Green Cotton

Growers of traditional, chemical dependent cotton would like us to believe that pesticide and fertilizer residue do not persist in the clothing we wear.  However, when gallons of chemicals are used on cotton plants – the oft-quoted ¾ pound of chemicals to grow enough cotton for one pair of jeans…not surprisingly some chemicals are absorbed by the cotton and then into our skin.

Is it possible to remove every trace of these toxic chemicals? And what effect do these chemicals have on our skin and bodies? While we know the answer the first question is yes, through the advent of certified organic cotton production and textile manufacturing, the latter remains to be answered. In the meantime, if you could eliminate harmful chemicals from any of the clothing you currently wear, which would you choose first?

Given the above information, I would have to choose intimates. Worn next to our most sensitive skin day and day out– bras, camisoles, underwear… well, they seem like a good place to start.

So here’s a round up of organic intimates: from the staples to the sublime

Faerie’s Dance carries plenty of well-priced basics. They have ethically sourced and manufactured hipsters, thongs, boyshorts and classic panties. Stock up on three-packs of bamboo/organic cotton panties here, plus a selection of bras and camisoles.

Rawganique’s is another good place to purchase basics. As well as panties, there are camisoles and a selection of bras like this lightweight gathered bra.  For guys, they carry hemp boxers, reportedly exceptionally soft and comfortable.

Ecoland’s soft bras and hipsters are undyed organic cotton, available in underwire and wireless styles. And for guys, Ecoland also offers men’s boxers and briefs.

Spirit of Nature, a UK based company, has a huge range, from basics, in bamboo and organic cotton, to silk, and even organic maternity and nursing bras.  They cater to men with boxer shorts too.

For something a little more special, Ciel make silk and cotton lingerie, like these lace-embellished boyshorts and matching cache coeur bra which are ethical with zero style sacrifice.

Ciel boyshorts featured above.

Enamore’s organic silk bras, panties, camisoles, and bridal lingerie are sure to cause a sensation!

The Oko Box has custom-made vintage style undies, made from deadstock vintage and new organic fabrics, like these darling paper bag waist bloomers.

And speaking of bags… Triumph created a bra for the Japanese market which converts into a shopping bag. The bra’s padding unfolds into the bag, which is hooked together by the underwire. The No! Shopping Bag Bra is actually quite pretty, but I’m not sure I grasp the concept… undressing in the grocery store? It’s really designed to highlight the 30 million plastic shopping bags thrown away in Japan annually.

I’m staying with my conventional reusable shopping bags, and hoping that someone special will treat me to something from Stella McCartney’s organic lingerie collection!

Photo top: Stella McCartney’s lingerie collection

Post by Brit

Most natural textiles – cotton, wool, linen, tencel, bamboo – are naturally cream or pale brown. Almost universally these fabrics are bleached before dyeing.

Natural shades of textiles vary, and starting the dye process with a white fabric enables the factory to anticipate the final color more precisely.

So honestly, how safe and environmentally friendly is it to bleach fabrics?

You know that bottle of bleach in your laundry room? The one with the safety cap, the warnings not to drink it or let children handle it or inhale the fumes or mix it with anything lest it go bang? That’s the exact same product that textiles are bleached with. And, often discharged into rivers.

The most widely used industrial bleaches are chlorine compounds, usually sodium hypochlorite – household bleach - or chlorine dioxide. Both are hazardous to factory workers, who are at risk of burns, lung and eye injuries.

So how do industrial bleaches affect the environment?

Sodium hypochlorite oxidizes organic matter in rivers and oceans to produce chemicals called trihalomethanes,  some of which are carcinogenic.

Chlorine dioxide also produces trihalomethanes in waterways. It also can form dioxins – carcinogens, mutagens, and tetrogenic compounds - which the body stores in fatty tissues almost indefinitely.

Bleaching also consumes large amounts of natural resources; primarily vast quantities of water used to rinse the fabric after bleaching, otherwise any residual bleach would weaken the fibers.

What are the alternatives to bleach ?

Unbleached fabrics clearly have an environmental advantage. Here’s a skater t-shirt for dudes,  and if I was four, I’d have a tantrum for this gorgeous little dress.

For other colors – and particularly for white and pale colors, such as achieving perfectly white jeans, or a pure white wedding dress, require the use of bleach.

Less environmentally damaging solutions to bleaching are the use of either hydrogen peroxide or ozone bleach. Both are chlorine-free, fairly benign chemical processes which produce no dioxins or trihalomethanes, and use less energy and water than chlorine-based bleach.

According to an ozone bleach promotional website, chlorine bleaching requires 8.28MJ of energy, and emits 800g of CO₂ to whiten 1kg of cotton yarn.

To bleach the same amount of cotton with ozone bleach would require 60% less energy and produce half the CO₂ emissions.

Ozone breaks down into pure oxygen as it bleaches, with no other by-products. But it’s hard to use, and factories must invest in new bleaching machinery to use ozone. Some factories are beginning to use ozone bleach in conjunction with chlorine bleach to reduce the quantity of chlorine bleach used – a step in the right direction.

Hydrogen peroxide has a similarly low environmental impact, as it breaks down into water and oxygen as it bleaches. It’s also easier to use, and products bleached with hydrogen peroxide are on our shelves (or our virtual shelves). Loop’s organic cotton towels and bedding are bleached with hydrogen peroxide, and ROMP’s organic white cotton shirts printed with French song lyrics are too.

Could Chlorine Bleaching Be Eliminated From the Textile Industry?

Chlorine bleaching currently dominates the textile industry but existing alternative technologies exist that can be used reasonably easily and cheaply, and have much lower environmental impact. Bleach pollution is a major problem, but it is one with a solution, and it’s possible that one day it will be history.

And for brides to be: yes! you can buy a wedding dress with without bleach. Olivia Luca’s wedding dresses made from unbleached fair trade handwoven silk shantung are elegant and eco-friendly.

Photo source above: Flickr

Madder Plant used for natural dying.

By Brit

Before the middle of the nineteenth century, all dyes were extracted from plants, animals or minerals. Then, when synthetic dyes were discovered in 1856, textile producers found that synthetics were cheaper, easier to apply, more colorfast, and could be produced in a wider and brighter range of colors. Natural dyes quickly fell from favor, to be replaced by synthetic dyes for most applications.

Synthetic dyes can also be extremely toxic to manufacture, and harmful to dye workers. Textile factories where fabrics are dyed, consume vast quantities of water to dissolve the dye. Once the fabric is dyed, the dye-contaminated water is treated to some extent, then expelled into rivers.

As hazards and pollution due to synthetic dyes have become more apparent, more attention has been paid to natural dyes.

Natural dyes sound oh-so-good, conjuring up romantic images of dyeing wool with berries and herbs. Many crafters love working with natural dyes for their intrinsic color variability, and the challenge of mastering the skill of natural dying.

However, dying with a natural dyes can be difficult and there are downsides: the dyes are harder to apply to fabrics, and the process is more of an art than a science. The final color is affected by many variables which can be part of the charm of natural dyes, but also can lead to challenges in making them consistent and/or desirable.

For a commercial application, consistency is very important and is a major reason why natural dyes are rarely produced commercially.

Commercial natural dyes also unfortunately have a couple of serious side effects that in some cases render them harmful – in some cases as damaging as synthetic dyes. By the way, natural does not mean non-toxic; many natural substances are toxic.

• Most natural dyes require a mordant. Many mordants like salt, alum, and natural mordants like pomegranate are used in some cases, but for some colors, like to dye wool black, chromium, an extremely toxic heavy metal, is needed.

• Producing natural dyes from the plant, may involve harmful chemicals. Madder dye (see image of plat at top) is often extracted by dissolving the roots of the plant in sulphuric acid. Sodium hydroxide is needed to produce natural indigo dye.

• Natural dyes are not necessarily safe: natural indigo dye is a skin, eye and respiratory system irritant.

• Vegetarians and vegans take note: cochineal, a red dye, is made from ground up insects. Lac dye, a scarlet color, is also produced from insects. Both these dyes also require sodium hydroxide in their production.

• Issues with producing dyes on a commercial scale. Many natural dye plants grow in tropical areas where agricultural land is often at a premium. Reallocating land and water away from food crops, or clearing land to grow dye plants, is harmful to local people and the environment.

Lawsonia, or Henna plant (featured above) is used for a wide range of color derivatives for hair and other purposes. There are three species of this plant used for dying extracts.

So do natural dyes have just as many issues as synthetic ones? It appears that there are many considerations to weigh at the decision table. Fortunately, with considerate dyeing practices, natural dyes can be used in a much more environmentally friendly way than synthetic dyes.

Here’s some artists, designers and clothing companies who do use safe, natural dyes, and or other methods of dyeing fabrics naturally.

Earth Creations dye their organic cotton, sweatshop-free basics and active wear with clays and mud. Clay never, never comes off, doesn’t require any other chemicals, and when the dyeing is done, the clay be returned to the earth safely.

Investigate Tinctoria if you are heading to festivals, or packing for Ibiza. Tinctoria deliberately avoids harmful chemicals when dyeing their boho wares with natural dyes. ROMP, a British runway-worthy design house, also use similar safe dyes for their clothing and denim. Ocelot Clothing, from San Francisco, makes tribal-inspired prints using the ancient itajime dyeing technique.

And for men, Truly Organic Apparel has a range of mens’ - and womens’ too - clothes dyed with safe natural dyes.

ColorGrown cotton - also called FoxFibre, or Colorganic cotton - naturally grows in shades of creams, greens and browns so no further dye is required. The Colorgrown Clothing Company sells organic color grown baby hats, shirts and blankets, and basics and lingerie can be found at Cottonfield and Rawganique. Jonano also sells this gently colored cotton, including a cafe-au-lait colorgrown cotton dress that I’d love for a beach vacation.

So we can get our do yoga, sleep, and dress our children well in clothing colored with safe, natural dyes from a growing number of independent, caring companies.

Currently, our options for drinking cocktails, going to the office, a Raconteurs gig or a wedding are more limited. Where can we buy fashionable naturally dyed garments? Hopefully, with more heed being paid to the consequences of using synthetic dyes, more and more clothing designers will be answering that question soon.

Photo source top: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Haematoxylum_campechianum_Ypey69.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lawsonia_inermis_Ypey36.jpg