Feeling a bit green?
If you care about the world and its people but can’t imagine coping without a car yet, or giving up air travel, or replacing all your clothes, don’t give up! We believe that every step towards a better world, however small, is a step worth taking. The process of improving our future will be a long one, and every little bit that each of us can contribute will help.
Switching to organic cotton in areas of your life where it matters most is one step in the right direction. Organic cotton is good for the environment, good for farmers and good for you. Here are a few facts…
- Despite its benign image, cotton is one of the most destructive crops on earth, accounting for around a third of the entire world’s pesticide usage.
- Pesticides used on cotton are often powerful and deadly neurotoxins which can be absorbed through the skin, contaminate water sources and soil, and kill wildlife.
- There are up to 5 million cases of cotton pesticide poisoning occurring each year, and an estimated 20,000 deaths amongst farmers. Traces of some of these toxins have even been found in human breast milk in communities living close to large cotton production areas.
- Over the years, conventional cotton with its residual chemicals has been blamed for many health problems, such as eczema, asthma, allergies and even cot death.
- Two thirds of all cotton production takes place in developing countries, where sadly the safeguards are not always in place to protect workers from exploitation and injury. It's known that many thousands of children, some as young as 7, are forced to work in the cotton fields, and families who have no option but to live on the land they farm are bearing the brunt of these poor farming practices.
- Organic cotton is grown without pesticides and chemical fertilisers, and is processed, dyed and manufactured without any of the harsh compounds found in ordinary cotton.
- Organic cotton is generally speaking high quality cotton. Many of the chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on non-organic cotton damage the fibres and fragment them, leading to a rougher texture. Organic cotton is also often hand-harvested, so contains fewer contaminants such as leaf matter.
- Even after production, conventional cotton is often treated with chemicals like chlorine and formaldehyde. Traces of these, plus pesticide residue remain in the cotton’s fibre.
- Conventional cotton is often dyed using harsh fixers and heavy metal-containing dyes which are known to be harmful.
- Organic cotton production on the other hand, is very strictly controlled and monitored by independent organisations such as SKAL and the Soil Association.
At Eskaboo Organics, all our cotton products are sourced from suppliers who uphold fair and ethical farming and manufacturing practices, and whose cotton is certified organic by one or other of the global monitoring organisations such as SKAL, the Soil Association or GOTS.
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