I have to admit that way back when I first heard about organic clothing, I thought it was a bunch of hype. I mean, food is one thing. But, unless you're a goat, I doubt you'll be ingesting that cotton t-shirt.
When I heard the supplier for my t-shirt shop was going to be offering a wider array of organic apparel, I thought I'd better figure out what the deal was.
Here's the bottom line: Pesticides are icky. And do you know what gets a TON of pesticide dumped on it? Cotton. Cotton farmed using conventional (non-organic) methods uses more pesticide per square foot than any other crop. (Yikes!!)
Producing one t-shirt typically uses 1/3 lb. of agricultural chemicals. So purchasing an organic tee keeps 1/3 lb. of chemicals out of our air and water supply. Which is nice.
Honestly, I've kind of changed my mind on the subject. I'm going to make more of an effort to buy organic clothing when I can. I know that won't be true of everyone, so I'll continue to carry non-organic tees, etc. in my shop, but I'm excited to be able to offer more quality organic options - including women's tees.
You can see a full list of my new offerings and find out about the introductory discount I'm offering on my Bold Avenue blog.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What's the deal with organic apparel?
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Has there been research re the amount of toxins are skin absorbs from wearing regular cotton?
ReplyDeleteThe organic food movement makes sense to me because we consume the food, but I've wondered if organic clothing is over-rated because we don't actually absorb the toxins...
Bethany: I wondered the same thing, and I'm not sure if there has been research on that or not.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading up on it more, I think the main concern is not so much the toxicity of the garment to the individual, but rather the amount of pesticide used on the cotton crops. It's not so much the pesticide residues (if there are any) in the shirt are harmful, as much as the pesticide that gets into the ground, water, air, etc. That's what, I believe, really isn't healthy for us in the long run (not to mention for the field workers, etc.!), so any little steps we can make to help lessen the amount of chemical ickyness we're spreading is probably a good thing.
If you're interested in reading up more, I've got a bunch of links on my "Why wear organic clothing?" page - look under "Organic Resources" and "Cotton Resources." I'm planning to add another article and more information there soon, as well.