Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Oct. 24, 2007, edition 1 / Page 5
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imRMATIVE PIECES October 24, lOOl J I Fashion's Turning Green for a Cause Erin Etheridge Staff Writer Beware booties, bejeweled accessories, and brilliant metallics - this fall, fashion is going green. By green, I mean eco-friendly. Organic clothing and accessories are taking the fashion world by storm, and with huge profits, great fits, and environmental advantages, this trend looks like one that is here to stay. Bones, hemp, and bamboo have always been popular choices from which to manufac ture organic clothing. Now, however, the king of all organic materials is cotton. In an article written for FOXNews, Michael York states that our nation's organic cot ton industry has seen its profits increase from $245 million in 2001 to $535 million in 2006. Retailers are also acknowledging the eco nomic growth organic cotton products can bring. For instance, the co-founder of the California-based organic cotton boufique Stewart+Brown, Howard Brown, remarked that sales have doubled or tripled annually since the company's launching in 2002. Adds Brown, "[T]his green revolution that's happening hasn't even peaked." Besides generating huge profits, organic clothing, especially that made from cotton, proves softer and simpler to clean and maintain. "From everything I've read and everything I've heard and my per sonal experience, it's softer and it feels nicer," says Asheville clothing designer Shari Keller, who uses Indian-manu- factured natural cotton fabrics in her collections. Organic products are also gaining attention because of the celebrities and brand names associ ated with them. The biggest name in organic clothing is U2 lead singer Bono, who along with his wife, Ali Hewson, and designer Rogan Gregory created the label Edun. (Yes, the brand's name is nude spelled backward.) Edun pieces are sewn in African and South American family-run businesses and are avail able at many Saks Fifth Avenue locations. Visit http://www.edunonline. com for more informa tion regarding this collec tion. Levi's has also entered the organic clothing mix with its Eco line. With men's items starting at $28 and women's pieces starting at $58, this line promises to allow cus tomers to display their support for ttie environ ment without busting their budgets. According to the line's website, Eco jeans "are made from 100% organic cotton, grown without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides." The website also states, "It's all about offering products that use raw materials that demand less from the environ ment." For more infor mation on Levi's Eco line, visit http://www.levis- tore.com/collections. >Other stores that are cashing in on the organic cotton trend include Cutter & Buck, H&M, Nike, Nordstrom, Sam's Club, Target, and Wal- Mart. Organic cotton does have its dissenters, how ever. Park adds in his article that "[S]ome insist that the orgaiuc-wear movement is an example of the emperor with no clothes - especially for the big-time textile asso ciations." For instance. Cotton Inc. has stated that not enough organic cot ton exists to supply the world, and higher organic cotton-growing costs translate into higher prices for cor\sumers. >Other critics empha size the improvements in genetic engineering that are already reduc ing plants' water use and farmers' dependence on pesticides. Proponents of organic clothing reply that con taminated resources, disruption of plants' and animals' life cycles, and sweatshops represent the textile industry at its worst. They argue that pesticide costs are not an issue with organic cloth ing, as well as executive salaries, since most busi nesses start small and grow. Clearly, organic doth- Green cont. on pg. 6 Water Restrictions Becoming Tighter Amber McKinney Staff Writer It's impossible to be living in North Carolina right now and not know that the state, and most of the Soutiieast, is expe riencing a record-break ing drought. Whenever meteorologists put up a map of the United States on CNN, most of the coxmtry is covered in a big, red splash that indi cates a drought. Every day, there are stories in the News & Observer about how water restric tions are getting tighter and tighter diroughout the Triangle. David Bracken and Anne Blythe of the News & Observer write that the Falls Lake reservoir, one of Raleigh's water sources, has only about 98 days of water left. In an attempt to stretch out the water supply, officials are insisting on tighter water restrictions. According to reports on ABCll.com, ti\e dty is currently under Stage 1 water restrictions. Under Stage 1, people can use handheld hoses without spray-ends two days a week but orJy during certain hours. Starting October 23^^, sprinkler systems, spray irrigation systems, «md handheld hoses with spray-ends are banned. Also, residents will not be able to wash flieir cars at home on the week ends. Since last Tuesday, people have not been allowed to buy permits for new lawns. ABCll. com states that the fines for breaking the water restrictions will remain the same as tiiey were during Stage 1 restric tions: "$200 for a first violation; $1000 for the second; water cut off for the third." As of now, no busi nesses that require a large use of water have been shut down. However, if the dty is forced to take the restrictions to Stage 2, Tim Nelson of ABC Eyewitness News reports that car washes that can not meet guidelines for recycling water will have to be shut down. With water becoming such a scarce commod ity, you would flunk that people would be doing everj^thing they could to conserve it and make sure it lasts as long as possible. However, such doesn't seem to be the case. At Duke University and UNC Chapel Hill, powerful spririkler sys tems are watering syn- tiietic grass on field hock ey fields. Yes, you read correctly, these imiversi- ties are watering fake grass while real grass has to die in order for dti- zens to conserve water. According to the News & Observer, the universities are able to continue this practice because the International Hockey Federation "requires the college teams to saturate the syn thetic turfs before each practice and all games." Needless to say, dti- zens of Chape! Hill and Durham are upset to see their scarce water sup ply being used in such a seemingly ridiculous way. Even though North Carolina and most of the surrovmding states are suffering firom severe drougfit, we seem rela tively untouched here at Meredith College. Our sprinklers still continue to spray down the lawns Restrictions cont. on Pg-6
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