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.

Organic Textiles

Toxin-free. Eco-friendly. Biodegradable. Efficient. Renewable. Why wouldn’t you prefer to use organic textiles for your children’s clothing needs? Good for the environment and good for your kids, organic clothing really doesn’t have a downside.

Organic textiles include materials such as organic cotton, bamboo fibre, yak down, silk, corn fibre, soy silk, jute, kenaf, hemp and wool. They are all cultivated without pesticides or herbicides, and turned into clothing without toxic bleaches and dyes. Organic clothing is produced to be eco-friendly, with a reduced ecological footprint- biodegradable, sourced from renewable resources, using resources (e.g. land, water) efficiently. Conventional cultivation and production of textiles have contributed to the disappearance of the planet’s rainforests

Bamboo is one of the best organic textiles as the plant is fast-growing therefore renewable, requires no additional irrigation or replanting (which saves water), produces 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees, takes in 5 times the amount of greenhouse gases, improves soil quality and prevents erosion. Furthermore, it is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, meaning that it doesn’t require pesticides or herbicides. It is biodegradable, meaning it will contribute to landfill waste, and if processed organically it will not introduce toxins into the land or water, or expose workers and animals to them either.

Organic Kids Clothing

So it is clear that organic textiles are great for the environment. But what about the benefits to your children? Organic materials come with many special characteristics not found in conventionally grown and manufactured textiles. For example, yak down is incredibly soft, silky and breathable. Bamboo fibre is naturally anti-bacterial so it reduces odors, as well as being incredibly absorbent.

Organic kids clothing also lasts longer because the fibres are not weakened and broken down through chemical processing. Of course, being toxin-free the clothing will reduce the amount of chemicals ingested. As kids are more vulnerable to harmful substances and developing rapidly, it is important to prevent unnecessary exposure to chemicals.

Wild Yaks

Yaks are thought to have been domesticated in Tibet during the 1st millennium BC, and are now quite common around the mountains of Central Asia (around 12 million). Domesticated yaks are generally smaller than wild yaks, which can weigh over 1000 kilos and reach a shoulder height over 2 metres. Wild yaks are very well adapted to high altitudes, with huge lung capacities for extracting oxygen from the atmosphere of the highlands and blood cells about half the size of those of cattle and with at least three times more, increasing the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen. It can also survive extremely low temperatures (as low as -40°C), through a dense undercoat of matted hair and long shaggy outer hair that almost reaches the ground, further assisted by a low number of sweat glands to conserve heat.

Unfortunately for the last decade wilk yak populations have been decreasing as a result of uncontrolled hunting and now poaching, further compounded by the loss of habitat to pastoralists, hybridisation, and disease transmission from domestic yaks. From the 1960s to 1994 wild yaks were considered an endangered species, from 1994 to the present they have been rated as vulnerable by the IUCN. In fact, it may extinct in Nepal already. Compared to its once populous numbers covering China, India, Bhutan and Nepal, it now is likely to have a population less than 10 000.

General Yak Information

Wilk yaks are found mostly on treeless alpine uplands and mountains, grazing on grasses, herbs, mosses and lichens. As running water is infrequent at those heights, they survive by crunching ice or snow for hydration. They feed mostly in the morning and evening, travelling long distances according to temperature and food supply.

They organise themselves as herds, mostly consisting of female and young yaks, although male yaks may congregate in smaller groups. The herds usually travel in single file in the snow, with each yak carefully following in the hoof prints of the lead yak. Yaks give birth to single calves in alternate years, depending on food supply, and the young become independent after about a year.