Organic vs Non-organic Type of Clothes

In recent times, materials labeled 'organic' have become people's choice as one of their efforts to obtain a healthy lifestyle in addition to an attempt made to save the earth from the effects of global warming. Not only in food, in textile, raw materials from organic fiber is now become one attractiveness for many people. Organic clothing is material woven from natural fibers, grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other harmful chemicals. The benefits of organic clothing are similar with benefits gained from organic food consumption.

 Currently, the organic fiber market is growing rapidly. As raw materials of organic clothing, the type of fiber or organic fabric is very diverse. Some are made from organic cotton, organic wool, even organic flax. Consumers can choose clothing made from organic fibers as their needs. Of the three types of fiber, cotton remains the most popular choice. According to a report released by the American Progress website, major companies such as Levi Strauss, Wal-Mart, American Apparel, and Nike have now offered cotton to their consumers. That's why the big brand companies are now become the largest organic fiber consumers in the world.

The use of organic clothing or materials from organic cotton is increasingly in demand by the consumers. This is probably because the organic labeled materials are free of pesticides and chemicals. So, it is natural that this becomes a healthy choice, not only for convection entrepreneurs but also for the agricultural world. Why is that? Based on Greenpeace research related to the comparison between organic cotton and conventional cotton on Indian farming, it is known that farmers who grow organic cotton are able to reap a profit up to 200% when compared to farmers who grow non-organic cotton. This doubled profit due to lack of production costs because they do not use chemicals.

In addition to reap huge profits, other benefits that can be obtained from the use of organic cotton, among others, organic cotton is more environmentally friendly because it does not use pesticides. The use of pesticides will inevitably pollute the air and surface water produced at the time of washing. In addition, the remaining chemicals attached to non-organic cotton can cause irritation to the consumer’s skin, especially if the consumer has sensitive skin. The color produced from organic cotton was sharper. In addition, when we use organic clothing, it can indirectly reduce the impact of climate change. When chemicals and pesticides are not used, the result of greenhouse gases is reduced by 94% from conventional farming. Furthermore, the soil becomes healthier and CO² absorption from the atmosphere becomes maximal.

As quoted from www.sayitgreen.com, an organization providing organic goods has researched and found that the amount of carbon footprint on organic clothing made of organic cotton was 16% lower than the traces left on clothing made from conventional cotton materials. Organic cotton grown without pesticides is known to reduce the carbon footprint on organic cotton clothing, unlike conventional or non-organic cotton farms that always use pesticides in each process.

"Toxic pesticides that are often used in the conventional cotton farming process contaminate the soil, water, air, and even contaminate our food and clothing. Further, the production and distribution of these pesticides will increase the level of greenhouse gases emitted into the Earth's atmosphere", such the statement of Dominguez-Hultgren, Co-founder and Operational Manager of Say it Green!

Eliminating the use of pesticides in the cotton cultivation is a must. Cotton pesticides are produced by large chemical companies and distributed to cotton farmers around the world. It should be noted that cotton plants require a much higher pesticide level than the average crop. Although it only accounts for about 5% of the area in America, cotton contributes 10% of all US agricultural pesticides. In addition, worldwide cotton production accounts for 25% of all insecticides worldwide (insecticides are a type of pesticides). Organic cotton does not require the use of these toxic pesticides.

However, how poisonous is this pesticide? According to an EPA study in 2001, the EPA considers seven of the fifteen cotton pesticides used in the US as the main chemical cause of cancer. The study was conducted by Andy Hultgren, co-founder of Say it Green!. Andy has conducted numerous research on carbon footprints for various businesses and government organizations, and he is included in the panel of technical experts for The Climate Registry, provider of North American carbon footprint and data reporting standards.

According to Hultgren, "Non-organic cotton actually has a number of complex problems with everything associated with it, for example, the fertilizer used by conventional cotton farmers usually flows into our water, contaminates it and contributes to the growth of massive algae that kill aquatic plants and other animal species". According to records held by the California Department of Pesticides, in 1999 a work crew started working on a cotton field that five hours earlier had been treated with pesticides, and seven members of the crew called for medical treatment and five continued to face health problems.

Based on the World Health Organization, 20,000 people die from cancer and miscarriage every year in developing countries as a result of pesticide chemicals sprayed on conventional cotton. In addition, WHO added that workers on farms around the world often suffer serious health problems associated with exposure to harmful pesticides, including cancer, asthma and neurological damage. What is surprising from the WHO data is that it takes about a third of a pound of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) to grow cotton with a number that can become one T-shirt only. More astounding that most products made from "100% cotton" actually contain only 73% cotton. The remaining 27% consists of resin, chemical, and binder materials commonly used in various agriculture and manufacture.

However, for organic clothing or clothing made from organic is not without obstacles in its development. For the price problem, when compared with ordinary cotton clothes, organic cotton clothing is still much more expensive and hard to come by. Because of the environmental awareness, which led many producers of plain t-shirt products and t-shirt convection to prefer using materials from this organic cotton. So if you find a product with 100% organic cotton label, do not hesitate to buy it because the product is environmentally friendly. In addition, if you buy these organic cotton products, it means you have come to support the earth rescue effort from global warming and surely you will avoid skin irritation related to the toxic effects resulted by non-organic clothing fiber fabrics.