Organic and Sustainable EcoFashion FAQ! Awnsers to your important Eco-Fashion Quesions.

We get a lot of questions about sustainable clothing and Eco Fashion through our website and I wanted to take a moment to answer a few of the most frequent Eco Clothing questions here.

#1. Whats so terrible about normal fabrics? Why switch to Eco Friendly Textiles?

Regular Cotton uses a lot of pesticides and herbicides which poison the ocean, near by streams and the land in general. When we use organic cotton we don't support the use of chemicals in crop production. Other textiles like polyester are made from petroleum which is not sustainable to produce or to manufacture into fabric. The resulting process if left unchecked can be extremely detrimental to the planet and produces an excess amount of greenhouse gases. Such fabrics also poison people, your skin is your biggest organ and takes in everything that you put on it. Making the switch to healthier, chemical free fabrics is great start in protecting you health as well. Regular crop production is also known to poison local streams and water supply for the people living near by, this is usually done in 3rd world countries where the locals can't just run down to the store for some bottled water and are left with little options but to drink up.

Salts Organic Clothing searches out the best fabrics available in order to protect the planet and others from the harm that these chemicals can cause.

#2. Where is Salts Organic Clothing made?

Salts is designed in a small Studio Boutique in lovely Sooke, BC. I design, chose the custom colors and make the first patterns. Once the design is to my liking I have the garments manufactured in a small Factory in Vancouver, BC. The Salts line is redesigned twice a year (once for Spring/ Summer and once for Fall/ Winter). I am adding a basics collection for Spring 09 which will complement our seasonal line.

We try our best to source fabrics and yarns from as close to our manufacturing in Vancouver as possible. We have many of our fabrics milled in Canada, use Canadian thread and are always seeking the best in sustainable sources for our clothing.

#3. Are you going to do More Men's clothing soon?

I have a new men's shirt coming out for Fall 08 and planning on adding 4 pcs to the men's line for Spring 09. I am open to suggestions on what the eco-Friendly men shoppers out there would like to see for them. I do get a lot of men approaching me at markets asking about the men's stuff. Its definitely a section of the line that will grow over time.

#4. Where can I buy Salts Organic Clothing and other Eco Friendly lines?

The best way is to come out to our shop on beautiful Vancouver Island, BCand enjoy our great selection of Men's, Women's and Children's eco-friendly clothing and eco-Friendly shoes. Another good way is to try out our secure online store. You can also check the list of stores that sell Salts and find a location near you. All of the great stores that we sell to also carry other terrific sustainable clothing lines.

#5. Where do you ship too? I live in Europe, Australia, Japan, etc...?

Our Eco Friendly Online store is set up to ship for free anywhere in Canada (there is a 6.50 charge for COD shipping, shipping for credit card made payments is free). Costs for shipping to the United States are minimal and range from $12 -$20 depending on how far away from Vancouver Island you are. Please email me for a direct quote before you order or ask for one in the comments section when you are placing your order. For International orders we can get you a quote at the time of ordering, the cost depends on your country and the size of your order. We recommend getting a few friends together to place a larger order to help with overseas shipping costs and also to cut down on the environmental footprint of shipping overseas.

#6. How do I get updates on Salts Organic Clothing and learn more about Sustainable Fashion?

The best way to get updates on Salts is to join the newsletter. You can find the sign up box on the first page of our website at www.SaltsOrganic.com
The news letter gives you the latest on Eco Fashion and Eco Products as well as informs you about the new happenings in the Sustainable Clothing world of Salts. Some great sites to learn about sustainability and the Eco Friendly life style in general are treehugger.com and The Eco Friendly Way of Life Blog.

#7. I want to learn more about eco fabrics and Eco Friendly Clothing? Do you have more info?

Take a gander at some of our older blog posts, I always write on new eco-friendly information as I find it. You can check the articles on the Eco Friendly Lifestyle posted on our website as well.

Dress Pure.
Do Good.

Salts.

What Makes Organic Clothing Organic? Information on Organic Cotton Certification.

Organic this and organic that is all the buzz these days, but what exactly makes clothing organic? Salts Organic Clothing is made with certified Organic Cotton, not regular cotton. Many Bamboo, Soy, Tencel and Hemp fabric blends are made with regular cotton, not organic cotton. Certified organic fabrics are certified by several governing bodies depending on where they are from. It all starts with the fiber that makes the organic fabric. Salts Organic fabrics are certified by the Control Union World Group formally called SKAL. Some state and governmental bodies also have their own certifying bodies that certify Organic Cotton from their area. Certification processes and procedures may vary depending on the certifying organization, but the underlying values are the same. The organization IFOAM, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement is currently in the process of Defining Organic Agriculture in less than 300 words that will encompass all the objectives of organic farming.

The CUWG or SKAL can certify the fiber or the yarn. All organic land used to grow organic cotton must be treated organically for 3 years in order to be certified. To be treated organically the field must not be sprayed with any pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. Crop rotation, manure fertilizer and other earth friendly farming techniques are used instead. Organic Cotton for organic clothing is now grown in 18 countries but still only fills .01% of the total cotton market in the world. According to 2001 statistics the largest producers of organic cotton was the United States, India, Turkey and Peru.

Simply put, organic clothing is made from fabrics that were made from yarns that were made from Fibers that were grown on certified organic fields. These fields are gentle on the environment which has advantages to humans and nature alike. Many small farming villages have faced health struggles due to chemical use on cotton fields. Nature can only dilute and disperse so much chemical until it will begin to affect us all. We will all begin to notice these chemicals it in our food and water supplies eventually. Buying Organic Clothing is one way that you can be gentle on the earth.

Sincerely,
Salts.