Cotton History

Cotton has been used to make very fine lightweight cloth in areas with tropical climates for millennia. The earliest reference to cotton is in India. Cotton has been grown in India/Pakistan for more than 6,000 years since the pre-Harappan period, and it is later referred to in the Rig-Veda, composed in 1500 BC. A thousand years later, the famous Greek historian Herodotus wrote about Indian cotton: "There are trees which grow wild there, the fruit of which is a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep. The Indians make their clothes of this tree wool". (Book iii. 106)

During the late mediaeval period, cotton became known as an imported fibre in northern Europe, without any knowledge of what it came from other than that it was a plant; people in the region, familiar only with animal fibres (wool from sheep), could only imagine that cotton must be produced by plant-borne sheep. John Mandeville, writing in 1350, stated as fact the now-preposterous belief: "There grew there India a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungrie.". This aspect is retained in the name for cotton in many European languages, such as German Baumwolle, which translates as "tree wool".
Today cotton provides half of all textiles. Cotton is grown on about 125,500 square miles worldwide. That is an area roughly the size of New Mexico. In the US cotton, is grown on about 22,000 square miles, roughly the area of Maryland, Vermont and Connecticut, all together. Over 40 billion pounds is grown annually. The business revenue generated, over $50 billion dollars in the U.S. alone, is greater than that of any other field crop.

Cotton, the not so natural fiber

Cotton's effect on the environment has been devastating. Here in the U.S., 53 million pounds of toxic pesticides are applied each year to conventional cotton fields. Cotton uses less than 5% of the Earth's agricultural land, yet it consumes 25% of the chemicals applied.

In growing conventional cotton, it takes 1 pound of chemicals to produce three pounds of cotton - enough to make a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Not only are huge amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides used on cotton, but defoliants, cousins of Agent Orange, are also applied during the harvesting. And that is only the beginning. In the spinning, weaving, dying, and curing process another arsenal of toxic chemicals are used in conventional cotton. There is a growing percentage of the population that has become so chemically sensitive that wearing conventional cotton immediately brings hives and swelling to their body.

Cotton’s sustainable future

The organic approach starts with a holistic vision of the farm. The farm is seen as a living organism, not a factory, whose care and long term health is in the hands of the farmer. The bottom line is important, but it is not the only measure of success. Under the farmer's stewardship the farm is cultivated to be healthy, sustainable, and beautiful. The tools the organic farmer uses are always sensitive to the inter-relatedness of all aspects of the farm. This includes the use of all organic soil additives, the practices of composting, inter-cropping, and crop rotation. The organic farmer watches his farm and always acts with appropriateness through the diversity of the crops and animals he raises. The organic farmer is at the center of a delicate balance between science and art, economics and life.

Organic cotton is already successfully being grown in 18 countries around the world, including the USA, Turkey, India, Peru, Israel, Egypt and Uganda. The USA has been the initiator in cultivation, though the marketplace here has been limited. Currently about 16,000 acres of organic cotton are being planted in the US. 900 acres of organic cotton were planted in 1990, 3,290 in 1991. It reached a peak in 1995 with 25,000 acres planted. But the market collapsed as supply began to exceed demand. Much of the crop had to be sold at conventional prices and so the farmers lost money. In 1997 planted acres dropped to 9,000. Today, the market is again growing.

Despite this growth, organic cotton currently amounts to about .1% of the acres grown in the USA. We believe that this is only the beginning. With support, the farmers could turn that amount into 20% or 40% or more. The question we must ask is, "If organic cotton can be grown, why isn't organic cotton clothing more readily available?" Ten years ago that same question was asked about organic foods in general. Now organic produce is available in nearly every supermarket from California to Maine.

This article was built from sources found at wikipedia and mindfully.org

You can’t get an iPod built from sustainable materials (yet) but you can get a case made from recycled billboard vinyl.

The I-Pod/Cell Phone Case from Vy&Elle has a padded vinyl front and back, snug sides of black elastic and attaches to clothing with a vinyl-covered belt clip on the back.

Greenloop has been carrying Vy&Elle since we opened and their products are top quality. They use vinyl billboards from around the nation which would usually be discarded into landfills where they create toxic pollution. Instead, the strength of PVC vinyl makes it an ideal material for reuse. And because of the different images printed on the vinyl, it's even more interesting as a fabric. It offers colorful graphics that take urban art into everyday living. Each bag and accessory item has its own unique "one of a kind" look without the high designer price. With random colors and designs, every product made is different, offering a chance to carry a piece of art on a shoulder, in a pocketbook or in the home.

The iPod case from Vy&Elle is available from Greenloop for $22.00 US.

Eco-fashion has been a hot topic lately, even in mainstream media with Green issues by Elle,Vanity Fair & Wired magazine in April & May this year, and in the last year, the movement and those behind it have received coverage in other publications such as Newsweek, USA Today, Lucky Magazine, and more!

The recent buzz is all about celebrities, politicians, trend-setters, and every day people looking to help move us toward a greener more sustainable economy and way of life are using their dollar to vote. In the eco-fashion world these last couple months, it's all about Loyale, featured in the May issue of Elle, April issue of Shape (Ibiza Dress), and the April issue of Plenty (Ibiza Dress). Stay tuned for tidbits on who's sporting hemp jeans or slathering on organic she butter. Does it matter who's wearing what? Nah, but it is sorta fun to know, and hey, if it supports the cause, we are all for it! Send us your green fashionitsa/o scoop and maybe we'll include it here!

This post was taken from the first edition of our monthly eco-fashion newletter "In the Loop" Click here to sign up and we will keep you up to date on the Buzz in green fashion news, show you what's new at Greenloop, give you the insider's view on what's coming, and will contain a special offer or coupon ONLY for subscribers to In The Loop!

Green Toe is a new line of shoes by California based shoe company, Simple. Here is what they have to say: “It is pretty hard to find comfortable shoes that don’t force you into some stereotype or just look stupid. So we started Simple, a nice little shoe company that offers an alternative to all the over-built, over-priced, and over-hyped products out there. How we do this is just as important as why we do it. Sure, we want to make a difference. But we want to make things better too. Better for the people we work with and better for the planet we live on. That means change. Changing the things we take from the planet. Changing the things we make. And changing the things we waste.

Our future and our existence demand more than we have given. And taken. It is our mission is to leave the world better than we find it. ‘Cause what we stand for is what we stand in and what we stand on.”

Select Green Toe styles for men & women will be available at www.thegreenloop.com starting June 1, 2006.

ABC Los Angeles did a nice job covering the movement this week and you can watch it online. The highlight of the piece is an interview with Linda Loudermilk. Watch it now.

This stuff is kind of dated but fun to look at, check out this slide show from FutureFashion 2005 at the verdopolis Web site.

Armani is and so are American companies (Strauss, Gap, Nike and Marks & Spencer) doing business in Italy.

According to Gabriella Foglio, an activist with Italy's biggest environmental group, Legambiente “..not all companies are willing to renovate themselves to reduce their environmental impact. There isn't a strong market in Italy for selling eco-fashion, or consumers who can pay more for 'green' clothing," she said.

Read the full Inter Press Service News Agency article.

It has been a huge effort and we still have a ton of inventory to add but we have officially launched our new site. We will be adding inventory on a daily basis from now until the end of May so check back often.

http://thegreenloop.com

We would love to hear what you think so feel free to add comments here or send them over to contact@thegreenloop.com

From the dailyemerald.com article "Designer presents on eco-fashion" By Christopher Funk

Cohen, a fashion designer from New York, who moved to Oregon from Italy to be a part of what she calls the "center for sustainability," has worked with major fashion designers and companies such as Max Mara, Patrizia Pepe, Guess and Binicocchi. Cohen gave a presentation on globally responsible fashion Tuesday night in front of roughly 50 students, faculty and community members.

&qout;I want my company to be on the forefront of moving both fashion design and the global fashion industry toward more sustainable practices that support environment and social justice, to creating cutting edge design using globally responsible business practices,&qout;

Read the article

Shop Anna Cohen