Are My Clothes Really Organic?

It's come to the attention of many that our world is coming closer and closer to a critical state where we can no longer turn around and try to help it. This realization has spawned a whole new tradition of green and organic clothes, food, toys, and so many other products. However, from this new, heavily marketable trend, come companies looking to do little more than slap a word on their product to make unsuspecting consumers spend more and buy more for what they thought was a product helping the environment.

Of the many organic products, the variety I am going to talk about is organic clothes. How do you know your clothes are really organic? And, is organic just enough? There are a few warning signs to look out for before you spend the extra $10-$100 or more on a possibly shabby product.

We all know people lie, and we know even better than for many companies it's the only reason they make money. To keep yourself informed you should always research the company you buy from before really purchasing the clothes.

To really slap on the label "organic" the company will have to show that they use organic cotton. Now, this is a very good gate to set up, since it does force companies to use at least one organic component in their clothing.

But, did you know, that after this process, it doesn't matter what occurs? They can use the same artificial dyes they did, and the same manufactured enzymes in their clothing? So, while the cotton itself may be real and untampered, that doesn't mean the color isn't artificial.

Take Levi for example. They use organic cotton for their organic line, but they use fake dyes and fake enzymes to soften the denim (since real denim is incredibly stiff and needs to be beaten in, literally, not bathed in chemicals).

While the use of manufactured materials is less, it's not quite as much as other real organic companies.

If the company is unwilling to tell you what they used to make the dyes, either from their website or from a quick email, they are lying to you. Organic companies are proud to say what makes their clothes organic, and they would have no reason to hide this from you unless they knew it was something wrong.

Another thing to look for is if the clothes are fair trade. With the green trend, there is a coupled trend on actually paying factory workers livable wages. While this is implied by the "caring" aspect of organic clothes, it is not always true.

So read and research to make sure the clothes you are getting are really organic, and not just a false label affixed to make you pay more.