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When it comes to your family’s health, going with all-organic GOTS-certified pure natural cotton kid’s bedding and quilts is a no-brainer. Given the fact that your young children will spend, on average, 10 or so hours under sheets, you get tremendous peace of mind when you insist on bedding that are free of residues from pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Purely organic cotton sheets are also free of synthetic fertilizer dust or film.
In addition to safeguarding your family’s health, when you choose completely organic and sustainably-grown fibers, you contribute to the health of other people and Mother Nature as well. Here are five key ways buying GOTS-certified purely natural cotton kids’ bedding helps so many people outside of your immediate family.
Organic cotton provides healthier options for other families
When you buy organic cotton products, you end up supporting a market ecosystem of organic cotton growers, textile producers, distributors, and retailers. Your purchase helps support a much needed commercial alternative to conventionally grown cotton. Also, GOTS certification ensures your kids’ bedding is part of a global fair trade system which provides actual living wages to cotton workers.
Your choice ensures healthier raw cotton farm workers
Much of the world’s organic cotton is grown in developing economies. When you choose to buy truly organic cotton products that carry the GOTS seal, you can rest assured that the workers who grew, harvested and processed your kids’ bedding core materials were not exposed to harmful chemicals. You also get the added peace of mind that these workers produced your bedding in work conditions free from exploitation.
Organic kids’ quilts mean better soil management
Your purchase helps ensure better soil management. Purely organic cotton growing systems lock carbon in the soil instead of burning it or releasing it into the air. Organic production also means less chemical leaching into soil thanks to natural cropping, intercropping, and yield-boosting natural fertilization.
GOTS-compliant farming practices totally cuts out the use of synthetic and petroleum-based fertilizers. This leads to less soil acidification. Organic farmers also don’t have to worry about rising salt levels in their soil.
Your choice to go organic helps ensure healthier air for all
When you buy truly organic cotton products, you are opting for natural insect control. This means no harsh chemical reactions when pesticides are released into the air. Also, using purely organic insecticide means there are no nasty chemical compounds created when synthetic pesticide residues are burned. Finally, since the organic production process uses less fossil fuels, less carbon is released in the air. The less airborne carbon, the better for Mother Nature’s overall health since carbon is a greenhouse gas which boosts the atmosphere’s heat trapping efficiency.
Going organic means a healthier global water supply
Cash crop-producing developing countries are very vulnerable to water diversion and water contamination due to large scale cash crop agricultural production. These have long-term negative effects on local populations. Indeed, bad water management and low water quality can lead to decreasing crop yields and possible crop failures.
When you choose to buy GOTS-certified organic cotton bedding and quilts, you help ensure cotton growers don’t contribute to nitrogen runoff and leaching. When excess nitrogen is released into river systems or streams, algal and microflora populations explode. This in turn leads to oxygen depletion as these plants respire at night. The end result? Fish kills. As an added bonus, by choosing organic cotton products, you play a direct part in cutting down on heavy metal water table leaching in the developing world. Keep in mind that cotton is a very water-intensive crop. When grown with heavy chemical inputs, the cotton growing process involves a very high risk of water contamination.
Incredibly, GOTS-certified organic cotton can lead to a 91% reduction in water coming from environmentally damaging sources.
Fully organic cotton products are 100% recyclable
You have probably heard that there’s a huge swath of the Pacific Ocean that’s made up of floating plastic. This plastic mess keeps getting bigger and bigger and threatens all sorts of wildlife. We wouldn’t have this problem if plastic degrades very quickly. Sadly, it doesn’t.
When you choose to buy organic kid’s quilts and sheets, you buy products that don’t contain any parts or components that take forever to decompose. These materials and fibers break down cleanly after a reasonable amount of time. You don’t have to worry about contributing to the ever growing threat of floating ocean plastic.
Not all children’s bedding are created equal. Keep the health benefits above in mind the next time you shop online for the right quilts, sheets, and beddings for your infant, toddler, or small children. Your choice counts for a lot and can go a long way in helping preserve Mother Earth’s health.
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This content is sponsored by Victor Cetinic of Wriggly Toes.
Photo: Pexels
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