Why Organic Cotton?

There are many benefits to buying organic cotton over conventionally grown cotton. Your baby’s skin is more sensitive than your own. Organic cotton is grown without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers so it eliminates any potential irritants that may affect your baby. It is also known to be softer than conventionally grown cotton so it feels good too! The use of harsh chemicals on cotton tends to break down the fibers so you can expect your organic cotton clothing to last longer. The dyeing process that is used on conventional cotton clothing can contain heavy metals that are known to cause health problems. Eco-friendly dyeing processes insure that your cotton stays free of these contaminants.

 

Conventional cotton farming is known as the world’s dirtiest crop. It takes about a 1/3 of a lb of pesticides to make just

one t-shirt!1 When buying organic cotton we are helping our farmers. On conventional cotton farms the farmers are exposed to harmful chemicals on a daily basis. These chemicals are detrimental to the environment as well as the workers who have to use them. Seven of the top fifteen pesticides used are either "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human carcinogens.2 Cotton cultivation has been estimated to consume 11% of the world’s pesticides while it is grown on only 2.4% of the world’s arable land.3 The farmers suffer with multiple serious health conditions as a result of it. Organic farms are safer for the farmers and that feels good to know that we had a part in supporting it.

 

Organic farms also consume less of our earth’s resources. It’s a well known fact that cotton farming uses a vast amount of water. Of course, organic cotton farms use water too, but it is possible to sustain an organic cotton farm on rainfall instead of relying on irrigation. In developing countries most organic cotton is rain-fed.2 There is also less water runoff from the fields and the runoff that does exist is contaminant free. The runoff from conventional cotton farming is known to pollute our waterways and contribute to aquatic dead zones such as in the Gulf of Mexico.1

 

Organic farming uses techniques and materials that conserve and build the soil resource, pollute little, and encourage development of a healthy diverse agroecosystem, which supports natural pest management.4
There are stringent requirements with organic certification that requires the farms to build the health of the soil it’s grown in.5

 

In the end, it’s all about doing what we can for our children and for our planet. Supporting organic farming benefits you, your children, the workers who provide the products to you and the earth’s resources that we use. That’s something we can all feel good about.

 

1 Organic Exchange - http://organicexchange.org/oecms/Making-Informed-Choices.html
2 Organic Trade Association, Cotton and the Environment - http://www.ota.com/organic/environment/cotton_environment.html
3 Kooistra, Karst and Termorshuizen, Aad, The Sustainability of Cotton. Science Shop Wageningen UR, April 2006
4 National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service - http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/organcert.html
5 Organic Trade Association, Soil Health - http://www.ota.com/organic/benefits/soil.html