The textile industry can have huge negative impact on the environment (pesticides, pollutants) health (over 3000 chemicals next to your skin – your largest organ) and livelihood of farmers (unacceptable working conditions, low pay, and working with chemicals).  Similarly the pressure to produce vast quantity of cheap textiles has led to the industry adopting some very un-ethical trade practices – which we stand against.

More pesticides are sprayed on worldwide cotton crops than any other major crop.  It is regularly grown on poorly managed soils, which then require even more fertilizers to support crops…which gets into large water bodies…reducing habitat biodiversity….and possibly leading to eventual depletion of precious natural resources. 

However organic cotton can be grown using no synthetic chemical pesticides or fertilizers – any pests can be controlled using natural predators – thus the soils remain healthy and rich in organic matter.  The ecosystem is not damaged, farmers do not have to pay out for expensive chemicals and nothing or no-one is poisoned. 

For Tigermasala Imports we have sourced cotton grown in this way in parts of India where people have never afforded chemicals – so we are in effect supporting traditional organic farming.  This is the same for the dye process.  The methods used to get the colours in our products have been handed down generation after generation using timeless ingredients – turmeric / pomegranate / indigo / bark, etc. 

Even the bleaching of our cotton is organic – the fabrics are exposed to direct sunlight, lemon juice and a natural grass base is used to start the process. 

Another benefit is that we are supporting mass local employment because hand-process is involved in all stages – cotton growing, cropping, preparing, dyeing and manufacturing.  This employment is mainly villagers who farm the crop and procure the herbs and dyes.