Organic cotton: good for your health and the Earth
During the past few years, the fashion industry has gained itself a bad reputation, with so many brands exploiting their workers and using unsustainable materials.
We believe that things can and should be different and founded Woron to drive positive change. We said no to fast fashion and toxins. For us, slow and timeless fashion is the way to go.
Our sustainable everyday essentials are designed and manufactured to stay in your wardrobe season after season, ensuring your comfort and boosting your mood. With our pieces, we hope to help you build a more personal relationship with your clothes.
Our organic cotton is a perfect metaphor for our ethos, as it is sustainable, ethically made, and safe. In this blog post, we would like to tell you a bit more about our organic cotton, answer common questions and tell you why this material is excellent for your skin and the planet too.
What Is Cotton Made of?
Cotton is made from the seed-hair fiber of the several cotton plant species of the genus Gossypium in the family Malvaceae, the same as cacao and hibiscus.
With a global production of around 26 million mt and a market share of approximately 23% in 2019, cotton is the second most utilized fiber globally in terms of volume.
Gossypium hirsutum, a species of cotton native to Mexico and grown for both fiber and seeds, is the most widespread type, accounting for 90% of global production.
For cotton, proper flowering and bud formation occur when the day temperature is higher than 20°C and the night temperature is higher than 12°C.
It then takes between 50 and 60 days for the flower to turn into a boll. To make the fabrics that are used to manufacture clothes and accessories, the fiber from the boll is cleaned, spun, and then woven or knitted.
Is Cotton Bad for The Environment?
Unfortunately, conventional cotton is quite bad for the planet. Cotton production takes up only 2.5% of our planet’s arable land but is responsible for the global use of 10% of all agricultural chemicals.
Additionally, the unfortunately frequent poor management practices make cotton a water-intensive crop. The result is that globally cotton fabrics have an average water footprint of 9982m3 ton−1.
Organic Cotton - An Eco-friendly Fiber
So, do we have to give up on cotton entirely? Absolutely not! It is indeed possible to do things differently.
Unlike its conventional counterpart, organic cotton is kind on the soil. Thanks to organic farming practices such as composting, recycling crop residues, and crop rotation, organic cotton farming increases the amount of organic matter and carbon in the soil.
Organic Cotton Is Good for The Skin
The skin is the largest organ of our body and a very important one too. In fact, our skin acts as a flexible, watertight, and airtight barrier between our other organs and the outside, providing crucial protection against physical, mechanical, and thermal injuries. Needless to say, we just couldn’t live without our skin protecting us. But who is protecting our skin? The answer is us. It’s our job to take care of it if we want to make sure that it keeps on doing its job well. You already know how: drink enough water, wear sunscreen and eat your fruit and veggies.
An aspect many forget when it comes to skin health, though, is the clothes we wear, as they too can play a significant role.
Research shows that there are risks of transfer, penetration, and accumulation of Benzothiazole (BT) from textiles to our skin. This organic heterobicyclic compound and its derivatives are frequently used as biocides, fungicides, herbicides, dyes, and stabilizers in textiles. Sadly, they have been shown to inflict adverse effects on human health and the environment.
When it comes to health, it is better to play it safe and not take any risks. Therefore, it’s important to wear only clothes made following strict environmental and health protocols.
Here at Woron, we take your health and well-being seriously. Even more so because of how vital good underwear is for one’s health and comfort.
That’s why we only use sustainable, toxin-free, and plant-based materials.
One of them is our GOTS-certified cotton. The certification ensures that the organic fibers our textiles are made of are natural and free from synthetic pesticides, herbicides, GMOs (Genetic Modified Organisms), and insecticides.
By using organic cotton, we at Woron can offer you everyday essentials with all the benefits of this popular material, such as its softness and breathability, without the environmental downsides of the conventional kind.
This unique mix of qualities makes organic cotton a fantastic fabric for underwear, which is what our bodies need and deserve!
We used organic cotton to make all the pieces from our Organic Cotton Collection, which includes sustainable classics like the brief Core and the soft-bra Core.
Here at Woron, we love to share the behind-the-scenes with you because we are changing things together as a community of slow fashion lovers. Thanks for coming along today for this little journey. We hope to see you soon!
- The Woron team