the vast majority employing rainfall conservation practices and nearly half utilizing advanced irrigation technology like moisture probes and variable rate irrigation to optimize water use. Read more in our annual report at the link below. report.trustuscotton.org #TrustUSCotton #SustainableAgriculture #AnnualReport

With the release of the 2023/24 Annual Report, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol’s executive team is shifting focus to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in 2025. Learn more in this month’s Team Spotlight. #TrustUSCotton #SustainabilityReporting

The Trust Protocol recently announced a revised membership fee structure for brand and retailer members, going into effect January 1, 2025. Visit our website to learn more. https://lnkd.in/da68RzzY #TrustUSCotton #EthicalFashion #SustainableApparel

The Trust Protocol recently joined the conversation at Textile Exchange's 2024 conference in Pasadena, California, where "The Case for Change" underscored the need for collaborative investment in raw material sustainability. Discussions spanned tools for action, solution economics, and resilient sourcing, uniting growers, brands, NGOs, and others. Beyond the environmental case, the conference highlighted the business and social benefits of sustainability, from resilient supply chains to meeting consumer demand. Our Executive Director, Daren Abney, joined a panel exploring financial mechanisms for supporting material producers. He shared how the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is exploring innovative funding models —a key focus being our work with the USDA-funded Climate Smart Cotton Program, which offers financial and technical support to help cotton growers de-risk the adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices. Thank you to everyone we met and connected with during the 3-day conference, and a special thanks to Textile Exchange for inviting us to participate in this impactful event. #Sustainability #TrustUSCotton #TextileExchangeConference2024 #climatesmart

“As a vertically integrated apparel manufacturer, we've proudly sourced U.S. Cotton for 30 years, upholding ethical and sustainable practices throughout our supply chain. The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has enabled us to deepen this commitment by providing reliable, transparent data on the environmental and social impact of cotton production.” - Saima Chowdhury, Founder and CEO of Noi Solutions and board member of the Trust Protocol. Read more about our expanded board of directors in our recently released annual report. report.trustuscotton.org #TrustUSCotton #TrustProtocolBoard #AnnualReport