Story from the San Bernardino Sun
While you're doing some spring cleaning in your closet and daydreaming of what new spring wardrobe you'll be filling it with - consider going organic.
Organic products have really transformed over the years and organic clothing is making its own big stride to move more mainstream.
When one thought of organic clothing or fibers maybe 10 years ago, images of leaf-emblazoned, neutral colored, hemp items, like bags, hats, and maybe even hemp pants.
But now the organic clothing industry has expanded to include organic cotton and even organic wool.
Organic clothes "would be this kind of drab, neutral color before," said Sean Carter, office manager at Patagonia in Pasadena. "We actually have really bright amazing color palettes now."
Patagonia carries organic cotton clothing for men, women, children and babies.
The sportswear line has more than you might think, from yoga pants to fun-print halter tops for women, to t-shirts with messages and casual jeans for men.
Organic clothing is not a niche for small retailers anymore; Nike, Levi Strauss, American Apparel, and even Wal-Mart are moving into being more environmentally friendly with their clothing lines.
And it's also more affordable than it might have been a decade or so ago. Greensource, a Washington based company, recently released a line of organic jeans being sold at Wal-mart and Kmart for $20.
Consumers have a lot more outlets to buy organic clothing that's fashionable and affordable, giving them another small way to make a difference in improving their environment. The idea of organic clothing is to produce fibers made from materials that are raised or grown without the use of chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. By doing so, the environment, farmers, and nearby communities benefit by not being exposed to the chemicals used during normal process of creating these materials, either through the residue or what escapes into the air. When the material ends up at a landfill, it won't shed chemicals into the soil during the recycling process. Consequently, the more material produced without the use of chemicals, the less production of chemicals is required. Sandra Marquardt, fiber spokeswoman for the Organic Trade Association (OTA), said organic clothing is available online, through catalogs and in stores. The OTA, established in 1985, is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America with the mission of promoting and protecting the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public and the economy. "Dianne Von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren - everybody is using organic cotton," Marquardt said. "Even in these challenging economic times, they're still trying to incorporate these organic fibers in their products." With the large movement of organic products, Congress adopted the Organic Foods Production Act in 1990, requiring the United States Department of Agriculture to develop national standards for organically produced agricultural products to assure consumers that the products marketed as organic meet consistent, uniform standards. The USDA then established the National Organic Program (NOP), which develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products, and accredits the certifying agents (foreign and domestic) who inspect organic production and handling operations to certify that they meet USDA standards. Chemical-Free, Natural Clothing now includes such items as: Consumers should look for the certification on the tags when they purchase organic clothing to be sure these standards are met and that they are truly purchasing an organic product. "Hang tags should say the name of the certifier," Marquardt said. "Companies can also label the percentage of organic fiber cotton used." At Patagonia, employees are told to educate consumers who walk in about the benefits of organic clothing, and to hand them a brochure about it. "We kind of offset the damage we do by using organic and recycled materials," Carter said. "We encourage other businesses to do the same, to be more environmentally responsible and try to get people to believe in it." Marquardt said anything consumers can do to "pull the plug on (environmentally harmful) products is really commendable. "A lot of these people are looking for the apparel that reflects their (own) morals," she said. Carter said Patagonia's most recently adopted mission to help the environment is to be able to use materials that can be recycled.
