Salts Organic Clothing + Kickstarter campaign = awesome

*I wasn’t paid to write this article, but I did receive an organic cotton scarf as a gift.

Today is Earth Day, and while there are so many things that we can all do on a daily basis to help the Earth (and ourselves), and since this year’s theme is to change our habits, this is a great opportunity to mention one more way to help! (For information about Earth Day, and what you can do to help, click here)

So, today I am so excited to talk more about organic and eco-friendly clothing! (read all the way to the end for fun and exciting news)

I know I mostly talk about organic food, but I have mentioned a few times already that organic goes way beyond food, and that includes textiles (organic cotton, organic wool or hemp, etc.), which can be used in the home (all my sheets and towels are organic) and to make beautiful clothes too (just look at the beautiful stuff in the pictures below)!

In the past, talking about organic clothes had a bad connotation, people would think of jute sacks and hippie clothing (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but although I’m all about organic, I do enjoy fashion, and just like my lifestyle philosophy, moderation and quality is much better than quantity! When I shop for clothes, I prefer classic styles that are well-made and will be a lasting investment in my wardrobe. Once in a while, I’ll buy a few pieces that are more ‘trendy’, but these are just meant to complement my classic items. Many years ago, I bought my first organic cotton t-shirt, from Roots, and you know what? I still own that t-shirt and it’s still one of my favourites. Then I bought some organic cotton underwear from a Canadian company that sadly doesn’t exist anymore (but I still have the panties), and a few other items from another Canadian company that doesn’t exist anymore. Recently I started searching for companies that make fashionable eco-friendly clothes, and lucky for me, I found several!!! I even discovered that there is a yearly event dedicated to Eco-Fashion! This makes me very happy, and today I want to share one of these companies with you!

By supporting this growing industry, you are not only helping yourself by putting natural materials against your skin (instead of toxic chemicals), but you are also helping cotton farmers live a heck of a lot less dangerously, you are battling the epidemic of genetically modified seeds (GMOs), you are fighting against sweatshops where children and adults alike are treated like slaves to make cheap clothes, and last but not least, you will be helping by not contributing to polluting the environment, not only by not putting any pesticides into the soil and water, but also all the associated toxic chemicals that are associated with producing commercial cheap clothing (like heavy metals used in synthetic dyes)!

Some information about cotton:

Cotton is considered the world’s ‘dirtiest’ crop due to its heavy use of insecticides, the most hazardous pesticide to human and animal health. Cotton covers 2.5% of the world’s cultivated land yet uses 16% of the world’s insecticides, more than any other single major crop.

As of 2007, GM Bt cotton already commands 34% of total cotton cropland and 45% of world cotton production. In GM Bt cotton, the insecticide is always present in the plant rather than applied in periodic spraying sessions which will lead to rapid rates of pest immunities and possibly produce superpests.

It can take almost a 1/3 pound of synthetic fertilizers to grow one pound of raw cotton in the US, and it takes just under one pound of raw cotton to make one t-shirt.

The cottonseed hull, where many pesticide residues have been detected, is a secondary crop sold as a food commodity. It is estimated that as much as 65% of cotton production ends up in our food chain, whether directly through food oil or indirectly through the milk and meat of animals.

Cotton uses approximately 25% of the world’s insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants.)

So now, let me introduce Salts Organic Clothing, based out of British Columbia, Canada (don’t worry if you don’t live in Canada, they deliver worldwide! :))

I met Jennifer from Salts Organic Clothing on Twitter, we’ve exchanged a few messages and she was nice enough to send me an organic cotton circle scarf to try it out, and I gotta say, it’s pretty awesome! (I’ll show you next week)

On top of being an awesome young and hip company making eco-friendly clothes that are comfortable for any women in all shapes and sizes, Salts Organic is also part of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for them to continue what they’re doing. I wasn’t familiar at first with what Kickstarter was, so I went online and started reading about it. It’s pretty cool! This is not yet-another-fundraiser for charity, this is completely different. The way it works is that people pledge an amount of money, and in exchange they will get one of whatever product the company is offering at a discount! You are basically pre-buying something on special! How awesome is that?! This in turn allows those small companies to be able to have an established budget with sales already paid for. Genius!

Anyway, as soon as I figured out what it was, I was quite impressed, and yes, I have pledged an amount to buy one of Jennifer’s pieces made out of organic cotton! You should go check it out, and support it by pledging/buying too! As of now, they are over 50% of their goal, and the campaign ends on May 1st, 2014. Unfortunately, the way that the campaign works is that if they don’t reach their goal in time, they lose all the pledges 🙁 So, don’t delay and do it now! Pledges start at $1 (although you only get their gratitude for that price. haha), but for a very reasonable amount of money (I pledged $49 to get a top that I like), you get to own your very own item of organic clothing made by a Canadian designer, and you get to support a small business. Come on! Put your money where your mouth is! I did 😉

Simply click on this Kickstarter link and start shopping! And don’t forget to tell your friends about this too! 😉

 

Also, stay tuned for a very exciting upcoming giveaway from Salts Organic to celebrate Eyecandyoopper’s relaunch next week!!! Can’t wait!

ECP xo