Many chemicals that have entered our lives with the developing technology have secretly started to disrupt our quality of life and cause diseases. While some of the harmful and foreign substances (toxins) entering the body are excreted naturally, some remain in the body. In the face of these developments, people started to demand that the products they use do not threaten their health.
Ecological and organic production is being promoted with increasing intensity by many countries. Community organic certification, which includes Japan, Australia, the European Union, the USA and many other countries, has provided conditions to the producers so that the producers can bring organic products to the market. Every year, big companies switch to the organic market with ecological production.
What is Ecological Textile?
Environmental pollution, depletion of the ozone layer, increasing air and water pollution and the decrease in green areas, which have emerged as a result of the development of technology, have led to the formation of a sensitive public opinion, especially in developed countries. Producers have started to take new measures in order to develop the industry that can respond to the increasing population demands and to protect the environment at the same time. Since textile wastes have an important place in the deterioration of the ecological balance, the environmental movement that has spread all over the world in recent years has also affected the textile industry. The concept of “Ecological Textile” emerged as a result of this. The products that are sensitive to environmental health, produced, used and destroyed without harming the environment are called ecological textile products.
Ecological textile products are products that reach the end user as products that can be processed and packaged in a way that will not harm human health, of raw materials grown with environmental awareness without using chemicals on fertile soils, and can be recycled without harming the environment. For example, cotton produced by ecological method is the product obtained without the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Cotton produced in this way is organic cotton. However; The concept of ecologicality is not limited to the organic production of the raw material, but also requires that the coloring is ecological after production and that it is colored with natural dyestuffs.
In order for any textile product to be considered an environmentally friendly and ecological product, it must contain three important features..
Production should be done ecologically: Starting from fiber, all production stages should not harm people and the environment, process steps should be environmentally friendly, air and water wastes should be treated and destroyed, and measures such as preventing noise should be taken and followed.
Attention should be paid to their toxic effects on humans: The toxic effects of textile products on the human body; must not have any harmful effects by skin contact, inhalation or any of the salivary or digestive tracts for children.
Waste must be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner: Waste recycling or disposal must be carried out without harming the environment. Disposal by burning, rotting or storing should be done in a way that does not harm nature and people.
What is Organic Textile?
Organic textile products are products that are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, all kinds of pesticides as raw materials, and synthetics are not used during the process.
In order for a product to be an organic product in whichever sector it is used, it must be produced in accordance with the organic regulation at every step from the soil to the last stage of production.
International certification bodies working in this field carry out inspections and researches from the beginning to the end of production and certify the product with a certificate stating that it is organic. It can be said that consumers should pay attention to whether the product has a label with "organic" phrases and certificate number given by certification bodies.
In some countries, certification is carried out only by government agencies. In these countries, the use of the word "organic" in the commercial promotion of the product, on its packaging and on the labels is subject to strict rules.
ICEA; Authorized to issue certification according to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), developed and promoted by the International Working Group.
To reach the details of this certification, you can review my previous article GOTS: Global Organic Textile Standard.
REFERENCE
Turkdemir, P., Annelerin 0-2 Yas Bebek Giysilerinde Aradıkları Özellikler, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara, 2013
Berkes, F., Kislalioglu, M., Ekoloji ve Cevre Bilimleri, Ankara