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Wahkeetna - organic cotton fabric
The organic cotton is grown in Peru by farmers who have received the Control Union organic certification. The Peruvian organic cotton fields are appropriate for the region, a region with very high annual rainfall. This is an important consideration because even organic cotton is a very thirsty crop. Many places in the world where it has been grown have been inappropriate choices, producing a desert that is too alkaline – such as the environmental disaster around the Aral Sea. But you can feel great about encouraging the cultivation of this organic cotton.
The fibers were spun into yarn and woven at a family-owned mill in Chile where the owners are in the process of transferring their production facilities to entirely green processes. The ginning and spinning is certified by Control Union according to EU standards.
The mill owners have been steadfastly putting Global Organic Textile Standards into place and are now fully compliant. They intend to exceed GOTS standards on occasion. For instance, they recently changed from using carbomxymethylcellulose as a sizer (which is allowed under Global Organic Textile Standard 2.3.5) to potato starch, a more eco-friendly choice. All dyes are free of heavy metals, AZO colorants and aromatic amines, and all wastewater is certified pure by independent auditors.
