About Us

About Organic Cotton

We are a small, family run business. We've been selling fabric for thirty years but it was only in the last five years that we became aware of the damage we do to people in third world countries who grow cotton and have to rely on pesticides. Thousands die each year. They live miserable lives.

Imagine working with no protective gear, having to spray continuously with lethal poisons that cause terrible illness, depression and death. We cannot expect people to die in order for us to have a new cotton T-shirt.

Most of these farmers have 4 or 5 acres. By allowing them to farm organically, they and their families can live a more prosperous and healthy life that allows crop rotation and non-reliance on pesticide and fertiliser sellers. 

Organic means that the cotton is grown without the use of pesticides, using pheromone traps, crop rotation, hand picking of bugs and natural repellants.

This allows farmers to grow food and keep animals instead of being reliant on costly chemicals and fertilizers. They receive more for their crop and the input costs are lower.

Do have a look at the excellent PAN (Pesticide action network) website.

Most of our cotton comes from Agrocel. (do check out their website)

Certification

All our cotton is certified by SKAL. (Nederlands based Union Control -the major cotton certifier). Most of our cotton yarn comes from Agrocel and is Fair Trade

Some is also OEKOTEX or GOTS  or Soil Association certified.

Please ask if you would like to see current certificates - we really don't mind and believe that we should all be aware of the possibilty that people may jump on the 'organic' bandwagon without being true to its ideals.

Organic organisations.

Ther are many worthy ecological, ethical organisations. The Fairtrade Foundation is the major organisation in the UK.

Fairtrade certification gives small-scale cotton farmers in developing countries the power to improve their livelihoods by ensuring they receive a fair and stable price for their cotton and the additional Fairtrade premium that is used by the farmers for community development projects.

Thank you for considering organic cotton. Do get in touch if there is anything you'd like to know - though I might go on for hours.