By Annie Kaskade

If you’re an eco-conscious parent, you know to look for materials like organic cotton, hemp, and recycled fabric, but how much do you care about where clothes are made?

Besides the prevalence of abusive working conditions for millions of garment workers throughout the world with overseas manufacturing, there is also much more pollution generated.

The production of fabric from raw materials is a chemical intensive process that generates both air and water pollution from the spinning, weaving, and dyeing processes. Synthetic materials often start with petroleum-based plastics, and conventional cotton is grown with 25% of the world’s pesticides and insecticides (Organic Trade Association). Most of this is already happening overseas, as there are very few U.S. mills still in operation.

The United States has stringent air and water pollution regulations that are well enforced, especially when compared to other clothing-producing countries. Even if U.S. clothing manufacturers are forced to import the fabric, the air pollution and wastewater generated by the steps of cutting, sewing, garment-dyeing (dyeing of finished garments after they have been sewn), screen printing, etc. is better controlled in the United States.

Another aspect of USA-made production is the reduction in transportation pollution. Although fabric may still need to be imported (pending greater demand on U.S. mills), clothing production is an iterative process. A designer makes a pattern, but then samples need to be made, the pattern is revised, grading (pattern adjustments for different sizes) is developed, hardware (buttons/snaps/rivets etc.) is sourced, woven or printed labels and hangtags are made, and finally finished products are made. Typically, this process will involve multiple overseas trips by the designer as well as multiple overseas shipments of sample product. If there is a communication breakdown (very easy with overseas manufacture), entire production lots that don’t meet quality standards can be lost, resulting in tremendous waste. Keeping manufacturing in the U.S. keeps designers close to the production process, with better efficiencies and less pollution and waste.

Kids are continually growing, and they are hard on their clothing – especially when they are young and they play, run, climb, crawl, and explore. Clothes for children don’t last nearly as long as they do for adults…one year at the most and even then some things are too stained or worn to pass down.

So, it’s easy to see why many parents, even eco-conscious parents, go for the cheapest clothes they can find. USA-made clothing is typically more expensive than imported clothes because of the higher labor costs, but because of the tight oversight and increased production efficiencies, the finished product is actually better made.

With U.S. jobs receding by the day, global warming accelerating at an unprecedented pace, worldwide water resource challenges mounting, shouldn’t we be acting now to support U.S. manufacturing? When it comes to fast-growing kids, why should we continue to sacrifice quality and value for price?

While we may have been programmed for a kids’ clothing budget that is based on import pricing, we are also programmed by the clothing industry to buy more than we need, just because clothing is available and inexpensive. Why can’t we choose quality USA-made eco clothing that lasts longer, and in the end we buy less of? Seems like now is a good time to start changing.

. . .

Annie Kaskade is the founder of GreenEdge Kids, the largest online source of organic designer kids’ clothes, sizes 2-14. She seeks to raise awareness and options for organic children’s clothing, and writes the Eco Kids with Fashion Focus blog.

by Beth Doane

Since organic apparel and food products are still new to so many consumers, I wanted to spell out some easy answers as to why it’s practical, ethical and increasingly easier to consume organic products.

According to the Organic Trade Association, “Organic refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. It includes a system of production, processing, distribution and sales that assures consumers that the products maintain the organic integrity that begins on the farm.”

I always recommend buying certified organic since it more safely ensures that a strict code of standards and guidelines have been followed. For example, when we purchase the cotton for Rain Tees from our Peruvian organic cotton farmers, the rolls of cotton come with specific paperwork that certifies it was grown and harvested organically. Before the tees can enter the U.S.A. and be declared organic this paperwork must also be presented to U.S. customs.

Here is a short list on why buying organic is the way to go.

No Crazy Chemicals

Organic farms don’t use chemicals, artificial fertilizers or harsh pesticides, so they are filled with only the crops themselves and natural wildlife! This also ensures that those nasty chemicals don’t make contact with your skin if the crops are woven into clothing, as millions are every day. Growing crops in a natural environment also keeps the land healthy and sustainable and ensures naturally fertile soil and waterways that stay free from pollution.

No Evil Pesticides

The conventional textile industry is sadly one of the most polluting industries in the world, which is why more and more consumers and apparel producers are demanding organic fabrics. More than a quarter of the world’s insecticides are used for growing conventional cotton. These insecticides kill countless animals, plants and insects, and pollute our soil and waters. Pesticides also contain known carcinogens (agents that have been proven to cause cancer), which is bad news for farmers and the rest of us.

Not only are pesticides toxic, they are also pricey to use. Furthermore, money from our taxes pays to remove these harmful chemicals from our water supplies so that they don’t leak as much into our drinking water. The EPA has had to step in on more than one occasion where pesticide run-off has killed hundreds of thousands of fish in our waterways. If pesticides are killing our fish, why are we ok with them being all over our foods and cotton crops?

No GMOs

A GMO (genetically modified organism) is a man-made organism created in a laboratory. Think “frog genes inserted into seeds that will grow corn.” Literally. Organic farming does not allow genetically modified crops because they create absolute environmental havoc. And no one really knows the long term affects of GMOs.

You’re Supporting Ethical Farming

Organic farmers are following their morals and ethics and not necessarily their pocketbooks. It takes a lot of time and money to be organic and most farmers can’t afford the expense, which makes organic farming less common. Organic farms are inspected by international bodies and have to follow extremely strict guidelines. Organic crops may also yield smaller harvests because, without pesticides, sometimes the crops are consumed by wildlife. So, the right thing is not always the easiest, but as more farmers grow organic and more consumers buy organic, it will be so much easier to find organic products at lower cost.

It Feels So Good!

The number one thing we hear about our organic collections is “It feels so good!”  Organic cotton can actually feel softer than regular cotton products and, after all of the careful steps and diligence it takes to produce organic cotton, it just feels better in our hearts too, I think.

. . .

About the author: Beth Doane is a fashion designer and consultant focusing on eco-conscious product development and marketing. She founded and designed the internationally acclaimed Rain Tee collection and Andira International.

There are dozens, nay, hundreds of green retailers in the world today. While in most cases, this is a long-overdue triumph in the fight to make green mainstream- there are still those who are simply taking advantage of a new market, new “stuff” they can push on consumers to make a nice chunk of change.

Then there are retailers like Tiffany Parks.

Inspired by a love for the planet and desire to make it a healthier place to raise her daughter, Parks founded Wear the Earth (WTE), an online retailer of sustainable clothing and accessories. Dedicated to closely examining their total carbon footprint in 2009, WTE is working to find vendors and designers that offer drop-ship services to their customers.  That means they eliminate an entire leg of shipping to their facility and ship directly to you, the customer.  This will also allows them to offer some of their products at new lower prices.

Fair trade, so important yet so often overlooked in the green industry boom, is paramount at Wear the Earth. As their website states, “We have put a great deal of energy into finding companies that practice fair labor & sweat-shop free philosophies for sustainable living.  This will continue to be our standard as we explore new and exciting companies.”

Wear the Earth recently received its approval as a Green America Member, further displaying its efforts to be a credible and transparent green company. And those efforts don’t just end at t-shirts and purses. WTE recently launched a free monthly newsletter featuring green tips and information (sign up here).

GenGreen is also proud to report that Parks is an active participant in the Ambassador Program, sharing the good news about GenGreen with her clients and generously donating Wear the Earth products to the program that are used as rewards for completion of monthly Eco-Tasks.

Great job Tiffany…we are so proud of you!

- The Team at GenGreen

It was about half-way through college when I abandoned make-up. I had been a faithful female, terrified to show my face without it’s mask of products, struggling with teenage acne, insecurity, and pressure to look “perfect” all the time like everyone else (or so I thought). And I have to tell you that showing a fresh face to the world is a liberating thing. “This is me- uncensored- deal with it!”

But there are other reasons to avoid conventional cosmetics besides letting the world hear you roar. Exhibit A – chemicals…and lots of them. For those of you wearing make up on a daily basis, you should know that over 5 pounds of chemicals are entering your bloodstream annually through your most precious and overlooked organ- your skin.

From OrganicConsumers.org:

“Putting chemicals on your skin is actually far worse than ingesting them, because when you eat something the enzymes in your saliva and stomach help break it down and flush it out of your body. When you put these chemicals on your skin, however, it is absorbed straight into your blood stream without filtering of any kind, so there’s no protection against the toxin. The five pounds of toxic chemicals per year you may be absorbing from the use of toiletries and beauty products are largely going directly to your delicate organs.”

Ladies, if that doesn’t make you shudder, you might want to check your pulse.

Contrary to popular belief, avoiding these toxins doesn’t mean you can’t “put your face on” in the manner to which you have become accustomed- it just means you have to be a little more conscious of the products you buy.

Exhibit B – PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics: a small (but powerful!) skin care company dedicated to creating cosmetics using non-toxic ingredients that will keep your body safe and healthy. They pride themselves on their slogan: no nasty anything! and also have many vegan-friendly products. In fact, the company willingly discloses their ingredient list and the rating each product received from the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep rating system.

And I haven’t even gotten to the warm-&-fuzzy part yet- “Peacekeeper Cause-Metics is the first cosmetics line to give all of its after-tax distributable profits to women’s health advocacy and urgent human rights issues. Peacekeeper builds a bridge between extraordinary women in the land-of-plenty with extraordinary women who just by chance of birth don’t have our resources or opportunties.”

If you visit the site (and you should, even if you’re not in the market for new lipstick right now) be sure to check out one of the company’s very clever philanthropic endeavors, a campaign against the sex-slave industry, in the Kiss Museum.

- The Team at GenGreen

The Hallmark holiday to end all Hallmark holidays is fast descending upon us- the dreaded St. Valentines Day.

Outfitted with the most horrifying pinks, reds and lace, once a year this day climbs from the bowels of commercialism to haunt us with chemically processed sweets, synthetically stuffed animals, mass produced floral arrangements and a forests’ worth of greeting cards. Not to mention the emotional anguish it can inspire- Will you have a date? Will you go to dinner?And (gasp) will you Get Any?

But who said we can’t have an eco-friendly sense of humor and still celebrate this day of sweetness? Here are the top 5 picks for spicing up your sustainable love life:

1. Slip on the No! Shopping Bag Bra – Triumph International Japan

No it’s not for warding off uninvited advances. Instead the No! is more like “just say no” and is meant to raise awareness to the estimated 30 billion plastic shopping bags used by Japanese consumers. The bra, which comes in red, blue, yellow and pink, can be transformed into a ready-to-use shopping bag with only a few steps, and is also made of polyester fibers recycled from plastic bottles using the company’s EcoCircle recycling system.

2. Light up the Room with a Babeland Massage Candle

These ingenious votive candles not only set the stage for a decadent massage, they deliver it. The melting wax, made of gentle, skin-safe soy, transforms into a warm, deliciously scented massage oil. Blow out the flame, drizzle the warm oil on your lover’s body, and unwind with a massage as good for the body as it is for the soul.

3. Explore your Dark (and Chocolatey) Side

Although it has a controversial history, the cacao bean and the love-handles it’s responsible for are a Valentines’ staple. So why not choose some sweets that are doing good as well as tasting good? Endangered Species Chocolate is a high quality, all-natural, ethically traded treat that uses the universal appeal of chocolate to spread a positive environmental message and provides cacao farmers a fair wage that leads to more sustainable farming practices.

4. Get Drunk on Him

Ladies, I’m not suggesting you don’t hold up your end of the tab. Instead surprise your man with Burt’s Bees Bay Rum Cologne- a refreshing men’s fragrance. Fresh citrus oils of lemon and orange and energizing bergamot are enveloped in the warm, spicy depth of cypress and fir to create a crisp, woodsy scent. Plus, Burt’s Bees is one of those cool companies that disclose their products’ ingredient list and never tests on animals.

5. Stage a Spa-napping

Not literally of course, but every girl (and guy) needs to be whisked away on a fantasy vaca now and then. If you can’t swing the carbon offsets for an out-of-country get away, try something closer to home. The Green Spa Network is a directory of spas around the country that have made a serious comittment to reducing their environmental impact. Green spas (as defined by GSN) are those that have pledged to use toxin-free products and are a haven for getting intouch with your calmer, more natural side.

- The Team at GenGreen

Molten gold being poured into molds for bars in Cajamarca, Peru, comes from a nearby open-pit-mine.

Although I’ve never been the type, I’ve heard that some women consider diamonds their friend. Gold too. Pretty much anything shiny and expensive has tantalized humans of all varieties since the beginning of time.

In recent years, the tragic mining of “conflict diamonds” has come under criticism from some in the jewelery industry, spurring the rise of companies like Brilliant Earth that are dedicated to the safe and fair trade of precious stones and elements. So I won’t touch on that here. But while heading down the street towards the coffee shop the other day, I passed a local jeweler displaying a sign for Eco Gold and was intrigued. Here’s what I found out:

Most gold has been procured through “dirty mining methods” for the past 4500 years, and, instead of declining, these detrimental practices have increased as easily accessible gold deposits have become scarce. Open-pit mining, cyanide heap leaching, and amalgamation are some of the dirty gold practices found throughout the world.

Open-Pit Mining: “In open-pit mining, companies must remove vast amounts of rock and materials and blast the entire site. This leads to the destruction of the environment at the mine site, damage to the surrounding ecosystem, and the opening up of vast craters. Open-pit mines produce eight to 10 times as much waste rubble as underground mines.

After being brought to the surface, the ore must be processed to extract the mineral, which also generates huge quantities of waste. The amount of recoverable metal in even high grade ores is generally just a small fraction of their total mass. Every ounce of gold produced results in 30 tons of mine waste.”

Heap Leaching: Ore containing gold “is crushed, piled into heaps, and sprayed with cyanide, which trickles down through the ore and bonds with the gold. The resulting gold-cyanide solution is collected at the base of the heap and pumped to a mill, where the gold and cyanide are chemically separated. The cyanide is then stored in artificial ponds for reuse.”

“To dispose of the leftover ore contaminated with cyanide and other toxins, also called tailings, a mine gradually constructs a dam. These dams are often structurally unsound. In the last 25 years, dam failures have accounted for three-quarters of all major mining accidents. In 2000, a gold mine resulting from a tailings dam failure in Romania spilled more than 100,000 gallons of cyanide-laced mine waste into the Tisza river, killing 1,240 tons of fish and contaminating the drinking water of 2.5 million people.”

Amalgamation: “…a commonly used gold extraction process that, unleashes widespread mercury contamination and continues to poison local ecosystems. Small scale gold mining often relies on this process to extract gold, releasing vast quantities of mercury vapor into the environment. Mercury vapor has serious health consequences for both animals and humans.”

Though the recent economic decline has definitely taken its toll on the jewelery business, and for many of us buying gold is the last thing on our list of priorities, it’s important to be aware of the environmentally hazardous processes being used to produce it, and to keep them in mind when buying, giving or wearing it.

For more useful information on Eco Gold and dirty mining, check out:

NoDirtyGold.org (Be sure to sign the pledge to end dirty mining practices!)

The Real Price of Gold

Conflict Free Diamond Buying Guide

Image is from NY Times Behind Gold’s Glitter: Torn Lands and Pointed Questions

- The Team at GenGreen

(Quoted portions from BrilliantEarth.com)

Founded on the principles of sustainability and innovation, Knoend Design Company is truly a place where ideas are limitless and alive. Although there are many companies claiming to offer eco-furniture or eco-fashion, Knoend refuses to box themselves in, designing and creating whatever strikes them as a demonstration of “econnovation”- their three-pronged methodology of ecologic, economic and innovation.

According to their site, “Ecodesign is a multi-layered process and must examine the intersecting spheres of influence in these 3 areas. Ecodesign is more than a recycle label, it is a perspective and commitment to design with people, planet, and experience in mind.”

I had the privilege of speaking briefly with a representative of Knoend at the recent San Francisco Green Festival, and the info they provided revealed a wonderfully diverse product line- from lamps to ergonomic rocking seats to handbags made from salvaged parachutes and recycles household fabrics.

“A special limited production of 25 of these Newton handbags were constructed our of the same parachute, and feature the cords as the straps. They also feature international fabrics and coins from the designer’s travels. Each bag is different, and one-of-a-kind.” And compared to some eco-handbags, the Newton design is reasonably priced at only $74.

Knoend is a Carbonfund.org partner and member of 1% for the Planet and Co-op America, a further demonstration that they are committed to improving the planet through ecodesign. Keep them in mind when shopping online this holiday season, and get 30-50% off all Knoend products while supplies last through December 19, 2008.  On top of your discount, they’ll donate an additional 10% of the purchase price to the U.S. Climate Emergency Council – Keep Winter Cold!

- The Team at GenGreen