Cotton is a favorite target of pests, which means that conventional farmers usually treat their cotton crops with toxic pesticides. That leads to some pretty serious environmental concerns. For one thing, pesticides can end up contaminating groundwater, rivers, streams, and lakes. This can have all kinds of unintended consequences – harming wildlife, polluting waters that are necessary for drinking, watering crops, and supporting wildlife. Farmed as intended, organic cotton yarn addresses some of these concerns with alternative practices. For example, instead of dumping toxic synthetic chemicals onto the crops, organic farmers often find ways to attract critters that naturally eat the pests that like to devour their cotton crops. They also use other methods, such as crop rotation, that are beneficial to the soil. It is also important to consider that even those organic products that are perfectly farmed in regard to the treatment of the earth might have other issues that you haven’t considered. For example, in a Medium article on the topic, Stephan Neidenbach highlights how “GMO cotton benefits Indian farmers, while organic cotton encourages child labor”. An organic farm may (or may not) be better for the environment but if it has exploitative labor practices then it is something you may not want to support.
Cotton isn’t the only organic yarn option. You can find organic bamboo, for example, and even organic wool. Organic wool means that the sheep it comes from were fed organically using mostly a grazing method of eating. Organic yarn typically has a higher price than other yarn. Sometimes this is due to the non-toxic dye methods used to color the yarn, but it’s also just an industry standard for it to be pricier. Organic cotton yarn may be softer to the touch. In many cases, organic cotton yarn is softer than traditional cotton yarn, making it perfect for crocheting baby blankets and wearable items. Organic cotton yarn is unmercerized yarn. Some crochet patterns call for mercerized cotton, which is going to react differently when crocheted. Organic cotton yarn is typically more elastic and has some of the same behaviors as wool in comparison with mercerized cotton. Some people believe organic cotton yarn is healthier. There is a lot of debate around this, but the general idea is that the use of fewer pesticides in farming means that there are fewer things to harm your health, which is certainly a consideration when making items that will be used in the homes and on the bodies of the people you love. (These yarns are also typically dyed with less harsh chemicals.)
