Are you interested in organic fibers, fabrics, and
apparel?
First of all, what is organic clothing?
Organic cotton is grown using methods and materials that have
a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and
maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and
fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Organic cotton is
grown without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic
fertilizers. In addition, federal regulations prohibit the use of genetically
engineered seed for organic farming. All cotton sold as organic in the United
States must meet strict federal regulations covering how the cotton is
grown.
How are organic fabric standards
created?
Third-party certification organizations verify that organic
producers use only methods and materials allowed in organic
production.
The Global Organic Textile Standard International Working
Group is comprised of four reputed member organizations, namely OTA (USA), IVN
(Germany), Soil Association (UK) and JOCA (Japan), which contribute to the
GOTS, together with further international stakeholder organizations and
experts, their respective expertise in organic farming and environmentally and
socially responsible textile processing.
Starting point of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
development was the Intercot Conference 2002 in Düsseldorf (Germany),
where a workshop was launched with representatives of organic cotton producers,
the textile industry, consumers as well as standard organizations and certifiers
who discussed the need for a harmonized and world-wide recognized organic
textile standard. At that time numerous different standards and draft standards
existed in the niche market of organic textiles. The different standards caused
confusion with (the few) producers, retailers and consumers who were interested
in this field and they were an obstacle to international exchange and
recognition of organic textiles.
As a concrete result of the workshop the International
Working Group on Global Organic Textile Standard (IWG) was founded with the aim
to continuously work on harmonization of the various regional approaches and to
develop a set of Global Standards.
The Global Organic Textile Standard
(GOTS) is recognized as the world's
leading processing standard for textiles made from organic fibers. It
defines high-level environmental criteria along the entire organic textiles
supply chain and requires compliance with social criteria as
well.
Only textile products that contain a minimum of 70% organic
fibres can become GOTS certified.
All chemical inputs such as dyestuffs and auxiliaries used must meet certain
environmental and toxicological criteria. The choice of accessories is limited
in accordance with ecological aspects as well. A functional waste water
treatment plant is mandatory for any wet-processing unit involved and all
processors must comply with minimum social criteria. The key criteria of GOTS,
its quality assurance system and the principles of the review and revision
procedure are summarized in their general
description section.
Learn more about organic
fashion and fabrics here on Apparel Search.
Thank you for taking the time to read our organic fashion blog post. We hope that you have found this news to be informative. If you have comments or questions, please add your thoughts in the discussion area below.