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What is 'Organic'?
Organic refers to the way agricultural products - food and fiber - are grown and processed. Organic clothes are made from fibers grown in soil that is free of pesticides or other toxic chemicals for at least three years. Organic farmers work with nature, using the tools that nature provides, rather than trying to dominate nature with man-made pesticides and fertilizers. The organic process uses crop rotation, beneficial insects, compost and other safe farming methods that preserve top soil, protect forests and streams and save energy. The absence of chemicals and toxins is continued through the entire production process of organic clothing.
Of all organic fibers, organic cotton is one of the most popular. Cotton is a very fragile crop and is suseptible to damage by pests. Farmers in the United States, Egypt, India and other countries are courageously developing alternative sources of the world's favorite natural fiber. These farmers grow organic cotton using methods and material that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Third-party certification organizations verify that organic producers use only method and materials allowed in organic production. The guiding worldwide principles for organic agriculture are defined by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM). Eating food and wearing clothes grown without unnecessary chemical is both good for you and the environment!
What is 'Conventional' Cotton?
In comparison, fibers used from conventional commercially farmed cotton have a long chain of chemically intensive, unnatural processes. Non-organic cotton is THE most heavily pesticide-intensive crop grown in the United States. To bring this delicate plant to harvest, it is heavily sprayed - 8 to 10 times a season in extreme cases - with pesticides so poisonous they gradually render fields barren. In 2000, farmers in the US cotton growing states applied over 2.03 BILLION POUNDS of synthetic fertilizers and 84 MILLION POUNDS of pesticides to their crops!
Today's pesticides are very effective, however, to be as effective as they are they are extraordinarily strong and long lived. They pollute the ground for years, draining it of natural nutrients, forcing the use of more and more dangerous fertilizers and eventually making it unsuitable for farming use. The pesticides eventually leech into and pollute the groundwater, making its way to our faucets and causing everyone a myriad of health problems.
* It takes roughly one-third of a pound of chemicals to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt.
Most conventional cotton is then subject to a bleaching process which is even WORSE then the pesticides! Then to create finished good, fabrics are often colored with toxic dyes and finished with formaldehyde. Cotton grown in the conventional way is compromised and weakened by the chemicals used in growing, processing and dying of the cotton. All these things break the fiber down and create a weaker, inferior cotton garment.
What About Other Fabrics?
ALL synthetic fabrics (nylon, polyester, etc.) are manufactured from petroleum derivatives. While finished goods made with these products ar generally cheap, due to artifically maintained low petroleum prices, the actual cost to the environment of acquiring, transporting, refining and manufacturing these materials is seldom taken into account by consumers. The amount of water and energy resources alone, if known, would turn off many buyers. Factor in the pollution these processes cause and most buyers would truly be shocked.
