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Community Corner

Natural Clothing Choices Are Simple and Toxin-Free

Organic clothes reduce toxins, beginning with the time the fibers are grown all the way through the manufacturing and delivery.

Sometimes great ideas, innovations and even lifestyles, tend to circle back to something that actually surfaced years before. During the week of Earth Day, I decided to read about the tribe of Native Americans after which the village of Algonquin is named. I was looking for a few good ideas.

I’ve always appreciated the ways Native Americans used only what they needed of natural resources, avoided excess consumption and returned as much as possible to the earth. To me, they lived in ways that reflected the ultimate recycling and balance—even their clothing was organic. Buckskin, otter skin and leather were some of the materials they utilized for clothing.

Along with today’s earth-friendly options for foods that are pesticide-free, and alternative transportation choices, people who care about eco-health can also wear that message in their wardrobes.

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These days, organic clothing is way more than loin cloths.

First, it starts with the fibers. Cotton manufacturing often consists of pesticides, which are toxic for the environment. Organic clothing is made from fibers that are not only grown without poisons, but also processed in a way that doesn’t send pollution right up into nature. No dyes and no wasteful delivery methods either.

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Whole Foods carries some organic apparel, and it’s also available online at sites like www.repairtheearth.com. Another way of making earth-friendly clothes is to recycle fabrics or entire clothing items, to make new ones.

An Oregon-based sustainable clothing company called Nau offers a lot of information about the ways clothing manufacturing negatively affects the environment, at the beginning of a garment’s existence, and at its end. Nau designs, sells and ships its clothing–which features materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester–to consumers looking for green apparel. Then, Nau (www.nau.com) donates part of the sale to one of several environmental initiatives.

So you get to wear earth-friendly clothes and know that some of your money is going to big picture eco-endeavors too.

Project571.com is a website for organic cotton college apparel, and baby outfits. Many of the styles of organic clothing are minimalist, like a basic tee shirt or a simple straight skirt.

But until the hand-cut animal skin trends of the Native American lifestyles cycle back in the modern workplace, I’m fine with minimalist organic options that minimize chemicals on our bodies and on the earth.

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