Organic Denim: Is it Worth Every Penny? Blogging Salon & Grist

We grew up in a small Texas town that used to be hailed as the cotton capital of the world, where our grandfather grew acres upon acres of the stuff. In fact, we knew the guy who flew the plane that dropped chemicals on the crops.

And therein lies the problem: conventionally-grown cotton is still sprayed with mounds of pesticides, and raw fibers, even if they're organic, could be sprayed with fumicides and the like. Blue jeans take extra work for their dyes and finishes--Salon says up to a pound of chemicals per pair of blue jeans can be used to achieve that "worn-in" look.

Grist has an article about organic cotton in the U.S., and it points out that improvements are being made in the industry. In fact, the solution might be to simply do things more naturally, like natural/organic pesticides and using very old-school planting techniques. How green is that!?

With organic jeans coming in well above our price range for clothing, and until the cotton farming industry and denim production make more advancements to the green side, it looks like Goodwill's gonna get some business from us!

And of course, we want to know how you feel about organic cotton and especially denim: have you changed your wardrobe buys?

Photo by Daniel Wildman via sxc.hu

I try and buy only sustainable and organic clothing when I'm replacing things. My shoes are all from Simple now, and my clothes come from a variety of places -- local sustainable stores and the internet -- however, I try and buy them only on sale unless I really need something, because they can get pricey.

I also try to look for sustainable dyes, especially vegetable-based ones, though they are much less common. There are some people on etsy who make organic clothes and dye them themselves, and that's an option I've been considering.

So, yeah, there are huge implications about organic cotton -- it isn't perfect organic-wise, but is so much more preferable to non-organic cotton as the latter is one of the most heavily sprayed crops there are. However all cotton, organic or not, uses an extraordinary amount of water to grow. Thus, I've been diversifying the kinds of fabrics I buy, with an emphasis on hemp, which requires much less water, is fast growing, and doesn't take a lot of energy and production to be turned into fabric. Unlike, say bamboo, which is more wood-like then fabric-like, and needs chemicals (mostly toxic), water, and energy to change it into something that is soft and cloth-like. Much like Rayon, and other tree-fiber based cloths.

I still buy organic cotton, I just try to diversify. Also, I'm learning to sew, so I can make things out of undyed and colorgrown organic cotton fabrics and batting that are available.

As far as jeans go, all of mine are currently from the Gap, and I'm wearing them until they die. Then I'll get some organic cotton ones, though I can't say I've researched a lot. I will try and find some on sale though. In the mean time, I do have a fairly reasonably prices pair of organic cotton slacks from patagonia.

** sorry this was long, I'm a researcher, and so by nature I strive to find out as much as I can about any given subject that is important to me.

posted by mniche on January 30th 2009 at 2:02pm
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Levis' has organic and recycled cotton jeans for less than half the price of other organic jeans. I try to buy only their organic jeans, but unfortuntely, the styles and colors are very limited.

posted by icequeen220 on January 30th 2009 at 2:24pm
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About recycled cotton - DO NOT buy it. (The same goes for recycled wool and other natural fibers.)

Recycling natural fabrics requires breaking the fabric back down into fibers to be re-spun. Not only does this process involve a chemical bath that is probably not such good news, it can compromise the fibers and shorten the life of the new garment.

Therefore, you could wind up paying extra for a garment that isn't going to last as long as a new one. Buy organic if you can, and try to buy used if you can't.

posted by Stiletto on January 30th 2009 at 5:35pm
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I decided last year to try and only buy organic cotton clothing, but even when I can afford it, it's really hard as a plus size! Most "green" lines seem to be for teens or really slim people. I've seen a bunch of lines where the largest size is a 12. Sigh.

I'm also trying hemp and linen, which require less pesticide to grow. (And I love the feeling of good, broken-in linen.)

posted by RebeccaCT on February 1st 2009 at 12:36pm
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Or you could (a) patch your jeans when they get a hole in them, which is a lot more "green" than just going out and buying a new pair, or buy second hand - also a lot more green.

posted by Rebekkap on February 1st 2009 at 9:54pm
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Mine just got a hole where a patch would look bad. Yes, it's hard to find the right size jeans. I'm short and ...stout, lol.

posted by Lizzykewl on February 2nd 2009 at 2:49am
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