How can bed sheets be organic?

I’m used to organic food labels, but organic bedding sounds kind of weird. Organic food was grown in a healthful way, and the product goes straight from farm to store. But bedding has so many processes to go through before it’s sold in a store. What does the organic claim mean exactly?

Organic bedding is made with organic materials. Organic bed sheets are usually made from certified organic cotton grown without pesticides or genetic modifications. Organic farming utilizes crop rotation, natural fertilizers, and biological (natural) pest control.

Traditional cotton farming depends on high quantities of chemicals. Organic farming proponents say that if world production of cotton switched to 100% organic methods, the total use of insecticides would be reduced by 25%.

Environmental issues, like water treatment at the fabric dying facility, or fair trade issues regarding the work / social conditions of the farmers, should also be included in a claim that a product is organic. But usually they are not. An organic bedding claim simply means that it was made from a plant fiber with organic certification.

Cotton is usually thought of as a fiber, used to make textiles. But it is also a food. The seeds and fibers are feed to livestock, eventually consumed by humans, and cotton seed oil is used extensively in processed foods. So organic certification, and the trend toward less use of chemicals in cotton farming, is not only an environmental issue. It directly affects the food we eat and our physical well being.