As GOTS celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, we thought we'd take a moment to look back at why we use GOTS certified organic cotton and why it is important.
"What seemed utopian to many in 2002 has become a reality in the past 20 years. We have created an organic textile standard, certified by approved certification bodies, which is accepted in all major markets,” Claudia Kersten, managing director at GOTS, says.
Cotton is one of the most common fabrics in the world and also one of the oldest in continual use. As a material that has been with mankind for millennia we might associate it with sustainability- after all cotton comes from natural sources, it can be handwoven and it doesn’t need complex or toxic chemical to produce, so it must be sustainable? Well, the answer is not always so straightforward unfortunately and in many cases cotton can not only be more environmentally damaging than alternative fabrics it can also come with a high human cost. Large volumes of water required to cultivate are compounded by soil degradation, greenhouse gas emissions, and use of harmful pesticides and fertilisers.
20 years of certification
But what is GOTS? It stands for Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and is a certification that has been developed by leading standard setters to define world-wide recognised requirements for organic textiles and that means that every Slow Moon product meets the highest standards. Since it was launched GOTS has hits a record 12,338 certified facilities and today offers certification built upon four unique features - Organic Fibres, Ecological and Social Criteria, All Processing Stages, Third-Party Certification - with requirements across the supply chain for both ecological and labour conditions. You can find out more about GOTS here: https://global-standard.org/ All our our eye pillows and cosmetic bags use GOTS certified organic cotton and fabric is also printed in the UK using azo-free dyes.
Comments