Try something new this year when planning your fall wardrobe this year: buy organic cotton or hemp clothes.

Cotton is the most common fiber in the world, providing the foundation for soft and functional clothes. However, the comfort of traditional cotton has high environmental costs. Cotton alone accounts for 25% of the global insecticide and 10% of the pesticide use. To put it into perspective, each t-shirt requires ¼ pound of harmful chemicals. In the United States, 50 million pounds of pesticides are used each year on cotton crops, resulting in water, soil, and air pollution.

Pesticides soak into the soil or are washed off the surface by rain and can contaminate groundwater, streams, and rivers. There, fish and other aquatic species absorb the pesticides, which either kills the animal or accumulates in its system to be passed on to its predators, such as larger fish that humans consume.

Pesticides also harm bees, birds, butterflies, and bats when ingested during the pollination process. These pollinators are critical to fruit and seed formation, but they are disappearing because of habitat loss, pesticide poisoning, and disease. Animals pollinate ¾ of the world’s staple crops and 90% of all flowering plants, making it increasingly difficult for natural pollination to occur as their numbers decline. Birds also eat the sprayed plants and can transfer pesticide residues over long distances during migrations.

Organic cotton does not use harmful pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers. Farming organic cotton allows for more crop rotation, which allows the soil to replenish nutrients and thus yield a higher quality fiber. In addition, organic cotton generally requires less water than conventional cotton.

The Georgia Conservancy does not endorse any of the following companies, but each offers organic cotton clothing:

American Apparel - selection of men, women, and children’s clothes.
Gaiam - provides clothing, sheets, and towels in organic cotton and hemp.
Patagonia - all cotton clothing is made from organic cotton, sells men, women, and children’s clothes.
PrAna - offers some selections for men and women’s active clothes.
Sahalie - offers a selection of men and women’s outdoor clothing.
Wal-Mart - moving toward offering more organic clothing for all members of the family. A few baby items are available on their website.

An alternative to organic cotton clothing is hemp.* It is not legal to grow hemp in most countries, including the US, but when available it makes very durable fabrics. Hemp does not require irrigation, it has no known insect predators and thus requiring no synthetic pesticides, and it grows quickly, requiring no fertilizers. All of these characteristics make it very environmentally friendly.

Most hemp clothing is found online, although Patagonia and prAna have a few items in local outing goods stores. A few websites to check are:

Barefoot Yoga – sells men’s and women’s clothing.
Earth Creations – offers unisex and women’s clothing.
EcoMall – provides links to numerous websites that sell hemp and organic cotton clothing.
Hemp Sisters – sells men’s and women’s clothing and footwear.

When back to school shopping, don’t forget to check out last year’s tip for
sustainable school supplies.

*Industrial hemp is made from a different variety of Cannabis plant (sativa) than marijuana (indica) and cannot be used for recreational purposes.