Organic clothing

If you are thinking why you need organic cotton clothes, open another tab and google it out right now!

Ok, so convinced why? Read on and get ready to shop!

I always found very limited designs in this segment, but thanks to the growing awareness, there is a huge variety available these days.
Here is a nice write up on the brands.

But  beware! There are many sellers claiming they sell organic clothes & charge hefty amounts but do not have certifications in place.
Which could mean (a) they  produce organic clothing but skipped the certification part as it costs a LOT   (b) they are actually not selling organic stuff.

So what should you look for? The brand should at least have GOTS certification, More certifications are an icing on the cake.Typically brands will display the GOTS logo on their website and you can get more information and even view certificates in the "About us" section. So do your brand research before investing money in organic clothing which on an average tends to be costlier than non organic clothing.

Going by logic, firms which are not certified but claim to be organic should charge much less for their clothes as they do not spend money on certifications. But so far, I have found very little difference in prices of organic certified Vs organic non certified clothing.
So any day I prefer buying certified organic clothing than non certified ones even if they were to cost more.

There are many manufacturers in India who are GOTS certified, but they only cater to wholesale customers and export their products. I contacted 8-10 of them to convince them to start selling to individual customers but they did not even bother to reply!

I am listing out organic clothing stores. These sell organic certified cotton, bamboo clothing which includes T shirts,towels, inner wear, jeans, yoga pants, trousers, shorts, kurtas, kurtis, night wear,....., even sarees! So you can be covered in organic clothing from top to toe whatever the occasion,season or reason!
I have shopped from some, yet to shop from some; I will post my experience soon.


GOTS certified organic clothing (Adults, kids, babies)

Do you speak green
http://douspeakgreen.in

UV & W
www.uvandw.com

Aura herbal wear
http://www.auraherbalwear.com/

Zeme organics
http://www.zemeorganics.com/online_store

No nasties
http://www.nonasties.in


GOTS certified organic cotton sarees

http://www.ethicus.in/ http://www.appachicotton.com/
http://www.indianroots.in/catalogsearch/result/?q=ethicus


GOTS certified organic clothing (Babies, kids)

Nino Bambino
http://ninobambino.in/


Awerganic
http://www.awerganic.in/

Online retailers who stock organic clothing brands for babies & kids:

My baby cart
http://mybabycart.com
They stock DUSG, Awerganic, Nini bambino, Earth conscious (Not sure if Earth conscious is GOTS certified)

http://www.unamia.com/


Organic cotton leggings

I drew a blank searching for organic cotton leggings though.
Lavos (lavos.in) comes closest to that. They informed me that the yarn they used is certified though I am not sure what certifications they have.
For now, this is the best option available. I am quite surprised why no one manufactures organic cotton leggings!


Apart from the above, most of the stores listed here also stock these organic clothing brands.


So there your (almost) complete guide to organic clothing. If you know any more GOTS certified brands, do drop in a comment.
On your mark, Get set, Go! (and shop till you drop :))

Organic shopping guide

There are no organic shop outlets where I stay. So I have to look online for my needs.
I have to eat pesticide & insecticide ridden fruits and vegetables though as no one ships them, these being perishable.
But other stuff starting from grocery to clothes, everyday needs to every month needs, I get it all online.
I have put down a list of websites where I generally have shopped or  want to shop from. I will post my shopping experience as and when it happens.

A quick tip is to not depend on a single website but have many options. A common feature I have noticed is "In stock" does not mean "in stock" (i.e.) items have this mysterious quality of transitioning from "in stock" to "out of stock" in a jiffy! The order is generated, after 4-5 days they realize they are unable to fulfill it and money is refunded within 7 days.
I do not know how online retailers work, how much inventory they hold, but they all uniformly face the problem of the manufacturer not delivering. So keep many options (say A,B,C), distribute your orders among them based on experience. So when A does not deliver, B or C will and you do not get out of stock :)

When I  started on my organic journey, I found almost all online stores delivery only to cities, but when I bombarded google with multiple combinations of search terms, it threw me a surprise.I gradually realized that there are MANY stores who deliver all over India & deliver it free for a minimum order value ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1000.
Some offer reward points for being loyal, others don't. Some have a responsive customer care, some don't care about customers. Some ship items so that it reaches you promptly (4-5 days) ; some give the items a complete "Bharat darshan" before it reaches you(8-10 days).
So based on your experience,  factor it all in while placing your order :)

   
Listed below are Multipurpose stores who are e retailers (stock variety of organic brands for everything from grocery to clothing to you name it) for all your organic needs.
In later posts, I will blog about category specific organic stores (i.e.) which specialize in one particular segment and are mostly the manufacturers.

Here goes:
(If the name is clickable I have posted my review, if not I have been lazy not found time or not yet shopped from them)

Natural mantra
http://www.naturalmantra.com/

Joy by nature
http://www.joybynature.com

Earthon
http://www.earthonstore.com/

Organic shop
http://organicshop.in

My green kart
http://www.mygreenkart.com/

Naturally yours
http://www.naturallyyours.in

Greenngood
http://greenngood.com/

Shophealthy
http://www.shophealthy.in

Green ok please
http://www.greenokplease.com

Ecotokri
http://ecotokri.com

Ecomartindia (No groceries)
http://ecomartindia.com/

Satvik shop
http://satvikshop.com/

Farm to kitchen
http://www.farm2kitchen.com

Bindi

Somewhere along my journey of replacing my usual stuff with organic eco friendly stuff, I got clean bowled by something right over my eyes!Literally!

The innocent Bindi!

I have used two versions: the one with glue & the liquid one which comes in various colours.

I got thinking: I am actually clueless about the glue or the liquid that I am exposing my skin to on a daily basis!

From that moment, I troubled the internet with all sorts of search terms so that it retrieves some eco friendly Bindi from some corner of the world.
I did not find one.

More search led me to Sandhu Pottu which was used in the good old days by ladies and babies. But it is a black paste. Period. No designs, no variety, no colours.
But it is natural, homemade and your skin will thank you some day for being so considerate.

After searching on the internet & consulting with the elders who have used it, here is the recipe:

Sago - 1 handful
rice flour - 5 tsp . 

First , take a iron kadai and heat it . After that add the sago and saute it till it becomes like brown color . Then add rice flour and saute till it become reddish brown color . Add water so that this mixture immerses well in water . Nicely stir it till it turns sticky . Flame is medium always . Then allow it to cool .

Sago cools the body also so it is used for bindhi purpose .

The part in Red is taken from here

I am also told Sago adds a glossy finish to the Bindi. I haven't tried it out, will make it soon and post my experience.

Match sticks

I totally cannot stand match sticks especially the fumes they emit. They totally choke me out like I am surrounded by 1000s of smoke guzzling vehicles.

But being in a setup where one has to use the match stick everyday (for religious reasons :)), often puts me in  an uncomfortable situation. I would take a deep breath, hold my breath, light the match, light the lamp & run out of the room to get in fresh unpolluted air. A good 5 mins later, after the fumes have dispersed sufficiently, I would enter and continue my religious activities.
All this gets very difficult to follow or explain when you are surrounding by strangers, so I often end up inhaling a lot of these fumes.

Apparently there are no eco friendly replacements to match sticks.

Lighters are available but I found there are concerns about they filling in landfills.

And I found this wonderful explanation about the fumes that trouble me so much.

So the fumes are mainly Sulphur dioxide & Carbon dioxide(emitted by the burning wood).

But really, there should be an organic, eco friendly alternative to match sticks? If you know any, do drop in a comment.

Till such day, I am better off using an LED lamp to appease the deity.

Be Wise with Rice

Rice is one of the grains which we consume quite often and I cannot imagine living without rice. There were times when I had to stay away from rice due to health issues, but now I know rice is actually nutritious.

It is available in various colours and types and it often gets confusing to choose.

Paddy is dehusked and the outer layers of the brown rice (bran) and germ are stripped off approximately to an extent of 7-10% leaving behind mainly the starchy inner portion which is what we consume.

So rice is basically of below types:
1) brown rice (unpolished rice) retains bran & germ
2) Hand pounded rice (minimally polished rice), 
3) Raw (non-parboiled) 
4) White rice (fully polished rice), 
5) parboiled white rice, 
6) quick cooking rice (instant rice) 

The information in red is taken from this wonderful informative article. Do read though the entire article.

I knew white rice was bad, but I simply did not have a workable solution. Because I was told brown rice is chewy & tasteless, such an item would take a strong resolve to stick to.
Anyway I went ahead and ordered organic Brown rice and it worked for me. I had been suffering from piles since more than a year and I noticed a relief from constipation after I shifted to Brown rice. 
I use the Brown rice by 24 letter mantra.
It is of course different from white rice. It is slightly chewy but definitely not tasteless. According to the pack, genuine brown rice spilts at the centre after cooking.

My review: 
It is light brown & I can see the bran and know for sure it contains immense fibre, but it lacks the germ. I even tried germinating it, but it did not sprout proving the germ is absent and so technically it cannot be called brown rice. I am yet to find organic brown rice with the bran & germ intact. If there are any brands available do drop in a comment.

I also tried organic red rice from the same brand, it is almost double the price, more chewy than brown rice.

I regularly buy organic brown rice/red rice from http://www.naturalmantra.com/ & http://www.joybynature.com

So if you want to shift to healthy eating, this is one important change you should make.

My first post!!

I have long wanted to start a blog to document my journey as I moved from insecticide,pesticide,harmful chemical laden items to organic ones. I just kept putting off & finally have started today.
Join me on this interesting journey as I slowly replace every day stuff with greener, organic stuff.
I will post my thoughts on the organic substitutes available & post reviews of items I have used.
And occasionally also express views and opinions on matters that cannot be classified as green :)

It is a coincidence that I chose such a historic day when the largest democracy in the world has voted for a better country!
Cheers!