Organic clothing
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Organic clothing is clothing made from materials raised or grown in compliance with organic agricultural standards.[citation needed] Organic clothing may be composed of cotton, jute, silk, ramie, or wool.[1][unreliable source?] Retailers charge more for organic clothing because the source of the clothing's fibre are free from herbicides, pesticides, or genetically modified seeds.[2][unreliable source?]
Benefits [edit]
Authentic organic fabrics and clothing can help the environment in a number of ways, such as:[3]
- Use of pesticides and herbicides are not required[4][unreliable source?]
- Pesticide or herbicide residues are not entered accidentally into the environment
- Humans and animals are not exposed to pesticides or herbicides
- When the fabric is discarded, pesticides and herbicides are not returned to the earth in landfill, or enter into recycling process.
Cotton covers 2.5% of the world's cultivated land yet uses 16% of the world's insecticides, more than any other single major crop. [5][unreliable source?] It can take almost a 1/3 pound of synthetic fertilizers to grow one pound of raw cotton in the US, and it takes just under one pound of raw cotton to make one t-shirt.[6]
Criticism [edit]
Many high street retailers[examples needed] market organic clothing ranges that contain chemicals from the dyeing to bleaching process,[citation needed] which is inconsistent with the idea of organic clothing. Many companies sell clothing made from bamboo, which is commonly labeled as "organic", however this is a false statement.[citation needed] Bamboo fabric is typically chemically manufactured by “cooking” the bamboo leaves and woody shoots in strong chemical solvents such as sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide, in a process also known as hydrolysis alkalization combined with multi-phase bleaching. Both sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide have been linked to serious health problems.[citation needed] This finished material is similar to rayon and modal, which are more accurate terms of describing bamboo fabrics.[7][unreliable source?] Criticism also concerns the high cost of the products.[8][unreliable source?]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Begley, Ed (2008). Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life. Clarkson Potter. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-307-39643-3.
- ^ Plunkett, Jack W. Plunkett's apparel and textiles industry almanac. Plunkett Research Ltd. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-59392-110-1.
- ^ Martínez-Torres, Maria Elena (2006). Organic coffee: sustainable development by Mayan farmers. Ohio University Press. pp. 119–120. ISBN 978-0-89680-247-6.
- ^ http://www.o2wear.com/Organic-Clothing_a/263.htm
- ^ EJF. (2007). The deadly chemicals in cotton. Environmental Justice Foundation in collaboration with Pesticide Action Network UK: London, UK. ISBN No. 1-904523-10-2.
- ^ Lauresn, S. E., Hansen, J., Knudsen, H. H., Wenzel, H., Larsen, H. F., & Kristensen, F. M. (2007). EDIPTEX: Environmental assessment of textiles. Danish Environmental Protection Agency, working report 24.
- ^ "Bamboo: Facts behind the Fiber".
- ^ Schor, Juliet (2003). Sustainable planet: solutions for the twenty-first century. Beacon Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-8070-0455-5.
