July 2008

Organic woman

Recently, I watched part of a documentary on SBS featuring men who had serious relationships with silicone dolls. The statement one of these interesting fellows made struck me. He preferred the predictable relationship he had with his doll to the stressful ones of his past with "organic" women. Organic? Is that the new word for natural? Organic is definitely not the same as natural when referring to products in the textile, or other industries for that matter, but for now I will be discussing fabrics, particularly cotton.

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The term organic is now widely used to describe the products of agriculture that use no pesticides or synthetic fertilisers. The term 'Organic' has a legal definition and the production and processing of all organic products is governed by a strict set of guidelines. All organic farmers, food manufacturers and processors are annually inspected, as well as being subject to random inspections. All manufacturers of organic products must be registered with a certification body.

Internationally recognised Organic Certification bodies for fabrics include: OCIA (www.ocia.org) and USDA in America, or ECOCERT (www.ecocert.com) and SKAL (www.skal.com) who operate in several European countries. Manufacturers should be able to provide certification on request.

Cotton, the most valuable non-food agricultural product, is labeled as the world's "dirtiest" crop utilizing more than 25% of all the insecticides in the world - yet it is farmed on only 3% of the world's arable land.

US$2 billion's worth of chemicals are sprayed on the world's cotton crop every year, almost half of which is considered toxic enough to be classified as hazardous by the World Health Organisation.

Organic cotton must be been grown for a minimum of three years without chemical pesticides, defoliants or fertilisers. Permissible fertilisers may include compost, manure, naturally derived mineral and plant fertilisers and crop rotation. Pests are controlled with the use of beneficial insects and natural pesticides certified for organic crops.

One of the reasons that organic fabrics cost more is because naturally, farmers yield fewer crops per acre when not using chemical pesticides. However, growing conventional cotton will contaminate the soil over time and rob it of nutrients until the land eventually becomes barren.

In addition to the dangers of pesticides during cultivation, cotton is subjected to further chemical treatments after it has been picked. To achieve coloured cotton some manufacturers use heavy metal dyes such as chromium and copper. These are highly toxic and due to cotton's natural resistance to dyes about half the chemicals used end up as waste, further polluting waterways and soil

Even white T-shirts are not naturally so - most will have been bleached using chlorine, another extremely toxic pollutant. There is a simple alternative to chlorine bleaching; hydrogen peroxide, which is the eco friendly choice where light or bright colours are required. Unbleached organic t-shirts are a natural cream colour or otherwise dyed with low impact dyes. These dyes do not contain any heavy metal but still produce long lasting colour.

After the dyeing process, cotton garments are typically subjected to the 'Permanent Press Treatment, relying heavily on formaldehyde, a known irritant and suspected carcinogen (see my previous "Fashion to die for" article.

The global market for organic cotton has been growing substantially in recent years, but still accounts for only a fraction of total cotton output. Christopher Zinn of the Australian Consumers' Association attributed the rise of organic products to increased environmental awareness and effective marketing.

According to a report by the Organic Exchange (OE) - a USA-based charitable organisation, which is committed to expanding organic agriculture - the amount of organic cotton, produced worldwide increased by 53% from 2005/06 to 2006/07. Even so, less than 0.1 percent of all cotton worldwide is grown organically.

How do you know your purchase is genuinely 'organic'? To help Australian consumers choose, Standards Australia has begun working on a system that will ensure labeled products bought are authentic and not just cashing in on the green marketing wave.

The Organic Biodynamic Products committee, which includes representatives from industry, consumer and government bodies, is establishing a standard to protect consumers from misleading and unsubstantiated product claims.

Standards Australia spokeswoman Kate Evans said the national standard is expected to be finalised this year.

The Australian Quarantine Inspection Service organic standard now used for export will be the base for the new domestic standard that will cover fresh produce as well as non-food products like cosmetics and fabrics.

The advantages of wearing pure, organic cotton products are many. Organic cotton and other fabrics feel softer, smell cleaner and are less likely to trigger allergies. Babies and children especially can benefit greatly from these items.

Please be aware that organic does not always equate to ethical but that is a story for another day.

Thea & Sami is a Design and Screen-Printing Studio based in Brisbane which specialises in hand-printing Eco-Fashion and Homewares.

Thea Samios Thea & Sami "Queensland Style with an Eco Smile" m 0411 270 263 e thea@thea-sami.com.au w www.thea-sami.com.au