Your Baby’s skin is 5 times thinner than yours so what you place against your baby’s skin is very important. Cotton is one of the worlds most controversial crops and can be harmful to the health of your baby. When cotton is produced, more chemicals are used per unit area than any other crop - accounting for 16% of the world's pesticides ("Picking Cotton Carefully,” Institute of Science in Society, March 2007).These harmful chemicals cause water and air pollution, polluting the land, killing plants and animals, and causing illness and even death for farmers and workers.
Organic cotton clothing is made from cotton grown without pesticides or chemical insecticides. It is also made from cotton plants which have not been genetically modified. Growing organic cotton without chemicals means that not only is it safer for the farmers and workers who grow and harvest the crops but the land is not damaged by over use of chemicals and the farming is more sustainable in the long term.Organic farming uses crop rotation on the farmland and natural fertilisers instead of chemicals and artificial fertilizers. Biological pest control (using one species to eat the species destroying the crop), is used instead of harmful chemical alternatives. As well as being better for the environment, organic cotton is often bought directly from the farmer or a local co-operative. This means a fairer deal and more income from the crop for those who farm it.
Before clothes reach the rack at the shopping mall, they usually go through a number of chemical processes. They are dyed or bleached, and some of the chemicals used have been connected to allergies. Some clothes go through more processing than others, such as easy-care fabrics. The process they go through to make them easy-care is not easy on the environment because it releases formaldehyde and ammonia. These chemicals can irritate kids with sensitive skin. As well, insecticides and fungicides are sometimes sprayed on fabric to preserve them while they sit in warehouses.