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What
does this mean to You? If you love wearing your favorite T-shirt and pair of
jeans, as we do, you have to live with the fact that it took a lot of
chemicals, many of them carcinogenic (cancer creating) to create it. To
"solve" the problem, a recent wave of Genetically Modified cotton has
became widespread, covering 43 percent of the world's cotton. Bear with us, it
sounds technical but it's worth to get it - GMO cotton is modified to tolerate
the application of glyphosate (an active ingredient in commercial herbicides),
so it can be applied freely without destroying the plant.
That
glyphosate causes a range of cell mutations, damage to cell DNA and cancer. The
residues of glyphosate have been found in a variety of fruits and vegetables
and since it is inside the plant tissues, it CAN NOT be washed off.
"Extremely persistent under typical application conditions" says
report from The US Environmental Protection Agency. An additional concern
related to using glyphosate on cotton is that the herbicide has been shown to
move from cotton fabric into and through human skin.
You
know the answer. The solution is NOT a better pesticide, but crops without
poisons and chemicals. Organic cotton production maintains and regenerates soil
fertility without chemicals, toxins, pesticides, fertilizers, GM seeds or
sprays. That is not enough, though. Processing of fibers into organic cotton clothing has to be a systems
that breaks down the fibers without harsh chemicals, like formaldehyde and
similar. A 1993 EPA study estimated that 'one to two million' birds are killed
annually by just one insecticide used on cotton! Genetically modified cotton
now accounts for 75% of cotton grown conventionally and cottonseed oil is used
in many processed and snack foods, as well as cottonseed is used in cattle
feed.
Finally, in California it became illegal to feed cotton to cattle. Instead, it is set aside to make hygiene and clothing products for us and our babies... Let's wake up! Organic practices have a lower carbon footprint, as the entire
process consumes less fuel and energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases. But also does not leave dead fish, birds or people.
Organic Cotton Clothing- the staple of organic clothes
Eco-friendly processing used in manufacturing of organic clothing does not compromise workers' health and helps
reduce water and electric use and toxic runoff, e.g. non-chlorine bleach,
silicon-free softeners and low impact, azo-free dyes.
Fashion: Organic cotton clothing is irreplaceable in fashion industry and from now on will be. Katharine Hamnett, Gary Harvey, Hannah Martin and Kaviar Gauche and a long list of names who promotes this organic fiber. It is a very strong trend supported by arts and fashion schools, studios but most importantly organic clothing is strongly demanded by eco-conscious consumers.
