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.

Natural Herbal Pesticides for your Organic Plants! 7 Simple Tips for Organic Growing.

My garden it being attacked! I have to save it quick! What should I do?

After some research I have stumbled on some good tips to deter pests and weed in an Organically grown garden. My biggest problem here on Vancouver Islands West Coast is slugs. Next up is weeds. If any one has any suggestions about what has worked for them, I would love to hear it. Until then, here are some tips I found and am going to try out. I will update later with the results.

1. For nibbling pests one gardener suggests a concoction of crushed garlic and hot peppers such as cayenne, added to water and sprayed on your plants. Steep one gallon of water with 1\2 teaspoon of each and dilute to about 25% before spraying vegetables.

2. For pesky weeds in sidewalks or other places that are hard to dig the roots up, pour a mixture of boiling water and vinegar on them. Beware of hitting neighboring good organic plants though.

3. Use tonnes of mulch. Through your grass clipping around your plants. Or put compost, bark mulch, hay and leaves. This will help keep the weeds down.

4. To deter slugs and add calcuim to organic soil, save you eggshells and surround your plants with them.

5. Stop cutworms with a simple cutworm collar. Cutworms are the pest that cut throught the base of your Organic Plants when they are just new transplants. To make a collar, cut a toliet paper roll in half legnthwise and then cut a slit through the side to allow for the collar to slip around the seedling. Put around the stem of your plant and push down slightly to stop the cutworms.

6. Iron phosphate has proven to be an effective and completely safe way to keep slimy nocturnal creatures like slugs from eating your hard work. Commercial brands in pellet form include Sluggo and Escar-Go. Simply sprinkle the pellets around where slug damage is evident. Pellets need re-applied every two weeks or so.

7. Some one told me to hang bags of human hair in netting around the garden in order to repel deer organically, this seems a little dark to me. Smelly soap does the job too with less of a weird factor. An egg wash with one egg mixed into a spray bottle of water and sprayed on plants will deter deer from eating. Lemon dish soap spray is also a good mix to keep predators off your goods.

Let me know how these tips work for you and your own Organic Garden. If you want to see some organic gardening proffessionally done, be sure to visit the Harbour House Garden Tour in Sooke, BC. They have one of the best edible gardens on the island.

Dress Pure,
Salts

Organic Hemp Cookie Recipe!

I needed to make some delicious cookies for the one Year Anniversary party at our store! Thats right the Salts Studio Boutique home of Organic Clothing delights is now one year old! Our full service boutique is beautiful Sooke, BC features clothing in sustainable fabrics for Men, Ladies and Children as well as little eco-friendly goodies and gifts. Salts Boutique has a large selection of handmade jewelery, art and accessories made by local Vancouver Island Artisans. We are located at 2052 Otter Point Road. While you are here be sure to check out the Little Vienna Bakery down the road, they have recently switched to Organic Flour in some of their breads. They have the best soups on Vancouver Island. If you make the trip up to Sooke you will be glad you did, our clothing store features a verity of hemp, organic cotton, soy and bamboo products as well as some recycled clothing. Fun!

So heres the recipe....Me likes the hemp!

Salts Hemp-y Almond-y Cookies

- 1 cup whole-wheat organic pastry flour (if you can find it)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons unrefined sugar or cane crystals (Level Ground Trading has a nice sugar)
- 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons organic almond or cashew or peanut if you prefer...butter
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 teaspoon blackstrap molasses (VERY important ingredient)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (we get ours from our Mexican Grandma)
- 1/3 cup vanilla hemp milk (Manitoba Harvest is great)

Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).

In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the sugar, and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the 1/3 cup of almond butter with the maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry, stir through, and as it is coming together, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of almond butter leaving chunky bits of almond butter for delicious surprise bites.

Place medium spoonfuls of the batter on a baking sheet greased or lined. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cookies are slightly crisp on the edges, but still soft in the middle. Let cool for about 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then remove cookies.

Makes 12 medium cookies

Add chocolate chips, raisins or nuts if the mood strikes you.

Enjoy.

Dress Pure.
Salts

Photo above is us at the Clothing Store!