Due Maternity Blog | Designer Maternity Clothes Blog

As the consumers of the world start to move in a more green direction, one thing I notice becoming more available is organic clothing. However, I think a lot of people are wondering what is the need for organic cotton and organic clothing? Sure it makes sense to try and eat organic foods since they are going directly into our body but it is hard to see that same correlation when it comes to t-shirts and pants.

Something I learned early on in my green journey is that things like lotions, soaps, etc. that we put on our skin are then absorbed through our pores directly into our bloodstream. So even though we aren’t ingesting them, the chemicals still get right into our bodies and harm us. I have to wonder if a cotton shirt that was grown with pesticides would have that same effect. Can the chemical used to grow that cotton be absorbed by my body? Here is a little food for thought on how conventional cotton is grown courtesy of the Organic Trade Association:

• Cotton uses approximately 25% of the world’s insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides.
• Fifty-five million pounds of pesticides were sprayed on the 12.8 million acres of conventional cotton grown in the U.S. in 2003 ranking cotton third behind corn and soybeans in total amount of pesticides sprayed.
• The Environmental Protection Agency considers seven of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton in 2000 in the United States as “possible,” “likely,” “probable,” or “known” human carcinogens.

The fact that some of these pesticides are known to be possible carcinogens yet they are still being spayed on our crops and land just scares me. What kind of damage are we causing to our bodies and planet? On the flip side, organic cotton is grown without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and genetically engineered seed. While organic clothes do tend to be more expensive, I feel that the more we continue to buy, the more will become available and in turn the prices should start to go down. In 2007-2008 there was a 152% growth in organic cotton production worldwide – so it would seem we are heading in the right direction!

Now I honestly didn’t think anyone made organic maternity clothes until I checked out Due Maternity. Much to my surprise, they do offer some! You can start with an Organic Bella Band – I love mine and I honestly think that every pregnant woman needs a Bella Band. For a cute outfit, I would go with Japanese Weekend’s During & After Luck Top and Flare Maternity Pants. In fact, if you go to Due Maternity and do a search for “organic” you will find lots of cool stuff – even organic nursing bras!

Marianna Nichols is the Owner & Editor of Green Mama’s Pad.

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Tags: Agriculture, Cotton, due maternity, japanese weekend, Organic, Organic cotton, Organic food, organic maternity clothes, Pesticide, Shopping, United States
Posted in : Maternity Pants, Maternity bottoms, Pregnancy Basics, duematernity, maternity clothes, maternity t-shirts, maternity tops