Cottoning on to organic
Why more parents might turn to organic baby clothes if they knew the uncomfortable truth about the production of cotton for clothes.
- Cottoning on to organic
- The uncomfortable truth
- Mums to the rescue
- Chain reaction
- In for a penny… All change?
Cottoning on to organic
I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly green kind of person. I recycle
bottles and jars, switch lights off and use washable nappies. But some
eye-widening environmental research has jolted me out of my comfortable
day-to-day routine. Without realising it, I’ve been putting adults and
children on the other side of the world at risk, simply by the products
I choose. And chances are, you are too.
The uncomfortable truth
Fairtrade Fortnight runs until March 11 and if, like me, you didn’t think
this went much further than a bit of tea and coffee and some bananas,
this year’s campaign could prove a real wake-up call. Under the banner
Change Today, Choose Fairtrade, the message is that Fairtrade applies
to thousands of products.
Some wouldn’t even have crossed my mind, such as baby food, cotton wool
and clothes. Clothes, I wonder? Can there really be a difference? Well
according to the Environmental Justice Foundation, the difference could
literally mean a matter of life and death for those growing the cotton
with which our clothes are made.
Until now, my strategy for buying clothes has been based upon taste and,
more importantly, cost. Indeed, which new parent hasn’t gleefully slung
seven cute sleepsuits into their supermarket trolley without thinking
beyond the £5 price tag?
Unfortunately though, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably
is. According to the EJF, cotton is the world’s “dirtiest” crop. Chemicals
and pesticides sprayed onto cotton crops can cause sickness, incontinence,
seizures and even death, not just in the farmers who man the fields but
also in children living nearby. Many of these toxins are banned in the
West, yet not in developing countries, where 99 per cent of the world’s
cotton farmers live.
Mums to the rescue
The great news for farmers and their neighbours is that the organic word
is spreading. Organically grown baby wear is seeing a huge surge in the
UK – and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of the businesswomen
behind this trend are mums.
Emma Pearce graduated in physics but changed her career path to open
an organic baby wear shop called Butterfly Babies in Cardiff after having
daughter Tiegan, four, and son Cadan, nearly two.
“The cotton is grown without any chemicals at all,” she says.
“One benefit is that the farmers are not exposed to dangerous chemicals
and that local water supplies are not polluted.
“So there is a social responsibility and also the cotton is purer, so
it’s better for the person wearing it.”
Several of Emma’s suppliers have been certified by Fairtrade, which guarantees
that the producers are getting a better deal. “Customers ask specifically
for fair trade goods,” says Emma. “Some cannot afford a wholly organic
way of life but they still want to do their bit.”
Claudia Guerretta, who launched Ethical Babe online with friend and business
partner Claire Dutfield last year, agrees
“A lot of people buy the products because of the ethical or environmental
factor,” says Claudia, who has a three-year-old daughter, Georgia, and
is expecting her second baby in July. “People are much more concerned.
Too many things are going on around the world that will impact on their
family.”
Chain reaction
Small traders are not the only ones getting this message from customers.
Marks & Spencer has just become the largest High Street retailer to support
Fairtrade, increasing the pool of its Fairtrade cotton farmers from 50
to more than 600.
Leading children’s clothes catalogue Vertbaudet has scored a big hit
with its hypoallergenic organic cotton range, grown without fertilisers
or pesticides and coloured only with natural dyes.
And in March, Babies ‘R’ Us launches an organically grown baby wear and
nursery range in its 71 stores, following successful trials last year.
Spokeswoman Justine Pryce says: “Parents minds are changing. Organically
grown cotton is kinder to the environment and kinder to the skin. The
more parents see the damage that can be caused, the more they will want
another option.”
In for a penny…
I’m starting to look in horror at the non-organic pyjamas my daughter
is running around in and decide it’s time for action. But hang on, I’ve
just given up a wage to stay home with my kids, and organic clothes are
really expensive, right?
Well no, actually prices compare surprisingly well. At M&S, for example,
two bodysuits are £7 while jackets and dungarees are around the £10 mark.
And prices look set to fall even more. “One of my suppliers recently cut
their RRP for a tee-shirt by moving to a bigger production site,” says
Emma at Butterfly Babies. This is something we will surely see more of
if organic demand continues to grow.
All change?
Change today, Fairtrade says. Well I don’t have time to change the world
in between that third load of washing and yet another Sleeping Beauty
story. But I’m definitely going to start thinking more carefully about
what I buy and reading product labels.
After all, preserving our planet for future generations is a bit pointless
if we’re not actually looking after the people living on it right now.
Where to next?
- Can parents save the world?
- Mums
in business – find out about the brains behind these businesses - How
to have a green pregnancy
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