Back-to-School Clothes

As we near the end of summer, many parents (and grandparents) among us will be going through their children's closets, pulling out items that have been outgrown or are worn, moving pieces that are still wearable to the center hangers, and assessing what new clothing items their children need for the back-to-school season.

While you re scouring those back-to-school sales, consider greening your child s wardrobe. From Fair Trade pieces to items made from eco-fabrics, attractive, responsible clothing options exist for children of all shapes and sizes. Some options particularly buying used clothing and swapping items with family and friends may save you money over conventional clothes, as well.

We'™re focusing this article on children s clothing, because many readers have asked us how they can green their children s wardrobes. But the clothing options we mention can be enjoyed by people of all ages, and many of the stores that offer kids'™ clothes sell items for adults as well. (Also see our  Greening Your Wardrobe and  Eco-Fashion at Work articles in the May/June 2003 and Sept./Oct. 2003 issues of Real Money.)

Eco-Friendly Fabrics

Soft, strong, and grown without toxins, environmentally friendly fabrics are ideal for clothing your children and yourself.

ORGANIC COTTON: Worldwide, cotton crops use more than 10 percent of all pesticides, which translates into one-third of a pound of chemicals needed to grow a pound of cotton, according to the Sustainable Cotton Project ( SCP).

What this means is workers and people who live around cotton fields are exposed to dangerous levels of pesticides on a daily basis. In India, says the SCP, 91 percent of male cotton farm workers regularly exposed to pesticides eight hours or more per day experience some type of health disorder, including chromosomal aberrations, cell death, and cell decay. These chemicals often persist in the environment, where they can affect entire populations and wildlife.

Organic cotton, on the other hand, is grown without the use of chemical inputs. By choosing organic cotton, you’re helping to shift cotton production from being chemically intensive to chemical-free.

ORGANIC WOOL: A handful of companies are now offering organic wool products, which means that the sheep from which the wool comes are fed organic feed and are not treated with synthetic hormones or pesticides.

HEMP: Hemp is easily grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. Companies that offer organic or pesticide-free hemp ensure that no chemicals were used in growing the hemp. Though related to the cannabis plant, hemp is non-psychoactive.

ORGANIC LINEN: Like hemp, linen is also easily grown without chemical inputs, and it takes five to twenty times less water and energy to produce than cotton. Look for organic or pesticide-free linen to ensure no chemicals were used in cultivating linen fibers.

ECO-FLEECE: Though fleece is made from polyester, a petroleum by-product, many

Companies are now closing the waste loop by making their fleece from used plastic bottles.

What   Organic Means

When shopping for organic fabrics, keep in mind that federal organic standards only cover the raw fiber harvesting. Once the organic fiber leaves the farm, there are no federal standards in place, meaning your fabrics could be treated with chemicals later in the process, including bleaches, dyes, or finishers (see box below).

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) has developed voluntary standards that address all stages of textile processing. Holly Givens, OTA s communications director, says that OTA s voluntary standards are based on international organic standards for fabrics, and they include guidelines for post-harvest handling, bleaching, dyeing, printing, product assembly, storage and transportation, pest management, and labeling.

Although just purchasing clothing made from fibers that are farmed organically keeps significant amounts of harmful chemicals out of the air and soil, you can also ask companies whether they have organic production standards in place. Many OTA-member clothing companies have embraced their voluntary production standards (413/774-7511, www.ota.com), and other green companies have enacted similar standards be sure to ask before making a purchase.

A WORD ON DYES: OTA organic fabric standards require that certain kinds of chemical dyes not be used when producing organic clothing. Most OTA-member clothing companies, as well as several green companies, use low-impact dyes, which still may contain chemicals but include far fewer toxins than conventional dyes.

If you re concerned about the chemicals in low-impact dyes, look for unbleached, undyed clothing, clothing dyed with vegetable extracts, or clothing made from   colorgrown cotton (also called FoxFibre). Colorgrown cotton naturally grows in sage green, brown, or terra cotta colors, making dyes unnecessary.

Caring for Clothing Workers

Finally, there are the working conditions of textile workers around the world to consider when purchasing clothing. Clothing and textile workers are often subjected to abusive, unhealthy conditions and low wages that don t meet their basic needs. To ensure that the workers who made your children s clothes were paid a fair price and worked in healthy conditions, look for Fair Trade clothes, such as items sold by members of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF). FTF is an association of Fair Trade wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to artisans and farmers worldwide.

You can also find clothing from retailers in Co-op America s National Green Pages. To be included in the Green Pages, retailers must demonstrate a strong and continuous commitment to caring for the Earth, their community, their customers, and workers all across their supply chains. (All FTF members are in the Green Pages.)

Where to Buy

Try the following sources to find the greenest clothes for your children and yourself:

BUY USED: When it comes to outfitting growing kids, nothing beats a bargain. Swap with friends, and scour garage sales and secondhand stores for cheap, quality items. Online auction sites can yield bargains in bulk: enter your child s size and gender on eBay.com s search engine, for example, to find entire lots of nearly new clothes for sale.

BUY GREEN AND FAIR TRADE: See the box below for retailers that sell green and Fair Trade clothing for children. For eco-clothing for the whole family, check out the   Clothing and   Baby Products categories in Co-op America s National Green Pages, available for $11.95 by calling 800/58-GREEN, or free online at www.greenpages.org.

 Tracy Fernandez Rysavy

That "New Fabric Smell"

Many people notice a new fabric smell on just-purchased clothes. That new smell is a potent mixture of chemicals such as formaldehyde and urea resins, says green living expert and Care2.com producer Annie Berthold-Bond. The chemicals are used to finish fabric for a range of purposes, including stain resistance, wrinkle-proofing, and even disinfecting. Most contain volatile organic compounds that are often sensitizers and suspected carcinogens.

To get rid of those new fabric chemicals, Berthold-Bond offers this method:  Place new clothes in the washer with enough water to cover. Sprinkle one cup of baking soda into the washer, and soak the clothes overnight. When convenient during the soaking, agitate the machine for a few minutes. Launder as usual. Repeat until the clothes don’t smell.

Some imported clothing companies are now dousing their clothes with long-lasting disinfectants, warns Berthold-Bond, and these cannot be removed with a simple washing. If the clothing you’re about to purchase smells more pungent than usual, put it back on the rack.

Eco-Friendly Children’s Clothing Retailers

C H V   Birdland Ranch Eco-Fashions  520/455-5190, www.birdlandranch.org.

C   Esperanza Threads  800/397-0045, www.esperanzathreads.com.

C [OTA]   Gaiam  800/869-3446, www.gaiam.com.

C [OTA]   Garden Kids  541/465-4544, www.gardenkids.com.

C [OTA]   Green Babies  800/603-7508, www.greenbabies.com.

H   Hemp Goods Etc.  616/742-2818, www.hempgoodsetc.com.

C H [OTA]   It’s Only Natural  816/523-7434, www.itsonlynatural.us.

C H   Just Goods  574/286-5878, www.justgoods.net.

W [FTF]   Kusikuy  866/KUSIKUY, www.kusikuy.com.

C   Lotus Organics  641/472-7184, www.lotusorganics.com.

C H L W [OTA]   Maggie’s Organics/Clean Clothes 800/609-8593, www.organicclothes.com.

H  Minawear Hemp Clothing 310/306-1958, www.minawear.com.

U  Mother & Child Clothing and Gifts 603/886-6727,www.mothersays.com.

C [OTA]  Sense Organics 800/870-0945, www.senseorganics.com.

C  Simply Natural Home 770/794-0138, www.simplynaturalhome.com.

C [OTA]   Tomorrow World 800/229-7571, www.tomorrowsworld.com.

C [OTA]  Under the Canopy 888/226-6799, www.underthecanopy.com.

C [OTA]  Under the Nile 800/883-4402, www.underthenile.com.

C  Vivavi 866/848-2840, www.vivavi.com.

H  What’s Hempenin Baby 740/694-4442, www.babyhemp.com.

C F H  Wild and Wooly Wear 303/642-3144.

[FTF]  Women in Progress/Global Mamas 800/338-3032, www.globalmamas.org.

C [OTA] World Peace Designs 805/927-2297, www.worldpeacedesigns.com.

C= organic cotton F= eco-fleece H= hemp L= linen W= organic sheep or alpaca wool U= used clothing V= vintage cloth

[FTF] = Member of the Fair Trade Federation [OTA] = Member of the Organic Trade Association

This article is reprinted with permission from the July/August 2005 issue of Co-op America s Real Money newsletter. For more information about Co-op America, please visit www.coopamerica.org or call 800-58-GREEN

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