Organic and Eco-Friendly Products

Most people who choose organic do so because they ‘just know that it is better for them’ but how much impact can you actually have on our environment by choosing organic?

What is the extent of the problem?

Over time, pests have built up a resistance to pesticides. For this reason more and more pesticides need to be used in higher and higher concentrations to effectively kill pests. In 2000 alone, 940 million pounds of pesticides were used.

Research has shown that pesticide related acute poisoning and cancer account for over $1.1 Billion dollars of the public health budget each year.

What affect is it acutely having on me?

Research has indicated that there are links between the exposure to pesticides and the following health conditions:

• Immune system suppression
• Nervous system disorders
• Reproductive damage
• Cancer
• Parkinson’s disease
• Respiratory problems
• Skin and eye irritation

Who is most at risk and why?

Children are at the highest risk of being affected by pesticides. This is due to the fact that they have a very high metabolism and low body weight.

Pregnant women also need to be very aware of their exposure to pesticides and the effect this will have on their unborn baby.  Over exposure to pesticides during pregnancy has been suggested to contribute to autism, obesity, asthma, brain cancer and other childhood cancers.

What can I do about it?

Choosing organic options will dramatically reduce your exposure to pesticides. Any product produced under organic conditions is strictly prohibited against the use of any pesticide or chemical. Organic farmers therefore use biological and cultural methods to remove pest.

Ettitude is a company that strongly believes that each person or organization can make a different by the choices they make. They manufacture a wide range of baby and kids clothing, bamboo bedding, lien, down products and luxury towels that are all 100% organic and echo friendly.

The average person spend roughly one third of their life asleep. Studies have shown that our bodies are much sensitive to chemicals within our environment when we are asleep then when we are awake. Give this information the best way to take care of our bodies while we are asleep is to use bed linen that is made from 100% organic cotton. This will give us an all natural, chemical free sleep every night.

The processes of growing organic cotton has been trialed and tested over many, many years to produce the best quality non-toxic, pesterside free cotton. Farming techniques have also been developed to ensure that the land is sustained for future generations.

Allergy Suffers Benefits

Studies have shown that many allergies that were originally deemed to be dust related are actually sourced from chemicals in fabrics, practically bed linens. By using organic bed linens these allergies can be easily eliminated.

Eco-friendly Laundry Products

Conventional detergents contain a mixture of chemicals, the most significant of these for the environment being petroleum-derived surfactants, bleaches, colorants, phosphate additives, etc. When the water used in washing laundry is released back into the environment, water and soil is contaminated. For example, surfactants are toxic to aquatic organisms and are highly persistent in the environment.

Bleaches are inherently toxic and also have toxic byproducts as they biodegrade. One type of bleach, sodium hypochlorite, forms hazardous gases and chlorinated organic byproducts. Certain colorants are believed to be associated with adverse health effects in humans, as well as being toxic to aquatic organisms. Phosphate additives create algal blooms that consume the oxygen in bodies of water, killing both marine animals and plants.

Eco-friendly laundry products, such as eco laundry balls, are toxin free, gentle on clothes, and produces grey water.

Maintaining Organic Clothing

Organic clothing is easy to maintain because it has not been damaged by chemical processing. For example, organic cotton is thicker and longer lasting than conventional cotton because the fibres have not been broken down by being subjected to bleach or toxic dyes.

All Ettitude’s organic cotton clothing can be machine washed and dried. No drying is required for their organic clothing, saving not only the environment but time and money. Their organic knit wear should be hand washed in cold water and line dried – which uses less electricity of course. When choosing a laundry detergent it is recommended a non-chlorine bleach earth-friendlier product, decreasing your exposure and your children’s exposure to chemicals.

Organic textiles are also naturally softer so there is no need for fabric softeners- saving you time and money. For example, bamboo fibre  is naturally ultra soft and highly absorbent. Its odor resistance and soil releasing properties means it stays fresher for longer and does not require to be treated with bleach.

Ettitude’s organic baby and children’s clothing is also pre-shrunk to ensure a perfect fit- which means no shrinking or buckling after you wash them.