A Guide to Buying Earth-Friendly Clothes for Kids

One of the hottest trends right now is the green movement or how we can all lessen our footprint upon the Earth so we can make Earth's resources last longer. It's similar to a savings account of our Earth's resources so there will be enough left for our children and their children and our great grandchildren. A great way to live green is to teach our children to live green. By raising our children's awareness of the different ways to live an Earth-Friendly lifestyle, we are not only making our own footprint upon the Earth smaller but our children's and their children's. It's a positive cycle that helps all of us far into the future. Why would you choose to buy Earth-Friendly clothes for your kids? What exactly makes clothing Earth-Friendly? Where can I find Earth-Friendly clothes for kids? These are a few of the questions that I will answer in this article.

One simple way to help conserve our Earth's resources is by buying Earth-Friendly clothes for our kids. As I mentioned before, teaching our children how to conserve Earth's resources has far-reaching effects, not only in our lifetime but in our children's lifetime and beyond. That's certainly a good reason to buy Earth-Friendly clothing for our children (and even ourselves!). There are other reasons as well though. Earth-Friendly clothing is made from organic materials without the use of pesticides. Fabric can be made from bamboo which can be grown without pesticides plus it grows quickly making it an easily sustainable resource. Another source is cotton, but only if it is grown organically. According to the Earth Easy website, "Cotton is the most pesticide-dependent crop in the world, accounting for 25% of all pesticide use. These chemicals are taking a toll on our environment and human health as a whole. Every T-shirt made of conventional cotton requires 1/4 pound of harmful chemicals...These pesticides deplete the soil and pollute watersheds." Because cotton is so hard on our environment and the Earth, new ways of raising cotton without pesticides are being tried out. This organically grown cotton is raised using such natural remedies as ladybugs to keep harmful pests from destroying the cotton crop.

Bamboo and organically grown cotton is just a couple of the fabrics used today to make fabric for Earth-Friendly clothing. Other organic fabrics include ingeo (made from fermented corn starches); organic hemp; organic linen (made from chemical-free flax plants); organic wool (from sheep that are raised naturally); tencel (made from wood pulp cellulose); and soy fabric (made from soy leftover after tofu and soybean production).

Clothing made with Earth-Friendly fabric is made without the use of harsh dyes which are hard on the environment as well as on sensitive skin. If your child has sensitive skin and you've found that he/she may be allergic to the dyes used in conventional clothing, then you may have found that organic clothing doesn't irritate his/her skin. This is just another reason to make the switch to Earth-Friendly clothing.

Where can you buy Earth-Friendly clothes for kids? Fortunately in today's world, with our awareness of the fragility of the Earth and its limited resources, you can find Earth-Friendly, organic clothing for your children (and yourself) at many different stores. Some of the large stores such as JC Penney and Target now offer a selection of Earth-Friendly clothing.

You can find a selection of organic Earth-Friendly kids clothing at the Target.com website. JC Penney has started their "Simply Green" program with different clothing and other items that are Earth-Friendly and organic. You can tell the items that are Earth-Friendly by finding the "Simply Green" logo on their tag. Check out the JC Penney website for more information and the clothing choices available.

One of the large online retailers that sell a large selection of Earth-Friendly organic clothing for kids is Amazon.com. You can check out what they have to offer at the Amazon.com website. Prices start at about $8.00 and go up.

Another website to find Earth-Friendly clothes for your kids (and yourself) is called World of Good by eBay. The eBay Company and sellers have teamed up to offer products that are Eco-Friendly and organic to do their part to help save the Earth's resources. You can find the clothing available at worldofgood.com.

An online store that offers a huge assortment of all things green, organic, eco-friendly and Earth-Friendly is the ExclusivelyGreenMarket.com. They sell an entire line called Earth Friendly Children with products such as lead free toys, bibs and blankets, clothes, diapers, toiletries, and footwear. Plus while you are shopping for Earth Friendly clothes for kids, you can shop for personal care items and clothing for yourself as well.

There are an amazingly large number of websites that sell Earth-Friendly clothing for children. Some of them include EarthFriendlyGoods.com which is similar to ExclusivelyGreenMarket.com in that they sell many different Earth-Friendly items. You can find their children's clothing choices here. There is also EcoBodyWear.com which sells organic clothing for children, babies and the entire family. Other websites that sell Earth Friendly, organic clothing can be found in the resources guide at the end of this article.

One extremely easy way to buy Earth-Friendly clothing for your kids is to buy recycled or used clothing from different places such as thrift stores or yard and garage sales. You can also check out the internet for your local freecycle.com and find clothing for free. We have used our local freecycle.com to both offer clothing (and other items) to people and to receive children's clothing. We have three boys so we also do "hand-me-downs" for the youngest two boys which saves us money and keeps us from consuming more of our Earth's resources. It takes a little extra effort to buy Earth-Friendly clothing for your kids but it's more than worth it. The Earth's resources are being saved AND you are teaching by example and sending the message to your children that you are concerned about conserving the Earth's dwindling resources for the future.

Resources:
ButterflyMaidens.com. Earth-Friendly Clothing for Kids.
EarthEasy.com. Organic Cotton Clothing.
FairiesDance.com. Eco-Clothes for Kids.
FawnandForest.com. Children's Clothing.
Kate Quinn Organic Clothing for Kids.
Ohio State University. "Recycling Clothing Using Your Sewing Skills" by Barbara H. Drake.
Organicasm. "How to: Get Great Deals on Organic Clothing - 25 Tips and Resources" by Christina Laun.
PeacefulDisorder.com. Children's Pants and Tops.
Science News for Kids. "Earth-Friendly Fabrics" by Emily Sohn.
Science News for Kids: TeacherZone: Earth-Friendly Fabrics Quiz Sheet.
WeartheEarth.com. Eco Friendly Clothing from Mother Nature.