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what we're about...

why organic?

It takes 255grams of cotton to make an average sized t-shirt, and in conventional farming, it takes about an average of 17 teaspoons of synthetic fertilizers, plus three-quarters of a teaspoon of active ingredients like pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and defoliants to produce that much cotton. It's pretty obvious to us that we don't want anything made with that many chemicals next to our skin, and we figure you don't either. There's a few other advantages of organic cotton - there's no chemical runoff from the crops into local waterways, harmless spiders and birds aren't impacted, and cottonseed fed to livestock doesn't introduce more chemicals into the food chain.

why GE-free?

Because no-one actually knows about the long-term effects of interfering with the genetic makeup of foods that have been used by humanity for at least seven thousand years. GE crops are being promoted by chemical companies, so it may just be all about the dollar.

why not Australian cotton?

84% of the 2005/06 Australian cotton crop was grown using irrigation (Source: ACIC, 2006). Irrigation enables much less land area to be devoted to the cotton crop - but get real, in Australia, what's more precious? An extra hectare of land, or the thousands of litres of water that have to pumped out of a river? Unfortunately, no matter how many hectares of land go to cotton, it seems like productivity will be the driving force - and that means irrigation will continue to be necessary.

The other reason we're not using Australian cotton is genetic engineering. According to Cotton Australia website, approximately 80% of Australia's cotton crop is genetically modified.

why Fair Trade?

Cos we reckon that you don't need other people groveling below the poverty line to make yourself feel like royalty. We figure the clothes should do that. And so we bring you clothes made from cotton that's grown by farmers reimbursed fairly for their crops and factory workers (adults, not kids) paid living wages and guaranteed basic safety standards in the workplace. For more info go to http://www.fairtrade.com.au/FLO/FT_cotton