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Buy organic jeans to support chemical-free, sustainable cotton farming methods.

Find it! Organic jeans

When it comes to the current state of denim fashion, green is the new black. In tandem with emerging consumer demand for luxury denim lines, the fashion world has embraced jeans made from organic cotton and other eco-friendly fibers, proving that sustainability and style are not mutually exclusive. To complement a growing number of natural denim labels, established and emerging jeanswear brands—from old-school American outfitters Levi's to Italian fashion houses such as Replay and Diesel to rising Swedish line Nudie Jeans Co.—are adding organic pieces to their ready-to-wear repertoires. Below are a sampling of labels, both international and domestic, producing organic jeans.

Before you buy

Cash constraints: Similar to purchasing other organic products, making the eco-friendly choice isn't always the cheap choice—expect elevated prices when choosing between non-natural clothing and clothing made from organic materials. This is especially true with denim as many organic lines are produced by premium designer brands that boast high prices to begin with. For example, a pair of men's Levi's Vintage Straight 539 Jeans cost $48 while Levi's eco Slim Straight 514 Jeans cost $68. Levi's Skinner Jeans, part of the company's {Capital E} premium line, cost $165.

Support socially conscious businesses: Some designers contribute a portion of their proceeds to environmental or social causes. Del Forte Denim, for example, has partnered with the Sustainable Cotton Project and Mission Playground through its S.E.E.D. program, pledging 1 percent of sales to environmental groups. Edun, operating as a for-profit business, aims to both endorse global organic farming and encourage trade in Africa as a means of lifting the continent out of poverty.

Buying organic jeans helps you go green because…

• Organic jeans are crafted from cotton farmed using sustainable methods that do not pose environmental harm to ecosystems, wildlife or humans.
• Organic farming combats global warming through carbon sequestration.

Jeans made from organic fibers are higher-priced and, in turn, are considered luxury clothing items. The market for luxury—or premium—denim is growing. It is reported that department store sales of women's jeans costing $100 or more jumped from $165 million to $203 million, an increase of 23 percent, for the sales year ending in November 2006.[1]

The production of conventional cotton involves several serious environmental problems—overuse of chemicals and water being the two biggies—most of which the organic cotton industry is trying to solve. Another eco-boon for the organic cotton movement: carbon sequestration.

Conventional cotton's environmental hurdles

The detrimental environmental impact of the denim industry is rooted in the harvest and production of conventional cotton, considered to be the world's most pesticide-intensive crop. While only 2.4 percent of farmland worldwide is dedicated to cotton, it accounts for 24 percent of global insecticide sales and 11 percent of global pesticide sales.[2] In total, $2 billion worth of chemicals are sprayed on global cotton crops each year, almost half of which are classified as hazardous by the World Health Organization.[3] The various chemicals used to treat conventional cotton can harm beneficial insects and soil micro-organisms, pollute ground and surface water, and adversely affect the health of humans and wildlife—including fish, birds, and livestock—alike.[4] Additionally, up to 70 percent of seeds used in conventional cotton farming in the United States are genetically modified organisms (GMOs).[5] The production of jeans is also water intensive. It requires an estimated 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to create a single pair of jeans.[6]

The environmental benefits of organic cotton

Along with eschewing the use of chemicals and GMOs, organic cotton production nurtures soil health and fosters biologically diverse agriculture.[7] From 2000 to 2001, an estimated 14 million pounds of organic cotton was harvested in twelve countries—about 0.03 percent of total global cotton production. The United States and Turkey were the top growers, producing 79 percent of the world's organic cotton supply (along with China and India) for the 2005-2006 harvest.[8] Domestically, Texas is the leading organic cotton producing state. In the US alone, 6,577 acres of organic cotton were planted in 2005.[9] Despite being a leading producer, there are only twelve organic-certified cotton producers in the country and domestic cotton farming—both conventional and organic—is in decline.[10]

To gain official organic certification in the US by a government-approved certifier, cotton must adhere to the same criteria established by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for edible crops since cotton seeds and oil are commonly used in food products: 95 percent of the ingredients must be grown in soil that has been free of toxic pesticides and fertilizers for a minimum of three years and cannot contain GMOs.[11] So, while the cotton fiber used to make clothing can be certified as organic under USDA standards, an organic certification program for the clothing itself has not been established.[12] Furthermore, it is possible for a piece of USDA "Certified Organic" cotton clothing to contain 100 percent organic cotton but also contain harmful chemical dyes and finishes.[13]

As reported by the Organic Trade Association's 2004 Manufacturer Survey, sales of organic cotton fiber grew a total of 22.7 percent from 2002 to 2003. Sales peaked at around $85 million dollars. In that period, organic men's clothing grew by 11 percent and organic women's clothing grew by 22 percent. It was estimated that the total sales of organic fiber products in the US would grow an average of 15.5 percent each year from 2004 to 2006.[14]

Organic farming and global warming

Organic farming may also be key in fighting global climate change. During a 23-season study of conventional versus organic farming methods, the Rodale Institute discovered that organic farming combats global warming through carbon sequestration.[15] In agricultural applications, the more organic matter that is retained in the soil, the more carbon is sequestered. While conventional farming depletes organic matter through the use of chemical fertilizers, organic farming uses animal manure and cover crops, which actually build soil organic matter.

Organic farming further reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) by using 37 percent fewer fossil fuels than conventional farming.[16] The Rodale Institute estimates that if all 160 million acres of corn and soybean farmland in the US were switched to organic farming methods, it would be equivalent to removing 58.7 million cars from the road, and would satisfy 73 percent of the proposed US Kyoto targets for CO₂ reduction.[17]

Other denim dangers

Most jeans, including many made from organic cotton, are dyed using synthetic indigo—a petroleum derivative—to achieve their iconic blue coloring. Creating the synthetic indigo and then turning it into a dye requires the use of hazardous chemicals including hydrogen cyanide and heavy metals.[18] Some organic jean makers use a "low impact dye" that requires the same toxic chemicals, but it's absorbed better and a bleaching agent such as hydrogen peroxide is used in place of chlorine. Two brands that use natural indigo in place of synthetics are Howies and Nudie Jeans Co.[19]

Controversies

Questioning organic farming's land-use efficiency

The move towards organic farming has received a fair amount of criticism. Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, believes that organic farming techniques are detrimental to the environment. In a December 2006 issue of ÿ65ÿThe Economistÿ66ÿ he suggests that low yields from organic farming results in the destruction of more land, while the use of synthetic fertilizers allows farmers to harvest vast amounts of, for example, cotton, in a small area of cultivated land.[20] Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on high-input crops that have increased world food supply, but has been criticized because of the resulting increase in reliance on monoculture cropping and inorganic fertilizer use.[21] His stats have also been challenged by a 2008 report by the Agronomy Journal, which concluded that many organic, low-input crops can yield as much dry matter as conventional crops (and sometimes more) given the right weed control conditions.[22]

Outsourcing organic cotton production

The domestic cotton industry has felt pressure in recent years as the US apparel industry—from milling to sewing to the planting and harvesting of cotton—is outsourced to countries that can grow fibers and produce garments at a lower cost. Fashion companies often turn to cheaper offshore growers in India, for example, for organic fiber. Apparel firms may be interested in buying organic cotton fiber from domestic farmers, but are likely to find it more cost-effective to ship the fiber overseas to be milled and sewn, and then ship it back for sale, an environmentally impractical, fuel-intensive process.[10]

Glossary

• carbon sequestration: The process by which carbon is captured (in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere and incorporated into soil, ocean, and plant matter.
• genetically modified organism (GMO): Created by merging the genetic makeup of two organisms to create a desired byproduct that could otherwise not be found in nature. Using genetically modified seed is a common practice in conventional farming. Studies have shown that GMOs pose significant environmental risks and cause some insects which feed on GM crops to become resistant to pesticides.
• hydrogen cyanide: Hydrogen cyanide is a highly poisonous chemical compound used in dyeing, explosives, engraving and tempering steel.

External links

• fiftyrx3
• Blue Jeans Blog
• Style Will Save Us
• Sustainable Cotton Project
• Sustainable Style Foundation
• S4 Fashion industry newsletter reporting on sustainability trends in fashion. Issue #4: The Denim Issue.
• Summer Rayne Oakes Personal blog of model, activist, and author of eco-fashion newsletter, S4