by Lauren Haslett

Created on: December 08, 2008   Last Updated: March 16, 2012

In this new era of intensified ecological concern and political self-discovery, even the most isolated of us have begun to see the light green (as in environmentally healthy and sustainable product production and business methods) is now bringing in more of another kind of green (as in cash) to companies than ever before. Issues that used to be considered the property only of the scary liberals and fringe leftist hippies are now moving over to the mainstream, and it's easy to see everyone from Apple to Urban Outfitters trying to carve out a piece of this very lucrative market for themselves. One of most visible industries this move toward the eco-friendly can be seen in is fashion; but making what was once often stigmatized into something trendy and hip isn't an easy task for even the most famous of fashion houses, and some are handling the transition better than others.

Consumers are making the difference, by searching out and demanding ethically and sustainably produced clothing and accessories, but even more consumers need to be educated and brought on board with this movement if it is to truly succeed in changing the fashion industry forever.

And the fashion industry itself has to continue to respond, designing and manufacturing even better-made and better-looking articles to market toward consumers, so that even those at the highest point in the consumer hierarchy feel that there are equitable eco-friendly, fair-trade alternatives to what they are currently purchasing and wearing. Luckily, this change is starting to pick up speed in the fashion marketplace.

The organic, eco-friendly clothing movement is mainly about finding better and more sustainable ways of growing the crops (or raising the animals) needed to make most naturally-derived fabrics, as well using healthier chemical-free ways of turning those raw materials into clothing. One of the most popular of these crops is cotton and this is probably where the organic fiber fad has become most evident. Farming cotton organically instead of using traditional methods helps to maintain the fertility of the soil and reduces the use of damaging and unsafe chemicals and pesticides (which are absorbed not only by the air and soil at the farming site, but by the plants themselves, and therefore, at least in small amounts, into your skin when you wear clothes made from them).[1]And of course, there are similar benefits to both your health and the earth's when you wear clothing made from any other organically

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