The cotton industry is one of the most chemically farmed crops in the world. Fabrics that we know as “pure” cotton are saturated with more chemicals than any other crop farmed today. The Environmental Protection Agency published a study in the year 2000 that showed 7 out of 15 pesticides spread over the cotton crops were “likely”, “probable”, or “known causes of human carcinogens. During the harvesting of the cotton, herbicides are used to defoliate cotton plants to make picking easier. All chemicals used pollute the ground, water and rivers. According to the EPA approximately 35% of cotton harvested is turned into cloth, the other 65% of the seed is either crushed and turned into oil or reabsorbed in the soil or fed to our livestock.
Fabrics that are titled “natural” are fabrics found in nature, i.e. wool, cotton, or hemp. This doesn’t mean chemical free. Organic cotton requires a rigorous certification process that doesn’t allow harmful chemicals to be used to harvest or manufacture any of the plant. Organic cotton is often hand picked, especially in developing countries, without the use of defoliants, machinery, or chemicals. Hand picking also means less waste. Manufacturing organic cotton fiber into fabric consists of several major processes. Cleaning, spinning, knitting or weaving, dyeing, cutting, assembly, and then cleaning again. During this process manufactures are not allowed to use or add petroleum scours, silicon waxes, formaldehyde, anti-wrinkling agents, chlorine bleaches, and any other unauthentic materials. There are natural alternatives, organic spinning oils that are biodegradable, potato starch is used for sizing, hydrogen peroxide is used for bleaching, and organic color and low impact dyes are used for coloration. Natural vegetable and mineral inks and binders are used for printing on organic cotton fibers. (Organic Consumers.org/facts on Cotton clothing production; July 2007).
