By Anna Lynn Sibal

In the past, organic cotton is not a term that you will find associated with high fashion. It is not just because fashion designers prefer more luxurious fabrics such as silk or satin, but it is more like the public is not yet aware of the benefits of organic cotton and, as such, there is no demand for it. These days, however, more and more fashion designers and clothing labels are turning to organic cotton for their creations simply because more people are now aware of the benefits of using organic cotton.

Organic cotton, just like most organic products, is clearly the better option to conventionally grown cotton. When you wear clothes made with organic cotton, you ensure your own health and safety. But more than that, you also promote the health and safety of cotton farmers, not to mention help save the environment. Thus, wearing organic cotton allows you to be fashionable and at the same time more responsible towards the environment.

Personal Benefits You Can Get Out of Organic Cotton

A lot of us like to wear cotton garments because they feel fresh and cool. They let our skin breathe more easily and they are also better at resisting stains and wrinkles. But did you know that when you wear garments made from conventionally grown cotton, you are exposing yourself to harmful chemicals?

Conventionally grown cotton plants are fed and sprinkled with synthetic chemicals throughout their life cycle. Synthetic fertilizers are used to enhance their growth. Commercial insecticides, herbicides and fungicides are applied to them regularly to discourage pests and weeds from damaging them. Harvesting and processing conventional cotton involves even more synthetic chemicals.

The problem with using synthetic chemicals in growing cotton the conventional way is that nearly half of these chemicals are proven to be harmful to the body. At the very least, they can cause skin allergies. At the very worse, they are carcinogenic and lead to the growth of cancerous cells in the body.

Organic cotton, on the other hand, is not exposed to synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. They are planted on clean soil, nourished with organic fertilizer, cared for using natural practices for controlling pests, and harvested using seasonal freezing and defoliation.

Helping to Clean the Environment with Organic Cotton

Of all the plants that farmers cultivate all over the world, cotton only covers 2.5% of the world’s farmlands. And yet, conventional cotton farming uses up 25% of synthetic pesticides and insecticides manufactured annually. Not only do these synthetic chemicals touch our skin and find their way into our bodies, but they also find their way into our sources of water and in the air, to be consumed by animals and absorbed by plant-life in the wild.

It is certainly not comforting to know that the water we drink or use from the tap has a little bit of pesticide in it. It is definitely not nice to know that the meat we had for lunch or dinner came from livestock that survived on feed and water that were exposed to pesticides. Unfortunately, this is a reality that we support when we buy garments made from conventionally grown cotton.

It is even worse for workers in conventional cotton farms. Even if they wear protective gear when they work, they are still exposed to high levels of these synthetic chemicals. Their risk for developing serious ailments due to this exposure is quite high.

On the other hand, organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or insecticides. Workers in organic cotton farms are not exposed to these harmful chemicals and the processes used in growing organic cotton do not harm the environment nor disrupt the environment’s natural balance.

Clearly, wearing clothes made from organic cotton is the right choice. Thankfully, more and more fashion designers and clothing labels are using organic cotton for their products. You can be fashionable without endangering your health and the environment when you wear clothes made from organic cotton.

Also see: Organic clothing is healthy clothing

 By Anna Lynn Sibal

Why Should You Buy Organic Clothing?

When you shop for clothes, what criteria do you use in choosing which clothes to buy? For many of us, as long as a piece of clothing fits, is flattering to the figure, and is at a price that we can afford, it is good enough. We walk out of a clothing store with a big smile on our faces when we make that kind of purchase.

But more often than not, we need to go the extra mile in picking out the clothes that we buy. That is because our choice of clothing can greatly impact the world we live in and affect our health in a way that we did not anticipate. The safest route we can take when it comes to buying clothes is by purchasing organic clothing.

Organic Clothing and Natural Clothing

Organic clothing is clothing that was created from fabrics that were processed organically, without the use of synthetic chemicals. The plants used in making the fibers for the fabric are grown and harvested without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Manufacturing the fabric from the plant material involves methods that are safe and sustainable for the environment, as well as observes fair trade practices. The fabric is not treated with dyes containing heavy metals or other chemicals that were meant to enhance its performance.

Organic clothing is undeniably safe. It allows the skin to breathe more freely. Moreover, it does not have toxins or other harmful substances that you will normally find in conventionally made clothing. The skin can absorb these substances through the pores, and this can lead to the development of various allergies and ailments, including cancer.

We should also be aware that organic clothing is different from natural clothing. Natural clothing may be made from the same materials that organic clothing are made of – such as cotton, hemp, linen, silk, soybean or bamboo – but we are not sure if these natural fibers were not exposed to synthetic chemicals when they were being processed into clothing.

The Benefits of Wearing Organic Clothing

As mentioned above, we cannot deny the fact that organic clothing is safe to wear. It is clean fabric, free from toxins and other harmful substances. Even if the fabric is dyed, you can be sure that these dyes are also made from organic materials. This is important because our skin can absorb whatever chemicals were used in treating the fabrics that we wear. These chemicals eventually make their way into our blood stream and may poison us from within.

But we do not just safeguard our health when we wear organic clothing. We also help prevent workers in farms that produce crops that eventually end up as fabric from getting exposed to the same chemicals that we are guarding ourselves against.

There is an even bigger purpose that we are joining in when we buy organic clothing, and that purpose is saving the environment. The synthetic chemicals used in cultivating plants for fabric find their way into our sources of water and in the air that we breathe. They are consumed by the livestock that we end up eating for dinner. They get mixed up in the water that we drink. They kill beneficial insects and organisms and they poison the environment.

It makes better sense for us to buy organic clothing. With organic clothing, we protect ourselves from disease. We also say no to the widespread usage of synthetic chemicals in farms and give our environment a stronger fighting chance at survival.