As an organic clothing brand for young children, we know the importance of health and safety for our customers. But we also know how confusing it can be when shopping for products that are safe, environmentally friendly, and of the utmost quality.
The textile industry is known to be quite toxic, as many companies still use AZO dyes (heavy metals including lead), formaldehyde, PVC, toxic waterproofing agents, and other harmful chemicals. What’s more, the cotton industry accounts for a quarter of the world’s pesticide use. Buying organic cotton means safer clothing for your family, but how do you know that a product is actually what the company claims it is?
Fortunately, the industry has been improving through certification programs that ensure a product will be safe for you and the environment. But deciphering which certification to trust can be overwhelming. It is important to understand what each logo and certification means so you get the best product possible.
As a 100% organic clothing line that is happy and mindful from sourcing to design, we are proudly certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). We have searched the globe for the best quality organic cotton at a fair price. From the planting of the seed through cultivation, ginning, spinning, weaving, and sewing, we care for the well-being of the factory workers and the farmers who grow our organic cotton. Our entire supply chain is certified by GOTS to ensure our organic cotton provides a fair livelihood for more than 1,000 people. Just know that your baby is nurtured in a garment free from health-threatening toxic chemicals and made fairly, consciously, and sustainably.
Of all the certification programs, we choose GOTS because it is the world's leading textile processing standard when it comes to organic fibers. It defines high-level environmental and toxicological criteria along the entire organic textiles supply chain and requires compliance with ecological and social criteria backed up by independent third-party certification. With GOTS, we know that every step of the process is monitored to ensure safety for humans and the environment on both a local and global scale.
Here are the main requirements and benefits of GOTS:
- Encompasses the entire production process from seed to finish, including packaging.
- Awarded to textiles with a minimum 95 percent of organic fibers, while “made with organic” products have only 70 percent certified organic fibers.
- No chlorine-bleaching, AZO dyes that use heavy metals, flame retardants, formaldehyde, GMOs, toxic waterproofing DWRs like PFCs, phthalates, PVC, BPA, and more.
- Wastewater must be filtered and treated before putting it back out into the environment.
- GOTS clothing is made in GOTS-certified factories with fair working conditions and fair wages; child labor is prohibited.
- Social compliance criteria correspond to the International Labor Organization (ILO).
- Animal cruelty is prohibited.
- Requires environmental management plans for use of chemicals, energy, and water consumption.
Look for the GOTS green or black logo on our clothing and other brands. It can appear on the packaging, tags, or on the item itself.
Other voluntary certifications are not as comprehensive and reputable as GOTS. OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100, for example, does NOT mean organic, and a bit redundant since the Children's Product Safety Act in the United States already requires children's products to pass the same guidelines as the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD. OEKO-TEX® requires testing for harmful chemicals on children's products including lead, phthalates, heavy metals, etc., but so does U.S. Customs before entry into the country. Manufacturers are required to provide lab testing upon entry. Without it, our entire import can be seized and destroyed.
A big difference between these two certifications is that OEKO-TEX® allows, within limits, the use of harmful chemicals like flame retardants (certain ones with approval), heavy metals including lead, formaldehyde, DWRs, phthalates, BPA, pesticides, GMOs, etc. GOTS does not allow for these chemicals to be present. Again OEKO-TEX® does not mean a product is organic. Finally, OEKO-TEX® only tests the finished product, offering little to no transparency, environmentally or socially, into the history and impact of the product throughout its production lifecycle.
After comparing various certification programs, we chose GOTS since it is a much more involved certification with social criteria and known internationally as the gold standard.
Learn more at https://global-standard.org.