Cotton

White Gold: The government of the Republic of Uzbekistan has a different view of the necessity of growing cotton in a parched land—along with the amount of water (and pesticides) needed for its cultivation—compared to the teenagers that are forced to harvest cotton to graduate, or the teachers and doctors that are forced to harvest cotton to avoid losing their jobs.

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• Uzbekistan using child slaves
• doctors and teachers forced to harvest cotton in Uzbekistan
• forced labour video
• the true costs of cotton
• the environmental costs of cotton
• what is so bad about cotton?
• organic cotton saves lives

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Once the 4th largest fresh water lake in the world, the Aral Sea has shrunk to a shadow of its former self, sections of which have become a desert. This is partly because water that naturally flows into the Aral Sea has been diverted for decades to grow cotton in an already parched land.

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• the Aral Sea   shrinking of
• the Aral Sea disappearance of
• the Aral Sea   crisis
• the Aral Sea   ecological disaster
• the Aral Sea   recovery of
• the Aral Sea   restoring life to
• the Aral Sea   impact to life in the region  

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Dramatic satellite images show how much the Aral Sea has changed in just 20 years.

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