Organics & Premature Babies
What’s the Fuss About Organic?
Organic cotton clothing is clothing that has been made from cotton that has been grown from non-genetically modified seed and in a pesticide free environment. To be certified as ‘organic’ a producer of organic cotton must meet certain standards. These standards state what a grower must do in order to produce cotton that can be certified as organic. In short, just because someone says it is organic, doesn’t mean that it is. There are things that growers must do to prove their product is truly organic.
The Benefits of Organic Cotton
Organic cotton has three main benefits – environmental, individual health and population health benefits. Environmental benefits are that the growing of cotton certified as organic uses no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Even plant based fertilizers are carefully regulated under the standards. This means that as fewer chemical components are used to grow cotton, chemicals do not run off into the soil, our waterways, rivers and oceans. Essentially, it’s better for the planet.
Individual benefits of organic cotton are that people who have allergies to certain chemicals and fibres can benefit from using this product. People can absorb toxins through their skin and some of the artificially produced herbicides. The use of organic cotton minimizes the risk of these toxins being present and hence being absorbed by the skin. Cotton farming itself is a big industry and the ‘chemically reliant’ methods of farming use vast amounts of chemicals. Some people suggest that the use of these pesticides is limited as they run off into the environment, are blown away by the wind and, worse, build resistance in insect populations so that new, or more types of pesticides are required. This affects the populations that both live on, near and around cotton farms, and those that buy these products.
Clothing for Babies and Organic Cotton
Given the known benefits of organic cotton and the reduced risk of exposure to chemicals, the benefits of buying organic cotton clothing for babies are numerous. These include:
- reduced risk of exposure for babies to chemicals used in production processes
- reduced risk of the development of allergies to synthetically produced materials
- reduced risk of exposure to contaminants found in non-organic farms such as nickel, lead etc
- improving the state of the environment for the next generation through less use of harmful chemicals
- supporting farmers using sustainable methods of farming and farm management
- a high quality product not exposed to rendering techniques such as bleaching or softening
- being a high quality product it will not need to be replaced as often as other conventionally produced types of cotton clothing.
Earlybirds produces a beautiful range of organic cotton clothing for small and premature babies. Earlybirds Organics range is unisex and is available in sizes from 800gms to newborn. You can view their collection of organic clothing for premature and small babies here.