CLOTHING INDUSTRY BOOMING
However, not everyone applauds the blending programs as a totallypositive change. "It looks great on these companies' mission statementsfor them to buy organic cotton, but I question why they're notconverting it into organic products," says Harvey Campbell, president ofBC Cotton, Inc., a large organic cotton breeder and grower. "And arethese companies willing to really support the industry by making forwardcontracts (committing upfront to buying a certain number of bales oforganic cotton for the following year)? So far the farmer has had totake all the risk."
Meanwhile, outdoor apparel manufacturer Patagonia made a commitment twoyears ago to switch all of the cotton items they offer to 100 percentorganic cotton, and in February they introduced 100 percent organiccotton denim jeans and an organic cotton canvas sneaker. "It costs usmore to produce these items, but we've taken lower margins on them, tosplit the difference with the customer," explains Lu Setnicka, directorof public affairs for Patagonia.
The children's market is growing as well. Queen Mab is a brand-newcompany offering organic color-grown cotton children's clothing anddiapers as well as natural wooden toys. The business was started by asingle mother and her friend, and employs home-based sewers andwoodworkers. Also new in the children's market is HinderCovers, anorganic cotton diaper and clothing company started last year by Bob andMelissa Herbert when they couldn't find organic diapers for their son."We eat only organic food and wear as much organic clothing as we can.When our son was born, we certainly didn't want to put pesticide-ladencotton on him where it would be wet and against his skin," explains BobHerbert.
Earthlings, the original and largest organic cotton clothing company forchildren, is anticipating growth from switching to selling direct ratherthan through retail stores. "We found the retail market to be a dead endin terms of creativity. This way we'll be able to offer a complete line,at lower prices since we've cut out the middle man, and to talk moreabout the message behind organic cotton," explains owner Dawn Ceniceros.
Why choose organic cotton? Conventionally grown cotton is one of mostheavily sprayed field crops in the world-using 2 percent of the farmlandworldwide, it consumes 10 percent of the world's pesticides and 25percent of all insecticides, according to Pesticide Action Network.Sprayed from the air, these highly toxic pesticides often drift overfarmhouses, roads, water sources, and workers, resulting in water andsoil contamination, as well as danger to wildlife and human health. Forexample, a 1993 EPA study focusing on carbofuran, an insecticide used oncotton, estimated that one to two million birds are killed annually bythis chemical. Cotton is also a food crop: cottonseed oil is used insnack foods, and cottonseed is used to feed beef cattle. As insectsgradually become resistant to pesticides, ever-increasing amounts arerequired to be effective.
In contrast, organically grown cotton makes use of beneficial bugs andmanure in place of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. The farm planincludes soil rotations, cover crops, and hand-weeding. A field must bepesticide-free for at least three years to be certified organic, and thecotton must be processed according to accepted standards. (Cotton grownorganically for less than a three-year period is termed "transitional";"green", or "unbleached," cotton is processed without chemicals but notgrown organically.)
Organic cotton is more expensive to grow for several reasons, explainsLa Rhea Pepper: "Because of the rotation program, one-third of the cashcrop is out of production every year; and because we don't usesynthetic fertilizers, we get about a 20 percent lower yield." Inaddition, costs are increased in the processing stage because the cottongin must be stopped and cleaned of contaminants before the organiccotton is processed.
"The organic cotton industry is where the organic food industry was tenyears ago-it's the same kind of learning curve," says Mattie Bosch,owner of Xanomi, another manufacturer of organic cotton children'sclothing. "It's a holistic issue-it's not just about having somethingorganic next to your skin but wanting to contribute to a clean process.The bottom line, though, is that people won't buy organic cottonclothing out of duty, they'll buy it because it's cute. We have to makeproducts so good that people will buy them regardless of whether they'reorganic."
Written by: By Jane McConnell, Mothering Magazine
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