Few of us would connect the idea of organic clothing with the Earth’s environment and yet, a strong connection between the two exists. 

 In fact, now that global warming is becoming more of a fact than a probability, consumers need to think of the impact on the environment of even the clothes they wear. 

Have you considered what would happen if the entire world stopped buying conventional garments and instead purchased only organic clothing?  Immediately, all of the toxic chemicals used in the production of conventional clothing would begin to disappear from the soil and the groundwater and all of the chemicals used in making synthetic clothing would be of no use. 

Using organic clothing throughout the world would save thousands of lives—those of the farmers killed every year from pesticide toxicity, particularly in third world countries.  In addition, there may be a reduction in the number of people with chemical sensitivity syndromes, which is also often related to chemicals in clothing. With organic clothing, chemical dry cleaning would not be necessary. If buyers went totally “organic” energy wasted in conventional dryers would be restored.

In truth, however, the garment industry does participate in environmental pollution and global warming—even those who participate in making organic clothing.  Consider all of the sheep, alpaca, llamas and other wool-producing animals that provide clothing fibers in the form of wool but that also contribute to methane gas emission from belching and animal flatulence. 

Cows, which produce leather, create about 600 liters of methane per day per cow.  

The growing of even organic fibers requires tractors and trucks—all of which use fossil fuels and emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Improving the fuel efficiency of farm implements would help reduce such emissions.

All fibers, even organic fibers, go through a manufacturing process that relies on fossil-based energy.  Petroleum-based fabrics like nylon and polyester use additional energy in their production. 

Much of the clothing we buy—organic or otherwise—uses plastic for packaging.  Plastic is made from non-renewable resources and, if not recycled, is sent to landfills where the chemicals in the plastic leach into the soil and cause harm to the environment. Recycling of all plastic materials needs to be a must if we are to stop this process from happening.

Consider the energy costs of shipping clothing from manufacturers to the public.  As a great deal of the conventional cotton clothing is made in China, you also need to consider that most of the energy these factories use comes from coal—a substance not very good for global warming.  From there, all garments, organic garments as well as conventional garments, need to be shipped all over the world.  One solution would be to produce and purchase clothing as close to the source of the manufacturer as possible.  

Another solution to improving the environment is to purchase organic clothing and to wash them in cold or warm water. Use a clothes line if possible.  A great deal of energy is spent washing clothes in hot water and drying them with high heat. While buying organic clothing is just the beginning of what it will take to improve the environment, there are clearly things consumers can do to do their part to reduce energy use and to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.  Clearly it will take everyone to make the biggest difference. 

Many people interested in “going organic” and purchasing only organic clothing become dismayed when they see that the price is generally somewhat higher than other types of clothing.  Some even wonder if it’s some sort of conspiracy and believe that those who produce this type of clothing must be raking in the money.

The truth is that there are many factors that go into the making of organic clothing that automatically runs up the price.  

The first of these is that many makers of organic clothing don’t make the millions of copies of an outfit that manufacturers of conventional clothing often do.  Many organic companies are small family-run stores that struggle to have enough inventory for customers.

Another factor involves organic cotton.  This type of cotton is more expensive to grow and yields less cotton per hectare than conventional cotton.  Organic crops must still deal with weeds and pests, often using more expensive natural herbicides and pesticides.  This makes fabrics made from organic cotton overall more expensive.

Organic cotton is more expensive to harvest than regular cotton.  The conventional cotton companies use chemical additives in order to facilitate harvesting by the harvester machines.  While chemical defoliation improves harvesting, it adds to the chemicals left in the cotton garments people wear.  

Organic cotton harvesting relies on no chemicals resulting in a somewhat lower yield.

Finally, many organic fabrics are more expensive to manufacture.  The lower harvest yields increases the costs of cleaning and preparing the raw cotton.  In addition, because organic cotton processing is done in factories that produce regular cotton, all of the machines, cotton gins, weaving and knitting machines must be thoroughly cleaned before the organic cotton can be processed.  This adds to the cost.  

Sadly, labor costs are less in conventional clothing manufacturing, which often relies on cheap labor or, in some instances, child labor, to manufacture.  This type of practice would generally be considered unacceptable for manufacturers of organic clothing.  One exception is the silk industry, which relies on millions of hand loom operators in India to make the organic silk products. 

An example of how conventional fabric manufacturers have a leg up on organic clothing manufacturers is a company, which makes cotton tank tops for Wal-Mart that pays a total of thirteen cents per hour in sweatshops in Nicaragua and other developing companies.  Organic clothing manufacturers would consider this unethical and can’t keep up with those kinds of labor costs. 

Organic clothing is more expensive to ship, distribute and provide to retailers and customers.  This is because the market size is so much smaller than the big retail stores and the per garment cost to ship is greater.  In addition, organic clothing stores must pay more for advertising and marketing of their products.  The customer base is less dense and more advertising must be done to reach an appropriate audience. 

The economics of organic clothing sales are such that growers, manufacturers and retailers lack the buying power of the bigger superstores and retailers.  The production of organic clothing is still a very small part of clothing manufacturing so that everything from harvesting to packaging becomes a bigger process.

For those who love organic clothing, however, the cost may be worth it. The environment is helped by the purchase of organic clothing and the clothing itself carries less of a health risk than conventional garments.