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| GOTS ORGANIC COTTON BABY LEGGINGS |
I could talk like the fabric nerd I am about the reasons why folks should be aware of the fibers in their clothing for hours and hours, but I'll try my best to keep it brief and not to put everyone to sleep. I'll also just stick to cotton... for now. Organic cotton does not get a lot of attention because we are so focused on the expense of keeping pesticides out of our food. I know what you're thinking... "I already spend a lot trying to eat organic, now I have to dress organic too??? SNOB!" Well just hear me out.
First of all, we use more pesticide in cotton crops than any other crop. We really pack it on there. As everyone knows these days, we live in an ecosystem not a vacuum, so non-organic cotton is one of the greatest threats to our environment to date.
Secondly, non-organic cotton farming is inhumane and ethically reckless. We grow the majority of our cotton in India where the regulations are more lax and we can disregard the value of other human beings more easily. We use the most poisonous and dangerous pesticides recklessly there to defend our cotton crops and maximize profit. We might see labels on products like our shampoo or our makeup that claim to be more humane because no animals were harmed during its production, but I find a lot of irony in that since most of our clothing was made from the get-go by abusing not just animals, but other human beings. Where is the "no Indian children were poisoned or enslaved for the attainment of your garment," label? There's no such thing really. The farmers and their families that grow our non-organic cotton get very sick from all the pesticides, and they earn very little. Then once the toxic cotton is done growing, we utilize dangerous textile factories (also in India or China, I mean why pay taxes or employees over here....), that underpay, overwork, and continue to poison and endanger people who desperately need the work. It's just one big disappointing, heart-wrenching, nasty industry.
Thirdly, and this might surprise you, we do eat cotton. Cotton oil is in a ton of our foods! We should support the organic cotton industry because a lot of that toxic cotton does trickle down into what we eat.
So you're convinced now by my amazing powers of persuasion that non-organic cotton is the worst and you want to know what alternatives are out there? Well I'm glad you asked. GOTS certified organic cotton is the most ethical choice one can make while shopping for new clothing or other textiles. It is grown organically, milled using the least harmful dyes and chemicals, and then the cherry on top is that it sets a high standard for ethical trade, utilizing fair trade prices and regulations.
The other option and one of my favorites, is to just shop used. I'm no millionaire, I know shopping organic gets expensive, but you don't have to buy all of your clothes new. Using our clothing longer certainly cuts down on the amount of resources we need to harvest from the earth, so buying used is a great idea too. I love to find clothes that have a wonderful print but a nightmare of a cut, and sew them into something fresh and new.
At the end of the day, I choose to use 100% GOTS organic cotton or upcycled materials in my children's line because I want to sleep well at night. I just really need to know that I am making ethical decisions in my professional and personal life! Profiting at the expense of others is just a very bitter pill for me to choke down, so I choose not to, even if it does mean spending a little more on my materials, and profiting a little less. The more we support organic cotton, the happier the planet will be all around, so to me, it's worth it!
Love,
Annie
