Last week Ronnie Cummins, the International Director of the Organic Consumers Association published a post called Beyond Monsanto’s GMO Cotton: Why Consumers Need to Care What We Wear.

He gave a list of ten excellent points about why we need to move away from what’s being sold in the fashion industry (which I won’t list here—read the post), and pointed out that if you go to any of the top clothing or department stores you won’t find garments labeled “non-GMO,” “organic” or “Fair Trade certified.” That’s totally true.

And then he did acknowledge there are a growing number of online and retail clothing companies and brands, which offer non-sweatshop, natural fiber and organic clothes, accessories, and textiles, and gave a short list.

Inspired by this post from the Organic Consumer’s Association, I spent the afternoon updating my clothing and fabric pages.

Take a look…

Fabrics page on Debra’s List	Clothing page on Debra’s List
Clothing for Babies + Kids page on Debra’s List	Hats page on Debra’s List

And also… OrganicClothing.blogs.com – all about organic, natural and sustainable clothing and eco-fashion.

NOTE: I just want to mention that I don’t screen for fair trade, not because it’s not an important issue, but because I am screening for nontoxic first. A company has to qualify on nontoxic and then I will note fair trade, but I don’t list companies that are fair trade that are selling products that don’t otherwise qualify.

ANOTHER NOTE: One of the problems I have in finding organic clothing to recommend to you is that so much of it is blended with other materials, especially spandex. I only recommend clothing and fabrics made from 100% natural fibers. For me, it’s more important that they be 100% natural fiber than be organic. Ideal would be 100% organic fiber. But I won’t accept natural fibers blended with synthetics.

I think the difference is that an organization like Organic Consumers Association is wanting to promote organic for the environmental benefits. And so any percentage of organic is a plus for organic. I am looking from the viewpoint of what is safe for the consumer and so any subtraction from 100% organic is a minus for the consumer.

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I write a lot about how we can reduce our exposure to toxic chemicals found in consumer products in our home environment. And we should. Exposure to toxic chemicals can impair our health.

But there is a flip side and that is to make our bodies more able to tolerate our surrounding environment.

From my experience it’s a balance.

Many people who read this blog have Multiple Chemical Sensitivies, which makes them not be able to tolerate many things in the enviornment. Some of these things are toxic chemicals, but others are not.

Many years ago I realized that there are three types of materials.

One type is those materials that do harm, such as toxic formaldehyde.

Another type is those materials that do good, such as an organic apple.

And others neither harm nor benefit, but simply are neutral.

When someone says to me “I can’t tolerate….” and they give me a list of neutral and good materials, that tells me that they need to do more than simply eliminate toxic products, they need to also do things that boost their body’s ability to tolerate the part of the world that is not doing harm.

It’s a matter of making the environment less and less dangerous, and making one’s body more and more able to tolerate the environment.

There are many things one can do to improve body tolerance. It has a lot to do with detox, getting enough good nutrition, getting enough sleep so your body can rebuild, getting exercise, and doing whatever health-oriented treatments like massage, homeopathy and other practices that support health rather than fighting disease.

Many years ago I realized that the way to cure any illness is the same: it’s living in a way that creates health. I must be doing something right because this year for the first time I went through the entire winter with no flu at all, not even a sniffle. I wasn’t down for one day. That’s a strong immune system!

I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m still learning how I need to live to create my body being strong and healthy. But every time I run into a health problem, I recognize it as my body giving me a message to change something about my everyday life. And when I find that and change it, I eliminate that problem.

I eliminated MCS for myself thirty years ago by changing the home environment that was causing it. But more than that I did things that supported my health in a positive way. I remember getting acupuncture and all kinds of alternative treatments at the time.

And today, while I live in a home that is as nontoxic as I can possibly make it, I also freely roam out in the world with no ill effects.

Removing chemicals lessens the negative assault on our bodies, but we also need beneficial actions that help our bodies heal and be strong.

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A new study at Stockholm University has found indoor cats now have high levels of brominated flame retardants in their bloodstream.

“In a previous study, the researchers demonstrated that brominated flame retardants were found in higher concentrations in the blood of cats that had developed Feline hyperthyroidism compared to healthy cats. Now, new measurements of healthy cats establish their dust exposure. Paired samples were taken from the same household — meaning that they took both dust samples and blood samples at the same time.”

The study noted that the fire retardants are endocrine disruptors that are affecting humans as well as cats.

CONSUMERAFFAIRS: Study Finds Indoor Cats Have Higher Levels of Flame Retardants

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: This and other related studies

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