Question from Harmony

With more and more organic cotton products now available at lower prices in mass market stores, there have been some questions about how organic these cotton products are. It’s easy to make the asuumption that organic cotton is held to the same standards as organic food, but it’s not. As a textile designer working with organic cotton I want to tell you about the current state of organic cotton standards in the industry.

The green and white USDA organic label that we have all come to expect on our organic foods can’t be found on cotton. Why? The U.S. Department of Agriculture classifies cotton as fiber-not food-and therefore finds it outside its jurisdiction. This is especially perplexing when you consider that many processed foods contain cottonseed oil.

As a result, the labeling and regulation of organic cotton is a relative free-for-all. “Organic” cotton should be grown to the same standards as organic food (GMO-free, no pesticides, etc. Full details available at http://www.ams.usda.gov/NOP/NOP/standards.html#). Then certification by the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) would be possible and could be expected for all cotton sold as “organic.”

However, unlike food, the processing of cotton doesn’t end at harvest time. Toxins and chemicals are often applied to cotton at every step of the manufacturing process. From the waxes used in the weaving to the chlorine bleach used for whitening and at numerous other points in the process, cotton is often subjected to toxins. (See http://www.harmonyart.com/organic-textiles/OrganicVSConventional.html for a detailed list of some of these steps.)

There are currently over 40 eco-fiber standards worldwide, each focusing on a different aspect of the process. Some test for toxic residue, some focus on the treatment of the people, some are concerned with energy and water use. Navigating these standards can be complex and confusing even for those on the inside of the organic fiber community. The processing of cotton is so variable and suspect that without a universal and recognizable standard that addresses the entire process there is much room for deceit. It is my hope that before too long the fiber world (like the food world) will have a universally accepted and identifiable organic seal which consumers can trust.

The good news is that the U.S. Organic Trade Association (OTA) recently passed a resolution recognizing the new Global Organic Textile Standard (global-standard.org) as the standard for organic fiber. With the OTA’s endorsement-on the heels of endorsements by Germany, Japan and the UK-I have great hope that the GOTS will emerge as the necessary universally accepted and recognized standard.

Debra’s Answer

Thanks, Harmony. We needed this explanation.

Add Comment

Question from Karen

Hi Debra,

We recently bought 6 banana leaf dining chairs(I think from China) that are just beautiful. However, when they were brought into the house the odor was overwhelming. We now have had them in the garage for 10 days and there doesn’t seem to be much change.

How long will it take to outgass? Should we try to seal them with a polyurethane type coating? Then would the polyurethane have to outgass, too? Would it wear off and we would be right back where we started?

I hope there is a solution. We love the chairs!

Thanks,

Karen

Debra’s Answer

I don’t have experience with banana leaf chairs, but I have some ideas.

First, I don’t know whether the odor is the natural odor of banana leaf, or if what you are smelling is some kind of finish that has been applied, or some kind of pesticide that may have been sprayed during shipping.

If you were to apply some kind of finish to block the odor, yes, that would need some drying time.

Heat often will accelerate the outgassing process.

I think I would try putting them out in the sun. The sun often works wonders.

I had an experience once where I bought a natural jute rug. It had an odor in the store, but I thought, it’s natural, I can get the odor out. Well, I did everything I could think of, including leaving it out in the sun and rain for six months, but the odor remained. I think it was just the natural odor of the jute.

Add Comment

Question from Arien

Dear Debra,

Thank you for sharing the amazing information on a variety of cookwares. After reading your My New Cookware section, I was very interested in the soapstone pots so I went on to greenfeet.com and bought two. However, I do have a simple question that I am sure you can answer because you have been cooking in them for a while now.

When the pots first came, there was a litte note inside the pots saying that NEVER to heat the pot when it’s empty, always make sure to have food or water in it. I am a bit confused by this message. Does that mean I cannot preheat the pot before I do my stir-frys or scramble eggs? How do you use yours? I cannot imagine putting cold oil in the cold pot and then put the food contents. I have always preheat my pots or pans to medium before I add oil. Can you please give me some advice on this? and can you tell me more on how to use these pots? I love cooking rice in cast iron pots but the rusting some times drives me nuts, I would love to cook in clay too but they are porus….

Thank you so much for your time and your great work!

Debra’s Answer

Well…I thought I had read all the instructions, but I didn’t see that little slip of paper, so I have been preheating my soapstone pots with no ill effect. Especially since one of the characteristics of these pots is that they are slow to heat, so I always preheat them before I put in the food.

One of the best things to use these pots for is scrambled eggs. They just taste better and have better texture than in metal skillets. I heat the pot, then add the butter, let it melt, then add the beaten eggs.

I also love to use my soapstone pots to make soups and stews, and they would be great for things like rice.

I just went and looked at the actual printed instructions brochure from the manufacturer and not only does it not say anything about not preheating, it says, “A pre-heated griddle or pan make even tabletop cooking possible, turning out sizzling steaks and seafood.”

So I have no idea why yours came with a slip of paper saying never heat without food. Call greenfeet and ask them and let us know.

Add Comment

Question from Jennifer Lance

I am so excited to have found a non-leaching, safe sippy cup made by Klean Kanteen, the stainless steel alternative to plastic.

Klean Kanteen makes the best stainless steel water bottles. They are odor free and do not taste like metal. We have tried other stainless steel bottles that smell horribly and are lined with epoxy. Plastic/polycarbonate bottles leach bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical that mimics the hormone estrogen, and can cause chromosonal abnormalities.

Any Klean Kanteen bottle can be turned into a sippy cup by buying the adaptor and spouts. Of course the Klean Kanteen sippy cup costs more than plastic versions, but the cost is small when you consider the benefit to your child’s health. Besides, as my daughter said, now my son is the coolest kid in preschool with his shiny Klean Kanteen sippy cup.

The only drawback to the Klean Kanteen sippy cup is it is made in China. The company states it is “responsibly made in China”, but for a few of my friends boycotting Chinese products, this may be a tough decision.

I have pledged to boycott Chinese products due to their human rights violations (especially in regards to Tibet), however I have found it almost impossible to completely avoid Chinese products. Since signing the pledge to boycott Chinese products, I have become more aware of where the products I buy are made and have boycotted many Chinese products. Since the Klean Kanteen sippy cup offers the only alternative to plastic sippy cups I have found, I decided in favor of the safe, sippy cup.

Debra’s Answer

greenfeet.com sells the Kleen Kanteen sippy cup and also the sippy cup adapters. Just go to greenfeet.com and type “sippy cup” into the search box.

Add Comment

Question from yg

A while ago I purchased Lady J Fruit sweetend cookies. They were excellent. Now I can not find them . Are they under another label ? Is there a place that I could order them through the mail?

Debra’s Answer

I don’t know these cookies and couldn’t find them online. Readers?

Add Comment

Question from Cary Goulston

If you are looking for a holistic dentist, you can contact the following associations to find a holistic/biological dentist in your area:

www.toxicteeth.org/

www.talkinternational.com

www.mercuryfreenow.com/freeservices/find_dentists.html

www.iaomt.org//findmember.cfm

www.holisticdental.org

Debra’s Answer

Thanks, Cary. Readers, this is from the office of my holistic dentist, Dr. Ray Behm, who I know personally and trust. I would follow this advice when choosing a holistic dentist.

Add Comment

Question from jeanne

Can you suggest a safe-for-the-environment product or method to remove moss from a rooftop? Thanks.

Debra’s Answer

I’ve effectively removed the green stuff that grows on outside walls with my steam cleaner, but have no experience removing moss from roofs. Readers?

Add Comment

Question from Denise Arias

Does anyone have a trick for getting a porcelain sink white?

Denise

Debra’s Answer

Try Bon Ami, powdered oxygen bleach (i.e. OxyClean) or hydrogen peroxide.

Add Comment

Question from Francesca

I was inspired by your recent question regarding waffle irons. What about cookie sheets. All the ones that I can find are always non-stick. Is that what you should be avoiding? Where can you find a safe kind?

Debra’s Answer

Yes, you should be avoiding nonstick finish on cookie sheets.

I personally don’t use cookie sheets to bake cookies. I use what are called “sheet pans.” They are made from an aluminum-steel blend and have no non-stick finish. Where a cookie sheet has no sides, these pans have sides about one inch high, so they can do double duty and be used to bake cakes (they actually are cake pans, used by professional bakers), roast vegetables, and many other things. I put a silicone mat on the sheet pan to make it nonstick (nothing sticks to silicone). You can see a picture of my sheet pans at At Home With Debra: My New Cookware.

I have two 13×18-inch “half-sheet” pans and two 13X9-inch “quarter-sheet” pans. These are so-called because the sizes are fractions of the “full sheet” pan used in restaurants and bakeries (which are too large to fit in a home oven).

Read more on bakware and silcone baking mats at Q&A: Which Bakeware is Safe?.

Add Comment

Question from Linda Terzich

I want a sauna. Those poplar and glass far infrared units are ideal but at $2,800—yikes. So how to sweat and get far infrared?

Mercola has a do it yourself sauna post at http://www.mercola.com/2002/aug/14/sauna.htm. You can buy the lamps from the hardware store and affixing it (not to plywood) but maybe to pressboard right? And can use in a small bathroom or closet or he suggests two refrigerator boxes stapled together. I LOVE this idea! How inert would the boxes be? Again I’d have an oven thermometer in and make sure I don’t go above 110 degrees. And here again, boxes can have flaps cut in to regulate air flow/temperature.

You know how POOR most of us with MCS are ( I also have CFS). Make it yourself isn’t ideal but would be acheivable by everyone that isn’t on welfare.

If this is doable then everyone can have their own healing sauna.

Thank you,

Linda in Sarasota

Debra’s Answer

This sounds like a good idea to me. You could use whatever material you best tolerate to make the box.

Some cardboard boxes may contain formaldehyde, so find ones you tolerate. Sitting them out in the sun for a few days can help “detox” them.

Add Comment