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Choosing organic cotton toys is the safest bet for the environment and your child's health, as conventional cotton is heavily treated with pesticides and other chemicals.

Find it! Organic cotton toys

Cloth toys can be the green choice for your child, since plastic can leach dangerous chemicals, metal may contain lead, and wooden toys may be made from endangered forests or have been treated with toxic chemicals. Organic cotton, on the other hand, should contain very few additives and is more sustainable when grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.

Before you buy

• Check to see if the product is certified organic, which means that an independent organization has verified that the product meets the standards that have been set for organic products. 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 - Organic Certification for edible crops since cotton seeds and oil are commonly used in food products. Ninety-five 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.
• Similar to purchasing other organic products, making the eco-friendly choice isn't always the cheap choice—expect elevated prices when choosing between synthetic toys and toys made from organic cotton.
• It's possible that a toy made from organic cotton may still contain toxic chemical dyes and printing inks or may have been bleached with chlorine. Check the label or ask the merchant if you are unsure how a product has been colored

Choosing organic cotton toys helps you go green because...

• Products made from organic cotton are not treated with pesticides, fertilizers, or other chemicals, which pollute groundwater, harm ecosystems, and contaminate the environment with health-threatening chemicals.
• Organic farming combats global warming through carbon sequestration.

Organic cotton is grown and processed without dioxin-producing bleach, defoliants, pesticides, insecticides, or artificial fertilizers. Conventional cotton is heavily treated with insecticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.[1] In fact, while only 2.4 percent of farmland worldwide is dedicated to cotton growing, conventional cotton 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] And seven out of the top 15 pesticides used on conventional cotton crops in the US have been identified as human carcinogens by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).[4]

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 alike—including fish, birds, and livestock.[5] The billions of pounds of nitrogen synthetic fertilizers used in conventional cotton farming result in runoff that can create aquatic "dead zones" in waterways.[6] Additionally, up to 70 percent GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) seeds are used in conventional cotton farming in the United States.[7] GMO seeds disrupt ecosystems and displace traditional seeds used by indigenous farmers, destroying biodiversty in the regions where they are used, according to the International Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Forests.[8]

The farming of conventional cotton is also water-intensive. Approximately 400 gallons of water are required to produce a single cotton undershirt.[9] The methods used to color and dye cotton products can also be problematic. Due to cotton's natural resistance to dyes, roughly half the chemicals used as dyes or fixers end up as waste in rivers and soil.[6] Chlorine bleaching releases carcinogenic dioxins, PCBs, DDT, and CFCs. Chlorine is a dangerous environmental toxin: it binds to organic matter, producing organochlorines almost none of which occur in nature on their own. Most organochlorines do not break down in the environment for hundreds of years, and these poisons bioaccumulate, which means that they build up in the bodies of humans and other animals over time. It also depletes the ozone layer, contributing to global warming and climate change.[10]

Organic farming may 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

Controversies

Organic cotton may be chemical-free, but its production still requires significant amounts of water for irrigation.[14] The move toward organic farming has received a fair amount of criticism. Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, believes organic farming techniques to be detrimental to the environment. In a December 2006 issue of The Economist he suggests that the 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.[15]

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 resultant increase in reliance on monoculture cropping and inorganic fertilizer use. 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.[16]

Related health issues

Seven out of the top 15 pesticides used on conventional cotton crops in the US have been identified as human carcinogens by the EPA. The dyes and treatments used on the outside and stuffing of cloth toys may also be carcinogenic.[4] Chemical fabric treatments, pesticides, artificial colors and dyes, and toxic flame retardants may have all kinds of negative health effects, from headaches to serious allergic reactions to cancer and other serious illnesses.[17]

One hundred and seventy-seven organochlorines have been found in the fat, mother's milk, semen, blood, and breath of the human population in Canada and the US. Health effects of organochlorines include hormonal disruption, infertility, disrupted immune systems, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and damage to the skin, liver, and kidneys. Newborns, infants, children, childbearing women, and the elderly are most vulnerable to these health impacts.[18]

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.
• dioxin: Dioxins are extremely persistent chemical compounds that are created inadvertently by human activities like incineration and fuel combustion. Dioxins break down slowly so they persist in the environment for many years. Exposure to dioxins may cause adverse health effects, such as cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, and skin disease.
• carcinogens: Any substance that causes cancer.
• genetically modified organism: A genetically modified organism, or GMO, is created by merging the genetic make-up of two organisms, resulting in a desired byproduct that could otherwise not be found in nature. Engineering GMOs is a common practice in conventional farming, and studies have shown that GMOs pose significant environmental risks such as killing off living, natural organisms and becoming immune to pesticides.
• organochlorines: Organochlorines are compounds that contain carbon, chlorine and hydrogen. Their chlorine-carbon bonds are extremely strong, so they do not break down easily. They are insoluble in water, and are attracted to fats. They have been linked to various health problems.

External links

• Sustainable Cotton - Homepage
• World Health Organization - WHO Pesticides Evaluation Scheme ("WHOPES"): What is WHOPES and what are WHOPES’ objectives?