Organic_Clothing

From the Frying Pan into the Fire

In the previous post, we discussed the possible health consequences from the use of methyl bromides to fumigate wooden shipping pallets that are then used to ship clothing internationally. Pure and healthy organic clothing can become contaminated during shipment on off-gassing wooden pallets fumigated with methyl bromides. Methyl bromide is also a significant contributor to the depletion of the ozone layer and the world community in 1992 committed to phasing-out and eventually banning the use of methyl bromides. The resulting agreement has been called the Montreal Protocol.

Methyl bromides are deadly not just to insects and nematodes but also to people, animals and other wildlife. A highly toxic fumigant that can cause neurological damage and acute respiratory poisoning, methyl bromide is also a suspected carcinogen and it has resulted in the deaths of many people globally. In the U.S., the complete ban of methyl bromide was to become effective 1 January 2005 - with the exception of using methyl bromide to fumigate wooden shipping crates. Not totally unexpectedly, the Bush Administration has been delaying the ban by using a loophole in the Montreal Protocol that allowed exceptions when there were no effective alternatives.

According to recent news from the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA), under guidance from the Bush Administration, is “facilitating a chemical industry and agribusiness effort to introduce an even more severely toxic fumigant, methyl iodide” rather than using this opportunity to move toward healthier and sustainable agricultural practices. PANNA is mobilizing an effort to deny registration of methyl iodide as an agricultural fumigant. It is unclear if methyl iodide is also being proposed as the replacement alternative to fumigate wooden shipping pallets.

And now for a tangent. In this and the previous post, we mentioned that fumigants and pesticides also kill nematodes. Some people wondered what a "nematode" actually is.  Nature is totally stuffed with these fascinating, tiny critters. Nematodes are the most numerous multi-cellular living species on earth. A handful of soil contains thousands of these microscopic wiggly parasites that feed on insects, plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and even other nematodes.

Consisting of about 1,000 somatic cells and a few hundred reproductive system cells, nematodes are basically just a long digestive tube with a personality. Their alimentary canal begins extends from their mouth on the anterior end and extends all the way to their tail on the posterior end. Nematodes have digestive, nervous, excretory, and reproductive systems, but lack discrete circulatory and respiratory systems.

No place on earth is without nematodes ... except for fumigated fields where all life has been poisoned.  Desert ground is as teeming with nematode life as rainforests.  Even the ground under polar ice is rich with nematodes.

Ranging in length from 0.3mm to over 8 meters, the number of different varieties of nematodes is virtually unlimited.  Dr. Nathan Augustus Cobb, regarded as the fond father of nematology, described the vastness of the nematode world:

"In short, if all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognizable, and if, as disembodied spirits, we could then investigate it, we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes, and oceans represented by a film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. The location of the various plants and animals would still be decipherable, and, had we sufficient knowledge, in many cases even their species could be determined by an examination of their erstwhile nematode parasites."

Isn’t that amazing! Our normal perceptions of creation are so very limited. But, the human species just goes around and willy nilly nukes and fumigates and poisons countless forms of life without any realization of the immensity and atrocity of our actions.

Live Gently.

Michael
LotusOrganics.com
Purely Beautiful & Healthy Clothing

Bad Shipping News

Here’s another one of these nasty and unhealthy little secrets that surround global clothing manufacturing. Natural fibers can be grown organically and garments can then be manufactured according to emerging organic guidelines but when the garments are shipped internationally from the garment manufacturer to a distributor or retailer, the garments might become tainted during shipping from pesticides intended to prevent insects, rodents, fungi, nematodes, and various disease causing organisms from accidentally being imported in the shipping materials along with that beautiful organic cotton shirt or merino wool jacket. The most likely culprit in the lineup of usual suspects is Methyl Bromide – aka MeBr, MB, bromomethane, Brom-o-Gask Embafume, Haltox and Zytox.

By the early 1990’s, methyl bromide was one of the top five most widely used pesticides in the world and was used by farmers prior to planting to destroy all fungus, nematodes, micro-organisms, insects, and weeds in the soil. The theory was that this chemically scorched earth policy would then provide a sterile medium into which farmers could plop seeds free from any “foreign” intruders. Of course, the farmers must liberally add synthetic fertilizers so that the seeds would have some nutrition for the tomatoes, strawberries and bell peppers to grow. After these nutrition-less, cardboard veggies were harvested, they would then be gassed with methyl bromide again during packaging for shipping to protect them from pesky insects. Imported foods were routinely gassed with methyl bromides to protect American soil from being contaminated by foreign insects. Methyl bromides were also generously used to fumigate homes and buildings to eradicate termites, insects and rodent infestations.

Methyl bromide is also very toxic to humans and animals. At room temperatures in low concentrations, it is a colorless, odorless gas. At high concentrations, greater than 1,000 ppm, it has a musty or fruity odor. Because Methyl bromide is highly toxic and lacks adequate physiological warning properties, up to 2% chloropicrin is generally added to methyl bromide gas as a warning agent. Chloropicrin is a lacrimator that irritates the eyes and causes tearing.

Common initial symptoms from inhaling smaller amounts of methyl bromide include weakness, despondency, headache, mental confusion, nausea, vomiting, double vision, tremors, lack of co-ordination and slurred speech. Repeated mild exposures accumulate and cause skin rashes.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prolonged and concentrated exposure to methyl bromide can cause injury to the brain and nerves, lungs, throat, kidneys and liver. It can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin and contributes to systemic toxicity and conditions such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Acute exposure can cause severe chemical burns of the skin, eyes and airways, and delayed chemical pneumonia which produces water in the lungs. Overexposure can be fatal and numerous deaths have occurred among farm pesticide appliers, fumigators applying methyl bromides, and building occupants who prematurely reentered fumigated building.

A highly effective and toxic fumigant for controlling a wide variety of pests, methyl bromide was also identified as a contributor to the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and classified as a Class I ozone-depleting substance. By 1991, scientific researchers determined that methyl bromide was destroying the ozone layer at a rate fifty times faster than CFC’s (ChloroFluoroCarbons manufactured under the trade name Freon). The United Nations, through the Montreal Protocol, has signatures from more than 160 countries banning methyl bromide by the year 2015. The Clean Air Act in the U.S. initiated a phase out period beginning in 1999. The amount of methyl bromides produced and imported in the U.S. was incrementally reduced until the phase-out was supposed to be complete on January 1, 2005.  An allowable (but not defensible) exception to the ban on methyl bromides is for their use in fumigating international shipping materials made from wood.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protect Agency (CBP) requires that all wood packing materials such as pallets, crates and boxes used for shipments being imported into the United States be heat treated to a minimum wood core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius (132.8 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes or be fumigated with methyl bromide. Of course, fumigating with nasty methyl bromide is the preferred method and far easier than putting wood crates and pallets in a huge oven to be heated to 133 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Wood is used to help transport 70 percent of cargo shipped around the world so this requirement has significant impact on global shipping.

Similar requirements are being enforced by many governments around the world that contend that the requirements are vital to the welfare of the world’s forests. The United   States adopted quarantine measures to stop the spread of the Asian long-horned beetles in wood packing material from China. China, in return, has requirements for wood packing material from the U.S. that might harbor the pinewood nematode. The European Union adopted regulations to control the spread of the nematode from both the U.S. and China. Any shipments arriving in the United   States with wood packing that has not been properly treated by heat or fumigation is subject to being immediately returned to its country of origin.

Most organic clothing manufacturers and distributors who are importing clothing produced from natural fibers grown to organic agriculture standards and regulations and manufactured according to organic textile guidelines and principles will individually wrap garments in plastic and store the plastic wrapped garments in cardboard boxes before placing them on wooden pallets for shipping to the U.S. If the shippers uses wooden pallets recently fumigated with methyl bromide, the pallets will still be off-gassing the methyl bromide which easily permeates plastic wrapping and even protective materials such as rubber and leather. The result will be that the garments placed nearest the wooden pallets can be contaminated by the off-gassing methyl bromide. This might help explain why some chemically sensitive people will find some imported organic garments intolerable and other similar garments in the same shipment to be comfortable and wearable.

Also, methyl bromide is 3.4 times heavier than air so if there is any free, off-gassed methyl bromide floating around the hull of a container ship or airplane cargo hold, it will collect and concentrate at the bottom of the cargo space where it more likely to contaminate the cargo lower in the shipment. Methyl bromide has also been used to fumigate the cargo holds in ships and aircraft, especially those used to transport fruits and vegetables, to eradicate rodents and other pests. For shipments from developing countries where methyl bromide is still not completely phased out and banned, the use might still continue to varying degrees. Even in the U.S., methyl bromide is not phased out as the Bush Administration has requested numerous exemptions because they claim there are not adequate alternatives. And so the tempo of the global warming dance picks up.

What is the consumer who wants pure and healthy clothing to do? Here are some options:

• Buy organic clothing made in the U.S. Shipments within country are not subject to fumigation. Even clothing purchased from U.S. Internet companies and shipped to other countries via the mail systems is safe from warrantless fumigations.

• Ask your organic clothing retailer if their overseas organic clothing is individually wrapped in protective plastic bags. Even though methyl bromide can pass through plastics, the bag will provide some deterrent and will also protect from other fumes and pollutants emanating from ships, planes and trucks.

• Take a chance. Our experience has been that only about one in every 30 organic garments manufactured overseas and shipped to the U.S. is subjected to levels of chemicals that can be noticed by a chemically sensitive person and the odds are slowly improving. A growing number of importers are shipping on heat treated wooden pallets rather than fumigated wooden pallets and the cost of alternative pallets made from materials which are pest-free is declining thus making them more cost-effective alternatives.

If you do receive a garment that has gained some bad air, it is possible to greatly reduce or eliminate the problem. The good news is that gases such as methyl bromide do not chemically bond with clothing fibers. They just become trapped in air spaces and washing and airing the clothing will remove the pollutants. Clothing should always be laundered after purchasing and before wearing. Imagine the handling and messy environments during manufacturing, shipping, and storage that your new shirt or skirt has endured before arriving in your home.

If you are machine or hand washing your new organic clothes, allow the washing machine or sink to fill with cool water, add your favorite eco-laundry detergent, and allow your new garments to soak for an hour or two before completing the wash cycle. Dry the garment appropriately and then allow the garment to air out for a few hours before wearing or storing in your closet.

People must demand that their governments stop allowing these ecologically disastrous practices.  It really is the responsibility of everyone.

Never stop demanding a healthy world.

Michael
LotusOrganics.com
Purely Beautiful & Healthy Clothing

Stealth Bomb Cellulite Jeans

Oh My … In November 2005, we reported on a new technology, Sensory Perception™ Technology that uses a micro-encapsulation delivery system for textiles that allows fragrances or active ingredients of almost any kind to be chemically trapped inside and then released from clothing, bedding, towels or other textiles over an extended period of time. 

Yesterday, someone pointed out a novel use of this new technology aimed directly at the cellulite crowd. Some clever marketing type decided to put tiny amounts of retinol (a derivative of vitamin A) and chitosan (from shellfish) into the micro-capsules that are then embedded into a pair of jeans. They call this stealth bomb cocktail “skintex” and the combination of retinol and chitosan are supposed to stimulate collagen production and reduce fat. The micro-capsules are very tiny, too small to be seen when embedded into the jeans. When these stealth bomb jeans are worn, body heat and heat from the sun and surroundings will slowly cause the micro-capsules to break open and release their anti-cellulite chemicals to be absorbed by the wearer’s skin. The manufacturers claim that a pair of their jeans will effectively deliver their stealth bomb payloads for 30 to 50 washings and the more you wear them the better for your baggy booty and lunar thighs.

There are plenty of skeptics, including Las Vegas plastic surgeon Jeffrey Roth. “Prove it to me that those two drugs, if you can call it that, actually work. And number two, prove it to me that putting it in a delivery device like a pair of jeans is actually appropriate,” Dr. Roth demanded. Who would know better about cosmetic drugs than a Las Vegas plastic surgeon? Of course, he might feel threatened by this cheap approach to reducing cellulite that cuts him out of the action.

But these jeans are not cheap. MissSixty clothing company has introduced the stealth bomb anti-cellulite jeans at a chubby $139 per pair. And, of course, no results are guaranteed. Dr. Norman Waterhouse of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons stated, “There is no evidence that anything is better at reducing cellulite than going to the gym three times a week.” According to dermatologist Dr. Dennis Gross, “…neither of the ingredients has ever been shown by research to reduce cellulite. And how much could there realistically be in a product that is worn? It couldn’t be dripping medication.” Another dermatologist, Dr. Howard Sobel, suggested “The ingredients have a better change of getting the wrinkles out of the jeans than the cellulite out of your skin.”

Doctors estimate that cellulite affects, to varying degrees, around 90% of women over 30. Cellulite forms when the thin layer of tissue between the fat cells near the surface of the skin become more fibrous, similar to scar tissue. These fibrous tissue areas start to pull together around the fat, causing the tiny dimples and “orange peel” skin texture typical of cellulite. Because everyone’s body has some fat cells, even catwalk models, cellulite can strike anyone. (Pssst...Even Tyra Banks is reported to battle cellulite.) The formation of cellulite is closely linked to the effects of hormones in the body, especially the female sex hormones. Though not as common, men can also develop cellulite.

What these stealth bomb jeans do demonstrate is that technology and marketing can create endless avenues for introducing chemicals into our clothing and through our clothes into our bodies. Already, more than 8,000 different chemicals have been utilized in conventional garment manufacturing. Now, manufacturers have an unlimited avenue for encapsulating even more chemicals that marketers can convince the eager population will make their lives better. As chemical sensitivities are becoming a more prevalent health concern, people are realizing that when it comes to clothing, the more natural and organic the clothing is then the more healthy it is. 

Also, some doctors suspect that cellulite is a symptom of imbalance in the body - possibly of the body's inability to adequately metabolize fats.  It is far more effective and healthier to treat the imbalance which is causing the cellulite rather than using cosmetics on the symptoms.

Enjoy.

Michael
LotusOrganics.com
Purely Beautiful & Healthy Clothing

 

Creating Positive Change Thru Your Closet

Back in the turbulent 1960’s, the battles for social justice and peace were waged in the streets and campuses while their sometimes violent images were splashed across the television headline news. With time, the Hippies morphed into the Yuppies and their children have grown into Generation X and Gen Y. The collective voice for a higher quality of life has perhaps become less strident, but the desires for social justice, a healthy planet, and a pure life filled with happiness and energy are still strong and vibrant. One battle front has quietly moved into our closets. The organic clothing and eco-fashion movement has become a major and largely silent force in improving the life and health of our personal, social and global eco-systems.

When we think about global warming, growing cancer rates, deepening poverty in some of the world’s poorest countries, and even increasing chemical sensitivities, our clothes closets are probably not the first villain that comes to mind, but our clothes can be a significant, quiet co-conspirator.  The global clothing industry has a worldwide Dark Side of which most of us are not aware as we fill our shopping bags with inexpensive cotton shirts from mall clothing stores.  The simple act of conventionally growing and harvesting the one pound of cotton fiber needed to make a T-shirt takes an enormous and devastating toll on the earth’s air, water, and soil that impacts global health.  Also, policies and practices within the cotton industry from crop subsidies to garment sweatshops create poverty and misery that stretch around the world.

Just 2.4% of the world's arable land is planted with cotton yet cotton accounts for 24% of the world's insecticide market and 11% of global pesticides sales, making it the most pesticide-intensive crop grown on the planet.  The environmental damage due to toxic herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, and synthetic chemical fertilizers is significant and sometimes deadly to farm workers and wildlife near the cotton farms. Irrigation and rainwater runoff contain high levels of chemical pollutants which poison streams, rivers, lakes and seep into wells and reservoirs used for community drinking water. Many municipal water treatment centers lack equipment to eliminate these toxic chemicals before they enter city water lines. Residues of pesticides have been measured in human amniotic fluid and they accumulate in fatty tissues and have been found in human breast milk. For the chemically sensitive and everyone concerned about the levels of chemical toxicity that ultimately travel into our bodies, the cotton fields are just the beginning of the long, chemical road to our wardrobes and closets.

Chemical toxins are a growing problem for everyone – you, me, your family, people everywhere. Dr. Dick Irwin, a toxicologist at Texas A&M University, stated that “Chemicals have replaced bacteria and viruses as the main threat to health. The diseases we are beginning to see as the major causes of death in the later part of (the 1900’s) and into the 21^st century are diseases of chemical origin.” The chemical toxic overload growing around us is taking many forms including increases in cancer, asthma, and a condition called Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) which medical researchers believe to arise from a physiology that has been weakened by an overexposure to chemical toxins. This overexposure probably occurs gradually over many years. Researchers have long known that chemical toxins can be stored and accumulated in the fatty tissue and organs such as the liver.  MCS is thought to be a result of the chemical “straw that breaks the back” of our body’s natural ability to purify and remove toxins and it causes a temporary or prolonged breakdown in the body’s natural balance.  Harsh and toxic chemicals from clothing dyes and easy-care clothing finishes can be directly absorbed through the wearer’s skin into the blood system.

The conventional garment industry has been like a silent, global tsunami that endlessly rolls across the world swamping communities in toxic pesticides, dyes, harsh manufacturing chemicals, polluting ground waters, killing wildlife, seriously harming farm workers, often trapping garment workers – many of whom are children – in developing countries to sweatshop conditions while U.S. cotton subsidies to corporate American cotton growers depress global cotton prices to some of the world’s poorest cotton farmers in developing African countries. All this pain is for cheap, easy-care, chain store clothing which has been drenched in harsh and often toxic chemicals. And the final irony is that this chemically-laced conventional clothing then aggravates and helps contribute to growing health problems and chemical sensitivities for the wearer.

Because of the vastness of the global clothing industry, any positive changes that we can produce in our clothes closets will have large rewards. There is a growing movement among fashion designers and independent, organic garment manufacturers to create apparel that is a positive, life supporting and eco-friendly force. Katharine Hamnett, an English fashion designer deeply committed to ethically and environmentally sustainable fashions and recipient of the prestigious British Designer Of The Year Award, recently proclaimed, “I want to prove to the industry that there’s a viable alternative financial model the world can benefit from. The effect of the clothing industry has more impact on climate change than if the entire world signed the Kyoto Agreement.”

Organic clothing has come a long way since the hippie, oatmeal-type of clothes. Linda Loudermilk, another eco-fashion designer of Haute Couture who is capturing global attention stated, “I design to hit people at a gut level; to capture the soul and raw beauty of people and nature. The garments in my fall collection inherently bring up our universal connectedness and our responsibility to take care of each other and the earth. This collection is about the hope in the world and the 'we are all one' spirit.”

The deep desire to improve the quality of life individually and globally is spreading throughout the clothing and fashion world.  Eco-designer to celebrities such as Charlize Theron, Gwen Stefani, Cameron Diaz and Sarah Jessica Parker, Deborah Lindquist simply declared, "I want to do my best to take care of the planet by designing with recycled and eco-friendly materials. I think we all have to start with what we know because it can seem like a daunting task since I feel the world is in crisis. I design clothing, so I figured I'd start there."

You need not be a celeb to begin to transform your clothes closet into a force for positive change. A growing number of organic clothing manufacturers are creating purely beautiful, healthy and practical clothing for everyday life using organic cottons, hemp, wool, alpaca, and newer eco-fibers such as bamboo and soya. As members of the Organic Trade Association, they also actively support the principles of Fair Trade and social justice for all farm and garment workers.

The organic and sustainable clothing industry has become a critical support for the holistic health movement. Yoga, for example, has become immensely popular to improve cardiovascular and respiratory efficiencies while reducing mental stress. It is difficult to imagine doing yoga while wrapped in conventional chemical clothing.

The most practical way to transform your clothes closet from chemical to healthy is one garment at a time. Few can afford a dramatic “everything goes” experience. When you need to replace a garment, replace it with organic. If you are replacing clothing that is still wearable, donate it to a local thrift store or homeless shelter. There are many who need decent clothing even if it is conventionally grown and manufactured. Recycling is an important, eco-friendly principal. When shopping for new apparel, forget the chain store malls and check out local and online organic clothing stores.

Clothing is innately an expression of your values, so if you care about social justice and the environment then make your clothing express those values. Katharine Hamnet expressed it very succinctly, “Are you going to mindlessly go the easy way or are you going to go the ethical way?”

Peace and Love

Michael
LotusOrganics.com
Purely beautiful & healthy organic clothing

More Eco-Fashion Quotes

“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury." Coco Chanel

 

"I want to do my best to take care of the planet by designing with recycled and eco-friendly materials. I think we all have to start with what we know because it can seem like a daunting task since I feel the world is in crisis. I design clothing, so I figured I'd start there."

"Instead of getting a bolt of fabric that anyone down the block could buy, using recycled materials creates a more individual look."

"Because I work with vintage fabrics a lot, I buy what appeals to me personally and the colors in the fabrics make the color palette…I also feel that women look better in color than in too much black; pinks, peaches, corals add more life to your face."

Deborah Lindquist
L.A. eco-designer who frequently uses recycled materials

 

“When in doubt, wear red."

Bill Blass

 

“I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it."

Mae West