Living an organic life doesn’t stop with buying organic clothes. When a mother slips an organic onesie onto her newborn, she wants to protect the environment and her child. Little does she know that ‘organic’ says nothing about how the raw fiber was processed. As so often, the devil is in the detail. Even organic textile producers might use toxic dyes and finishes like flame retardants in their manufacturing process. These can build up in a baby’s tissue and enter the blood stream. New parents’ health and ethical standards call for advanced qualities in organic children’s clothing. A new player in the organic baby clothing business, answers this need.

Levana Naturals is a new wholesaler of organic and fair trade children’s apparel. The company’s mission is to protect the innocence and carefree nature of children, the environment they live in and the society they grow up in. Levana Naturals president and founder Beate Runze says most parents are unaware of what goes on before the organic baby clothing is manufactured. “I didn’t know about those risks until I became a mother and started to do some research,” says Runze. “The skin is the largest organ in a human body. And baby’s skin is much thinner than that of adults, which makes our little ones even more vulnerable. That’s what inspired me to take ‘organic’ one step further and create Levana Naturals.”

Beyond using organic fibers, Levana Naturals uses all manufacturing processes that have met the strict environmental criteria of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) which follows a ‘triple bottom line’ policy using health, environmental and social criteria to evaluate their business practices. With these values in mind, Levana Naturals carefully chooses their partners and producers. One such example is Pickapooh, a family run company which specializes in organic hats for babies and children. They have created an organic sun protective fabric that is certified to international UV standards. Pickapooh then donates 10% of their revenue made from hats to a local children’s hospice.
“We want to change the industry norm of exploiting labor,” adds Runze. “We are proud to work with fair trade initiatives that foster socially responsible development.” Armed with positive business practices, Levana Naturals is hoping to make a positive impact for families, communities and the environment.

Related articles:

• Sustainable Exchange: Methods and Practices for Collaborative Partnerships (coolhunting.com)
• Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Online Database Provides Supply Chain Transparency (treehugger.com)