The sales of organic food and products are growing. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, industry estimates put retail sales of organic products at $5.5 billion in 1998, up from $1 billion in 1990. Organic users’ demographics: 40% are 36 to 55 years old with 25% likely to have a college degree.

Gaiam Inc., a Broomfield, CO provider of goods, services, and information to environmentally and health-conscious customers started selling organic cotton sheets in its own catalogs two years ago. The company wants to go mainstream and convince retailers that there is a market for a different kind of sheet.

Cotton for organic sheets is grown in soil that is free of toxic chemicals for at least three years. In the manufacturing stage, cotton is minimally processed with dyes and other finishes that have a low impact on the environment.

The idea of natural cotton, which consumers think is organic, has been marketed before. Natural cotton uses minimal dyes and bleaching in the manufacturing process but does not address the growing process. Organic sheets use cotton that has not been effected by fertilizers.

Park B. Smith has been marketing its Eco-ordinates collection for eight years in department and specialty stores. The collection does not use bleaches, chemicals, or pesticides. Natural dyes are hand-extracted from plants and vegetables using ancient techniques.

Bedding manufacturer Coyuchi is another player in the market. It uses cotton grown organically and produced in accordance with international standards.

Cotton meets 50 percent of the world’s textile needs and is one of the heavily sprayed agricultural crops on the planet.

Bed, Bath, & Beyond is among those catering to the few, with some of its stores offering Natural Cotton Comfort, a 440 thread count sateen woven with durable two-ply yarns. The package claims is it 100 percent chemical-free. Prices range from twin sets at $59.99 to king sets at $119.99.

Talk

Did you know that if you drink two cups of coffee a day you will down 34 gallons of java in one year, made from 18 pounds of beans? Colombian farms have 12 coffee trees growing to support your coffee addiction. Farmers will apply 11 pounds of fertilizers and a few ounces of pesticides to the trees this year. And Colombia’s rivers will swell with 43 pound of coffee pulp stripped from the beans.

Coffee is the world’s second largest legal export commodity (after oil) and is the second largest source of foreign exchange for developing nations. The United States drinks about one-fifth of the world’s coffee. Source: Ryan, J. and Durning, A.T. (1997). Stuff. Seattle, WA: Northwest Environment Watch.

Published: July 11, 2002

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