 Learn About Organic Cotton: A Buyer's Guide
1) What
is Organic Cotton?
2) What does "Certified Organic"
mean?
3) How will purchasing organic products help
keep our water clean?
4) How else does organic protect our environment?
5) What is Color-Grown Cotton?
1)
What is Organic Cotton?
Organic
agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes
biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It
is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices
that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. The primary
goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity
of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and
people.
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2)
What does "Certified Organic" mean?
"Certified
Organic" means the item has been grown according to strict
uniform standards that are verified by independent state or private
organizations. Certification includes inspections of farm fields
and processing facilities, detailed record keeping, and periodic
testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are
meeting the standards which have been set.
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3)
How will purchasing organic products help keep our water clean?
Conventional
agricultural methods can cause water contamination. Beginning in
May 1995, a network of environmental organizations, including the
Environmental Working Group, began testing tap water for herbicides
in cities across the United States' Corn Belt, and in Louisiana
and Maryland. The results revealed widespread contamination of tap
water with many different pesticides at levels that present serious
health risks. In some cities, herbicides in tap water exceed federal
lifetime health standards for weeks or months at a time. The organic
farmer's elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching,
in combination with soil building, works to prevent contamination,
and protects and conserves water resources.
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4)
How else does organic protect our environment?
Organic agriculture
protects the health of people and the planet by reducing the overall
exposure to toxic chemicals from synthetic pesticides than can end
up in the ground, air, water and food supply, and that are associated
with health consequences, from asthma to cancer. Because organic
agriculture doesn't use toxic and persistent pesticides, choosing
organic products is an easy way to help protect yourself and loved
ones.
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5)
What is Color-Grown Cotton?
Just as there
are red roses and yellow daffodils, cotton has colors! Colored cotton
has been around from the beginning with documented use in both the
sub-Himalayan regions of Asia and in ancient Indian communities
in Meso America, Peru, and Guatemala. The colors of the cotton range
from white to green, as well as many colors of tan and brown, and
even charcoal grey. While the color-grown cotton have always been
around, them remained a novelty, available only in very small quantities
and used in limited hand spinning and weaving application. Commercial
production and processing remain a challenge predominantly due to
the advances in technology and development of higher yielding cotton.
With the limitations of lower yields and shorter, weaker fibers,
color-grown cotton varieties have had to go through an extensive
breeding program to improve their yield, fiber quality, color intensity
and color palette. Fabrics made from color-grown fabrics represent
the best in man's efforts to work in concert with nature to produce
beautifully colored fabrics without the use of dyes. However, color-grown
fabrics may contain certain natural variations in color, light fastness
and shrinkage.
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