Organic tshirts? Buy them to conserve nature

Summers have begun, and our shopping carts are full of t-shirts. Cotton t shirts, round neck t shirts, v neck t shirts and other similar sorts. While you must be still deciding on which one to buy, let us introduce you to organic tshirts, or organic apparels on the whole. 

Organic cotton, true to the name, is cotton produced without harming the ecosystem.

It is produced in a way that it maintains the quality of soil and ecosystems by deploying natural processes rather than artificial inputs.

Importantly,  organic cotton farming refrains from using toxic chemicals or GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

They rather use age-old traditions, innovation and science to let the environment be healthy and promote benefits to people sharing it. 

Why use organic cotton?

Think of cotton and you imagine white, fluffy, pure fabrics that appear as natural, pure fabric to you. Cotton is versatile and a primary fabric all over the world.

It is used for making a vast variety of food and fibre products, making it an essential commodity on earth.

Cotton is versatile as it is soft, breathable, absorber, can be worn year round, durable and a lot many features that add to its popularity.

Cotton has a unique fiber structure that can absorb 2.7 times its own weight in water. People prefer cotton as it breathes and absorbs body moisture by absorbing it and wicking it away from the skin.  

Cotton apparels sold today, however, do not maintain that reputation as they use lots of unnatural and toxic chemicals in the process of making those apparels.

Cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed field crops in the world; therefore the overuse of chemicals on environment and human health are obvious and alarming. 

There have been instances of pollution of drinking water, and ground and surface water contamination due to the use of pesticide and fertilzers used on cotton. 

Organic cotton on the other hand is made with lesser chemicals and is a safer product to use than the usual cotton. 

Organic cotton is a part of a number of apparels, footwears, home furnishings (towels, bathrobes, sheets, blankets, bedding), children’s items like clothing, toys, diapers,  personal care items (sanitary products, make-up and removal cotton, soft cotton puffs and ear swabs), stationery items etc.

Choosing organic cotton rather than conventional cotton items saves water, energy and carbon emissions. Looks like a small change, doesn't it?

But imagine the impact on the whole when you convert your complete wardrobe to organic clothes and linen etc. 

Organic cotton is sustainable in many ways

There is a reason that the whole industry has this buzz around organic cotton. Organic cotton clothes and products are sustainable. They improve the environment rather than destroying it. Few other benefits include:   

1. Benefit to ecosystem: farmers practising organic cotton farming are making their life healthy as well as improving the ecosystem too.
2. They eliminate the use of pesticides and fertilizers, reduce groundwater contamination, making drinking water clean and safe.
3. Organic cotton causes 98% less water pollution as compared to traditional cotton production.
4. Prevents global warming: organic cotton t-shirts or other apparels and products prevent the use of toxic chemicals and insecticides on cotton, thus reducing global warming as the big picture.
5. As synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are not used, nitrogen emission reduces in the atmosphere; producing 94$ less greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Reduces soil erosion: producing organic cotton creates healthy soil and reduces soil erosion.Such soil is sustainable and can withstand drought conditions too.
7. One of the many advantages of cultivating organic cotton and products made from it is that it converts the soil into a carbon pit. This helps remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It helps the farmers to work within their limits, supporting the planet in a sustainable way.

Apart from benefits to the environment, organic cotton production has many other advantages like: 

• It provides a healthy working environment to the workers and small scale farmers. 
• Organic tshirts, shirts and other apparels are safe and soft on the skin. 
• Organic cotton production does not encourage child or forced labor. 

As today, sustainability is one of the major goals in any production process, the cotton industry wants to achieve it too.

They are trying to fulfill this goal by developing new methods and technologies that are implemented across the supply chain all over the world.

The cotton industry focuses on meeting the current need of organic cotton, earning profits and maintaining sustainability at the same time. 

Organic cotton producers ensure reducing environmental impact at each step of production; from using non GM seeds to methods used to the manufacturing practices. 

How is the fashion industry destroying the planet? 

The clothing industry has become one of the most environmentally damaging businesses in the world. Apparels are in huge demand and are made in ways that are fast and inexpensive.

This leads to low quality clothes. Regular clothes and t shirts therefore are usually itchy, starchy, and they deteriorate soon, ending in a landfill too soon. 

Making garments at such a large scale also means using more warehouses to keep them. To get rid of this, companies involve in seasonal sales, which also is a harm to our planet.

Many brands in the industry tend to exploit workers by giving them low wages, providing unsafe working conditions, polluting local communities etc. Some common hazards include fertilizers, pesticides, chemical dyes etc that are used in cotton production.

Organic farming is done keeping in mind all the safe practices so that the farmers and communities grow stronger and healthier. 

Being a consumer, you have the power to choose. You can continue to support the industries that destroy the planet and health of workers or shift towards a global movement that is dedicated to creating a better environment, cleaner practices, better clothing, and a better future for everyone.