Organic cotton starting to turn heads in fashion (go back »)

Polyester Clothes You've given up your gas-guzzling SUV, bought a high-efficiency furnace

and have switched to organic produce, all in the name of the environment. But have you

given any thought to what you're wearing?Cotton may come from the Earth, but the large

amount of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals used to grow and process it can make

conventional cotton fabrics an unfriendly environmental choice.As a result, many companies

have sought out alternatives, creating a growing number of clothes made from sustainable

fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo and soy yarns.No, that doesn't mean shirts cut from

coarse sack-cloth or skirts woven from stiff bamboo poles. These new fabrics can be as

soft, washable, colourful and stylish as cotton or polyester jersey.Organic cotton looks

and feels no different than non-organic cotton, and both bamboo and soy jersey fabrics are

super-soft, says Jessica Kennedy, owner of Nokomis, an Edmonton store that carries a number

of sustainable fabric lines, including its own, in-house pieces.Organic cotton is grown

without pesticides or fertilizers and processed without chemicals like formaldehyde, which

is used to prevent wrinkles, explains Michael Kalmanovitch of Earth's General Store in

Edmonton.Bamboo grows quickly, doesn't need added chemicals, is durable and has long fibres

that work well for making fabric.Clothes made from organic fabrics are slightly more

expensive, but as those fabrics become more popular and widely used, the prices are coming

down, says Kennedy.Her store carries a range of clothes made from sustainable fabrics.