What is Organic ? Why Go Organic ?

What is Organic ?

Organic and eco textiles cover a wide range of natural and recycled fibers. Certified Organic textiles are grown in controlled settings with no pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers and are certified by an international governing body such as Control Union, IMO (Institute for Marketecology) or One-Cert.

The term “eco textiles” refers to a select group of textiles that have a reduced carbon, energy and pollution impact when compared to the standard methods used to produce textiles and manufacture clothing.

Generally, eco friendly fabrics are produced from crops that do not require pesticides or chemicals to be grown, use less water and energy to be produced and processed and create less waste during production, processing and at the end of their useful lives (known collectively as their “environmental footprint”). Sustainable textiles can also refer to man made fabrics produced from renewable sources such as bamboo or wood.

There are myriad eco friendly fabrics whose benefits go beyond their positive social and environmental footprint. In many cases the fabrics we will discuss are softer, more durable, hypo-allergenic, stronger, UV resistant and more moisture absorbent than conventional cotton.

So, we can summarize the general terms of Eco friendly Textile as:

• Fabric are produced from crops that do not require pesticides or chemical to be grown / use less water / less energy .
• It creates less waste during production and their processing and at the end of their useful lives / or leaves less or non environmental footprints.
• Fabric produced from renewable resources or recycled items.

Why Go Eco?

Here are some quick facts behind our conventional fiber :

• Growing enough cotton for one t-shirt requires 257 gallons of water or 10.000 to 17.000 liter of water to produce 1 kg of cotton / and 1/3 of a point of chemicals / 7 of 15 chemical used in growing cotton are classified as carcinogens by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Use of rayon for clothing contribute to the rapid depletion of the world’s forest
• The raw material used to produce polyester is oil ( the non renewable resources) so polyester is not sustainable
• Polyester is not biodegradable – therefore it will end up in land fill and stay there for a long time

There are many types of organic and eco-friendly fabric. These are some popular ones but not limited to : Bamboo fabric , Hemp fabric , Organic Cotton , TENCEL®  fabric , Soy Fabric .

Each with their own exceptional properties , some may have limitations but together we continue to use , improve , and innovate bearing in mind that the world needs our saving.