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Conventionally produced cotton is the most highly sprayed crop in the world. Despite the fact that cotton is grown on approximately 5% of global cultivated land, it accounts for 25% of all insecticides and 12% of all pesticides used globally. Herbicides are also used during conventional cotton production as they are used to defoliate cotton plants at harvesting to make the cotton easier to pick. Aside from the environmental concerns, we can find no evidence that this pesticide residue is harmful when the finished product comes into close contact with the skin. However, we believe it is always best to err on the side of caution and would therefore recommend organic cotton bedding.
Another fabric you may come across which is being used more and more for household fabrics such as bedding is bamboo. Bamboo is an ideal organic fabric crop - it needs no pesticides to grow (it is resistant to pests), it does not need chemical fertilizers (it can grow well on poor quality land without them), and it does not need to be sprayed with herbicides (it outgrows weeds). Bamboo puts down long root systems helping to prevent topsoil erosion and actually improves the soil on which it is grown. Due to it's rapid rate of growth, bamboo produces more fibre than cotton per acre and is excellent for planting in areas which have suffered significant soil degradation and/or deforestation.
Another area of concern is the dyeing methods applied to fabrics - in most conventionally produced fabric, harmful heavy metals and other synthetic chemicals are released into the environment and residues may remain in the end product. We don't have space to go into further details here, since dyeing methods and ingredients will vary from fabric to fabric, and even from colour to colour. But wherever possible, we recommend fabric items made from natural dyes or without the use of potentially harmful synthetics.
