Eco Style

“When people think of organic clothing, they automatically think hemp. People who walk into our shop are surprised the clothing is organic,” says Joanna Black, co-owner of Hip-E-Living, a new boutique in Woodstock. She lists sundresses, camisoles, undergarments, and office-appropriate suits and blazers—in a variety of fabrics—as some of the organic items she keeps in stock. “Organic clothing is not just about Birkenstocks and long skirts anymore,” says Black.

All of the home and body products at Hip-E-Living are made of recycled, sustainable, or organic materials and some are so popular they can’t keep them in stock. Their organic cotton baby clothes had to be re-ordered three times in the store’s first month of business. “They come in unique, modern color combinations, such as pink with chocolate brown trim, and they are reasonably priced. Many are hand-dyed with natural dyes, no synthetics—which would defeat the purpose,” says Black.

The purpose is to avert further environmental and health disasters, occurring right now, with the T-shirt on your back. Cotton—that fluffy, ‘natural,’ moisture-wicking fiber—is not all it’s cracked up to be. Twenty-five percent of the world’s insecticides and ten percent of the world’s pesticides are used to grow conventional cotton, states the Organic Trade Association. Included among the up to 8,000 different chemicals used in the production and processing of cotton textiles are some of the most toxic classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency. These chemicals poison the workers who grow and process the plants, and they contaminate our water supplies, soil, and air.

Alternative fibers are plentiful. Soy fiber, made from byproducts of the soybean oil and tofu industries; naturally pest-resistant hemp; and of course organic cotton, which is grown without toxic pesticides. Bamboo is already prized as a renewable resource for its flooring and countertop possibilities. A grass that can grow up to a meter per day, bamboo does not require pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers, and it doesn’t need to be replanted after harvesting as it continuously sends up new shoots. Spun into fabric, bamboo drapes like silk, is softer than cotton, and has naturally occurring antimicrobial properties.