Hurray for Organic Cotton: Buying Guide
(Read about the problems with conventional cotton here.)
Organic cotton is grown from seeds that have been untreated with pesticides or insecticides. And, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic cotton cannot be genetically modified, which means that herbicide-tolerant cotton or megacorp-patented cotton plants that exude their own pesticides are a big no no.
One downside: Because farming without toxic chemicals is by nature more labor intensive and lower in yield, and the organic certification process both demanding and costly, the price of organic cotton fiber and textiles comes at a premium, at least before increasing demand for organic cotton reaches critical mass. At the risk of sounding completely hokey, however, the higher price of organic cotton cannot compare to the much higher environmental and social cost of conventional cotton farming, which is responsible for wanton habitat destruction, contamination of surface and ground water, wildlife loss, and at least 355,000 human deaths from accidental poisoning per year.
A directory of organic cotton textile and fiber companies (which will be continually updated) continues after the fold.
Blank shirts
- American Apparel Sustainable Edition
- Article 1
- ECOnscious
- HaeNow
- Happy Home/Spiritex
- Maggie’s Clean Clothes
- Organic Apparel
- SOS from Texas
Batting manufacturers
- Hobbs Bonded Fibers Heirloom Organic
- Organic Cotton Plus
- Natural America (Organic Cotton/Wool Scraps)
Textile manufacturers
- Aurora Silk
- Fox-Rich Organics
- Harmony Art
- Homespun Fabrics
- Mod Green Pod
- Natural Origins
- NearSea Naturals
- Organic Cotton Plus
- ParkoTex
- Peru Naturex
- Pickering International
- PM Organics
- Sew-Ecological
- Silk Road Fabrics
kevin said,
May 27, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Excellent list. Thanks for compiling it.
jaime said,
August 6, 2007 at 11:51 pm
great post. *bookmarked*