| It is no surprise that cotton is one of the most used | | | | aggravate a number of allergies and trigger allergic |
| crops in the world and the idea that cotton is an | | | | symptoms especially if your child suffers from |
| organic product is understandable. After all, it is | | | | asthma or is sensitive to chemicals. Johnson & |
| grown from the earth, it is a traded commodity, and | | | | Johnson states that a baby's skin is thinner, more |
| humanity has been growing and utilizing cotton for | | | | fragile, and less oily than adult's skin. This means that |
| ages. However, did you know that no other crop | | | | your baby's skin is much more sensitive to these |
| uses more chemicals to cultivate cotton? As a | | | | harmful chemicals. Also, your baby's skin is less |
| matter of fact, the vast majority of cotton that is | | | | resistant to the harmful environmental substances |
| available is not natural as they have been genetically | | | | especially if the skin is irritated. This means that your |
| modified and saturated with many chemicals. | | | | baby is at a greater risk of pesticide related health |
| Cotton crops account for about 2.5 percent of | | | | problems than you are. |
| cultivated land in the world but it also accounts for | | | | One factor that many parents bring up is that there |
| about 25 percent of all the pesticides that are used. | | | | are conventionally grown cotton products out on the |
| To put in another way, for every pair of jeans and | | | | market that is labeled "EPA-Approved." However, the |
| t-shirt that is produced, about 1 pound of pesticides | | | | problem is that the pesticides that were used to |
| and chemical fertilizers are used to produce those | | | | cultivate the cotton were registered with the EPA |
| items. This makes conventionally grown cotton the | | | | long before any proper research was conducted to |
| very definition of a chemically dependent crop. | | | | see if there were any adverse affects of employing |
| Organic cotton, on the other hand, uses agricultural | | | | such pesticides. In other words, the EPA approved |
| methods that sustain soil fertility and causes hardly | | | | these pesticides before extensive research was done |
| any damage to the environment. | | | | that linked these chemicals to cancer and other |
| What about the pests that hinders cotton cultivation? | | | | diseases. |
| How do organic cotton farmers deal with insect | | | | All of this is not meant to scare you into buying |
| pests as well as weeds? The answer lies in the | | | | clothing made from organic cotton for your child. |
| development of innovative techniques that do not | | | | Many parents still buy clothes for their children made |
| employ the use of harmful chemicals. Organic farmers | | | | from conventionally grown cotton and that does not |
| typically cultivate natural enemies of these pests such | | | | mean they are not good parents or they love their |
| as cultivating insects that prey on the pest insects or | | | | children any less than those who choose to buy |
| by planting what are known as "trap crops" to bait | | | | organic cotton clothes. The purpose in writing this and |
| the pests away. The timely introduction of these | | | | making this available to you is to make sure you |
| methods eradicates pests naturally and causes no | | | | have the proper information in case you are |
| harm to the environment. | | | | questioning whether or not buying organic just a |
| As mentioned before, conventionally grown cotton | | | | trendy phase. It is not. It is a great way to make |
| has numerous pesticides, insecticides, and other | | | | sure you are providing the best option for your child |
| harmful chemicals that lie within the fibers. Continual | | | | as well as supporting the work of organic farmers |
| skin contact with these chemically laden fibers can | | | | and their livelihood. |