A good article raised the point. Ask anybody if they are including organics into a healthier lifestyle, and they immediately connect with organic food. Ask about organic cotton, organic wool, organic bedding and organic clothes, and most people will just blink at you, or not really understand what you're talking about.
It isn't widely advertised, but conventional cotton takes more chemicals than any other crop from seed, through a huge cocktail of pesticides, fungicides, defoliants, and chemical washes, into cotton mills and manufacturing facilities, making it the most environmentally destructive corporate crop on earth.
The Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP) located in Davis, California says, "The simple act of growing and harvesting the one pound of cotton needed to make a T-shirt (or any other conventional cotton product) takes an enormous toll on the earth's air, water and soil, and significantly affects the health of people living in cotton growing areas".
And I'll bet most people don't know that most of that chemically soaked cotton is everywhere in our food supply, in the form of cottonseed oil. Go up and down the aisles and read those labels. And, cottonseed, including hulls, are an ingredient in livestock feed, exposing dairy products, eggs, meats, poultry, etc. to a host of toxic chemicals that threaten the safety of the entire food supply and food chain.
The article by Daniel Sanders continues with: "The SCP states in its "Care what You Wear" campaign that "Possible bans on the most toxic agricultural chemicals, as well as potential regulations about labeling on genetically engineered products, point to the need to develop sustainable, practical solutions for cotton." This implies that the onus is on the manufacturers that produce the brands we wear to effect the necessary changes. However, it is the choices and preferences of the consumer, thinking from a holistic and sustainable perspective, that will ultimately drive the market."

LIST OF SUSTAINABLE FIBERS:

Organic Cotton--Cotton grown without pesticides and third party certified.

Organic Wool--Produced with chemical and cruelty free animal husbandry.

Hemp--Hardy, extremely versatile, low input, industrial grade crop.

Tencel--Properties of rayon and made from renewable plant resources.

Ingeo--Derived from corn with the properties and feel of a micro-fiber.

Soy--Renewable by-product of food manufacturing exhibiting luxurious softness.

Ecospun--Polyester that is derived from recycled soda bottles.

Bamboo--Made from the pulp of the plant and displaying silk-like properties.

Check out organic textiles. It's the same cloth our ancestors never thought twice about.

Susan
Kushtush Organics
http://www.kushtush.com

Thought this factoid was cute: when genetically modified cotton was first introduced, the cotton bolls just fell to the ground, useless. It took years for industry to create a genetic model that would enable the enormous frankencrops that dominate our lives to this day. This isn't so cute: globally 76% of the world's cotton, 40% of our corn, and 85% of the soy dumped into almost ALL processed food, is now GE.

We can print up "Go Organic" tee shirts until...well... Armageddon... but corporations will never give up the behemoth global profit machine that is genetically modified crops and residual products unless it stops being profitable. The organic movement is not wasted though; it's sending a consumer message that translates into serious dollars that over time that can be powerful. Modern American citizens are in stealth mode, not inclined to burning flags and screaming slogans in the streets any more. If enough of us want organic bedding, organic foods etc., corporations will notice, grab every bit of it and sell it to us.

-Susan

I like organic food and herbs, but "Zesty Spring Sorrel?" Eeeeew.

-Susan