Living Organically

Congratulations! By considering making a purchase of organic clothing, you are making a difference!

But you may wonder, how can one live organically and stay on a budget? How can one live organically and local? How can we make tiny steps to improving our health and lives by converting to an “organic” lifestyle in terms of food and clothing?

We've been working on converting to an “organic” lifestyle for several years. We started out a little at a time. For my closet, I started out by replacing blouses with organic versions that could be worn at work or at play around town. When I was pregnant with my first child, I found onesies for her that were made with organic cotton.

Now after several years, most of my wardrobe is organic clothing. It's harder with my kids (my daughter changes clothes at least 3 times a day), but I've tried to have certain items be organic (like underwear and camisoles).

How your closet can “go organic”, one piece at a time

Buy one piece from one manufacturer at a time to find a manufacturer(s) that fits your needs. You can usually find good sales on items that you are trying out.
For babies, start with onesies or t-shirts.
For everyone else, start with undergarments. Underwear, bras, undershirts, and camisoles sit closest to our skin.
Next buy a shirt to check fit and feel of the fabric.
Next buy a matching outfit (shirt and pants).
Complete the outfit with socks.
There are few choices for outerwear that are organic. I plan to work on finding vendors for affordable outerwear that will last.

But it's more expensive

Consumers have become accustomed to the “disposable” fashions of recent past (The Buffalo News, “Earthy Designs”, Barbara Sullivan, 19 May 2007). This means paying $10 for a new t-shirt that is worn out a year later from multiple washings and use.

Usually in the growth of organic fiber, prices are higher to maintain fair trade practices and more responsible production processes.

But at Sparrow's Tail we will try to have a comparable t-shirt at a cost of $20 instead of the designer cost of $60.

If you are on a budget, you can buy organic clothing on sale.

Why not “recycled” items

We do buy items from used clothing stores. But this is if we need something right away and we would rather pay $5 for a shirt instead of $20. But usually those items do not last long in our closets.

Items made from different parts of used clothing can be unique and adorable; however, they can also be expensive.

We are concentrating on clothing that is made with fibers that still need to be grown for many uses, not just for fiber.

Bamboo, Soy, Corn, and “Other” Fibers

There is a blog entry about bamboo fiber not being as sustainable as organic cotton [Reference forthcoming]. Converting a tree stem into a weavable fiber does seem like it would involve chemical processing.

My concern about soy and corn fibers is that people are allergic to soy and corn foods. Who knows if people will become allergic to soy or corn fiber? Also, soy and corn are two of the highest foods that are made from GMO seeds [Reference forthcoming]. How do we know if soy or corn fiber is not made from these types of seeds?

Chemicals in Clothing

There was a recent report that found a lot of chemicals in children's clothing. Although the New Zealand Retailers Association found no chemicals in children's clothing, one has to wonder who is telling the truth.

Besides being used for clothing and other textiles, cotton is used for a variety of food products. Cotton is used to feed cattle. Cottonseed oil is used in many processed foods. But cotton is still treated as a fiber instead of a food, so farmers apply a large amount of toxic chemicals to growing cotton.

A large amount of chemicals are used to grow cotton because it is very susceptible to weeds and insect pects.

Future Discussions

—Polyester made from recycled bottles
—Using coconut
—Conventional vs organic cotton
—Conventional vs organic hemp
—Skin sensitivities
—Allergies to Formaldehyde-based preservatives to make items have the “permanent press” look
—Why not much grown/made in the USA?

For resources see

Sustainable Cotton Project
Pesticide Action Network North America

Sparrow's Tail