Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills is one of India’s leading sustainable textile companies that not only produces quality products but observes the highest social, economic and environmental standards. It is organic and fair trade certified. No child labour, no forced labour, no discrimination.

At the mill, employees receive a living wage that is approximately 20-50% above the legal minimum wage, with regular increments and an annual bonus that is not performance-related.  Workers receive paid holiday leave, medical insurance, sick pay, overtime at double the normal wage and a retirement pension fund plan, as well as subsidised meals and free transport.  Employees are free to join trade unions. All children of the mill workers receive free schooling.  These benefits and more have resulted in a high level of worker satisfaction and a low employee turnover of approximately 2% per year.

So what happens when the cotton from Chetna that is destined to become a batch of physicoolsports t-shirts reaches Kolkata?  First, it is spun into yarn, which then gets knitted into the supersoft fabric lengths that physicoolsports fans rave about.  The fabric is checked for quality and then dyed to our technicolour specifications using eco-friendly, water-based dyes that are Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS) approved.  After being washed and checked once again for colour consistency, the fabric is stacked and then cut into the pattern pieces of our t-shirt shapes that have been tweaked to perfection.

The cut pieces are then hand-printed, again using eco-friendly inks, bringing to life the artwork of our talented designer community – a group of incredibly skilled individuals who all believe in the power of good through design.

After printing, the fabric pieces are sewn together and voilà!  The t-shirt is born.  It is carefully finished, checked, then securely packed up.  The super sexy tees make their way to physicoolsports HQ where they are waiting eagerly for you to give them a loving home.  For every purchase, the farmers get more, the factory workers get more and you support brands like us who are trying to make a difference - all in return for buying an awesome t-shirt. 

Not a bad deal :)

We've waxed lyrical about our new adopted home state before. Goa's beaches, lush greenery and sweeping vistas have certainly permeated our designs and provided gorgeous photoshoot locations. Those squeezed-on-the-spot juices and fish thalis aren't half bad either.

But what's it really like to run our business here?

Here is what our fresh-from-the-city, starry-eyed dreams imagined our life would look like when we first came to these shores:

6am: Waking up to the sound of birds and church bells, we roll out of bed for a relaxed morning of reading and a freshly-brewed cuppa.

8am: Yoga. Ahhh. S-t-r-e-t-c-h. 

10am: Making healthy Pinterest-worthy breakfasts to eat on our veranda, and generally soaking up the beauty of the day like nothing short of a Disney princess singing to a squirrel.

11am: Reach work – but no emails just yet! Let's crack on with some big-picture project stuff. You know, the things that make your heart thump a bit louder and get you all fired up. Booyah!

1pm: Before you know it, it's lunch hour. Where shall we go today? Eva Cafe, then dip our toes in the sea? Bean Me Up, and finish with the best raw vegan desserts under the tropical sun? Baba Au Rhum for some french baked goods? Artjuna for Middle-eastern? Nah, let's go to the local haunt, Vinayak - family owned, delicious Goan food, located on the edge of a paddy field. And hey, there's totally time to stop for a tender coconut on the way back.

(Photos: The yoga shala, the verandah & the lovely Eva cafe)

2-4pm: We'll get down to correspondence emails and work with the team to make sure everything's running like clockwork across the business. Chai? Go on then.

4-6pm: And then, having totally shown our work diaries who's boss, it's time for an ocean swim. Oh, unless it's an Ultimate Frisbee day. But that's on the beach too, so not far to go to cool off our feet after the workout. Not far to the bar for a feni and Limca, either. When in Goa...

6pm-zzz: What's the number one rule? No work after sunset! We like our evenings free to switch off, meet friends, cook at home, have a drink, sleep early. After all, those squirrels will need serenading tomorrow too.

(Photos: Miles of beaches, paddy fields and sunsets)

Well.

That's the dream. Here's the reality.

We might do early morning yoga every day for a month. And love it! But then we're out of town travelling and eek... the habit slips.

We spend much longer hours in the office dealing with small issues, erratic internet connections, customer service, chasing down the Fedex guy, running out of boxes. There's a lot of firefighting! Because we're a small business and that's just how it works – but with some extra Goa madness thrown in. All that can mean less time to work on the 'big picture' view because dropping all the other things being juggled just isn't an option. Hey look, the neighbours’ cow is in our yard again.

Lunch gets skipped. We get sucked into our computers and suddenly... oh no... it takes effort to go to the beach! It's something we really have to remind ourselves to do for our own sanity – it's such a short season and a bookend to the day that is so relaxing when we make it a priority. But oh, the internet just went down again. And where is that Fedex guy?!

(Photos: The new office, the commute & where's the Fedex guy!?)

So our reality can look a little different. But you know what – it's worth it.

We work longer hours, but they're still more peaceful somehow. Not having to commute or stress out over traffic means we don't start and end the day feeling super hassled. For us – though we know it’s different for everyone – a long day in Goa still beats a half day in the city, hands down!

Moving not just ourselves but our stock to Goa has also been hugely rewarding. There's already been so much to learn and enjoy about bringing our warehouse back in-house: we love being able to add more of a personal touch, to take on special requests and improve order turnaround time. As a brand focused on sustainability it's also been fun to hunt out reusable packaging – are you the lucky customer whose big physicoolsports order turned up in a Parle G biscuits box?!

Outside of work, we've also been blessed to find an awesome community here. Goa has a great crowd of socially-conscious people, and because the group is smaller it's way more interactive and great for getting to know folks. A little effort to shut down the laptop on time is rewarded with a reliably fun social scene: Monday night is reserved for cultural & social night at 6 Assagoa, Tuesday evenings is movie night at Tamarind with Wall Fly...and the list goes on. Plenty to choose from...or plenty to skip to find that inner JOMO.

So, if we knew 'back then' that cycle rides down to the sand and leisurely big-picture dreaming would have to budge over just a tad for a bit more real life, would we still make the move?

No question. This is home now. It might not be rose-tinted, but it's still sunny as heck.

Update 2022: A lot has changed since we first published this article but we're still calling Goa our home. Our flagship store is in the beautiful little village of Assagao in North Goa, see here, our office is right next door. Come visit us to shop 100% organic cotton clothing, made in India. 

Atma is an NGO that works to support the disadvantaged community by partnering with educational NGOs. Through building the capacity of these organisations, we attempt to deliver high quality education to underprivileged children and young adults. While education is one the key drivers of development, there are numerous other causes that need to be addressed.

We at Atma understand that we cannot solve all the problems of the world. However, being a socially responsible organisation Atma promotes a culture of making socially conscious decisions. We support organisations and entrepreneurs who are working to provide solutions to the various problems afflicting our country.

physicoolsports is one such incredible organisation that works to address the injustices in the cotton farming industry of India. Referred to as the dirtiest crop for the rampant use of pesticides and fertilizers in its production; cotton poses a myriad of problems to its producers in India. Nearly 300,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide since 1995. A significant number of cotton farmers are part of this abysmal statistic.

physicoolsports designs and produces 100% organic and fair trade clothing that is ethically and sustainably made from seed to garment. By saying No to all the Nasty Business that is the cotton industry in India today, this organisation gives us the power to Vote with our Wallets.

Atma ‘cottons on’ to physicoolsports and everything they stand for. Not only are the Atma t-shirts a physicoolsports product all the way, but some of their latest designs have also found a way into the closets of our staff members.

Mary Ellen Matsui (Executive Director, Atma) says, “Atma is a young organisation keen to be a part of the larger change-making process.  The uber hip & clean physicoolsports t-shirts make for a natural ‘fit’ for our team. We are thankful for this awesome initiative that allows us to be a part of the solution!”

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Happy holidays, Atma!  It’s an honour to be on board your socially conscious train!

Divine is a chocolate company on a mission… to deliver a sublime experience to chocolate lovers everywhere, while raising the bar on what it means to trade fairly with farmers, and do business in a better way.  It’s the amazing story behind Divine that has had such an impact, and changed how people think about chocolate for ever.

Back in 1997 a cocoa farmers’ co-operative in Ghana called Kuapa Kokoo (‘good cocoa farmers’ in Twi) voted at their AGM to set up a chocolate company in order to access a share of the valuable chocolate market (worth many times as much as the raw cocoa).  A year later the first Divine bar was launched in the UK – 33% owned by the farmers themselves.  Set up with the support of Twin Trading (a fair trade NGO), The Body Shop, and charities Christian Aid and Comic Relief, the company was established with the aim ‘to improve the livelihood of smallholder cocoa producers in West Africa by establishing their own dynamic branded proposition in the UK chocolate market, thus putting them higher up the value chain’.  This mission still drives everything we do – and to this end we have successfully both grown sales (we’ve seen turnover of £11.8m), and been at the forefront of raising consumer, business and government awareness about the need for fairer trade.

 In 2007 Divine achieved a really significant milestone – the delivery of the first Dividend to Kuapa Kokoo – very tangible evidence that Divine Chocolate is succeeding at what it set out to do.  Because, in 2006, The Body Shop had handed over their share in Divine to the farmers – Kuapa Kokoo’s stake grew from 33% to 45% so they receive the largest share of the profits.  With a big flourish on Valentine’s Day, Divine was also launched in the USA – a bold and exciting move to introduce millions more chocolate lovers to Fairtrade and Divine Chocolate.

Divine Chocolate is also fulfilling its objectives to be a catalyst in the chocolate industry – and it was by creating a significant Fairtrade cocoa supply from Ghana, and a market hungry for Fairtrade chocolate in the UK, that Divine prompted the decision Cadbury’s (now Kraft) made to convert some of its business to Fairtrade (and the other big players have followed).

In a world that is becoming increasingly confusing to the consumer (or business) aspiring to live and shop more ethically, we hope we offer chocolate to cherish and a beacon for change.  Our plan is to continue to prove it’s perfectly possible in business to put people first as well as profits, and make chocolate which is good news for everyone.  Divine has created a model that is sustainable and empowering in the long term, and not arbitrary like charity. It is a model that doesn’t just deliver more reliable income – but profits, knowledge and power, enabling farmers to share in the wealth and market they have helped create.

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Thanks, Charlotte!  It’s been great for us at physicoolsports to have your support and advice.  We’re passionate about seeing great changes in the Indian cotton farming industry and it’s super encouraging to see how much difference the principles of fair trade have been making in Ghana.  Here’s to a Divine (and definitely not nasty) 2013

Reality Tours and Travel is a social tour operator who aims to break down the negative attitudes many people have towards slums and the residents. Our signature Dharavi tour shows the industrial and residential areas of one of Asia’s biggest slums and tries to give our customers an understanding of the “realities” of this area. We show and explain the enormous economical power of Dharavi and the strong sense of its community. Besides that we also offer Market, Bicycle, Mumbai by Night, Public Transport and Village tours.

Eighty percent of our profits go towards our sister NGO Reality Gives that runs and supports several projects in education as well as environment, health and livelihoods improvement for the communities of Dharavi.  Besides many other projects we run a Community Centre, a Youth Empowerment Program as well as an English Language Support Program at Municipal schools. Since Reality Gives was founded in 2009 we had a direct impact on the underprivileged lives of 1500 residents.  In 2012-13 we plan to provide resources and opportunities to 750 slum dwellers through powerful programs run by us or our connection projects.

You might think now that this is all great but why do you read that on the physicoolsports blog? Because physicoolsports plays a big part in creating that change for our communities by adding their fair trade, organic and too-soft-to-believe-it tees to our merchandise line. Besides our tours we also offer products to our customers that represent our vision of creating a change in the world. We give 100% of the profits from the merchandise sales back to Reality Gives.

Our “I ♥ Dharavi” t-shirt produced by physicoolsports is a bestseller in our Reception Centre in Dharavi. The heart doesn’t just symbolize the devotion and love we dedicate to our work in Dharavi but also the shape of Dharavi itself. Situated between the Western and Central railway lines the area looks like a heart from the bird’s eye perspective. Also it is located in the middle of Mumbai, conveniently reachable from everywhere in the city.

But that’s not all that connects us to the incredible team of physicoolsports. Apu, who has tried to get us all in his Ultimate Frisbee team for more than a year now (with limited success by the way) and co-founder Diti designed the website www.realitygives.org. Additionally, Apu has been a member of the Reality Gives advisory board for half a year and enlightens us regularly with his creative and professional input for all areas of our work.

physicoolsports has become a very important partner for the Reality Group. Our team loves the perfect-fit and eco-friendly shirts that feel especially good on the skin even after a long hot day in Dharavi. And also our customers are often surprised how soft and light the shirts and the prints feel. 

It’s also never too late to explore the “real” Mumbai with us. Find out more on www.realitytoursandtravel.com.

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Thanks, Reality!  We ♥ what you guys do. 

We were at the Maharashtra Nature Park for the Farmers’ Market!

When we weren’t eating delicious fresh-cooked organic food, buying fruits and veggies directly from the farmers, or drinking perfect natural lemonade, we were showing off our brand new designs and singing the praises of organic cotton… yep, you really can feel the difference!

But that’s not all. 

We were there to capture a movement!

The demand for produce that is sustainably grown gets bigger every day.  Toxic chemicals?  No thanks!  We believe organic farming is the answer.  Safe for the farmers, safe for the families, safe for the soil, safe for the water supply, safe for the world, safe for you.

Who’s with us?  Will you be part of the movement?

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said YES!

Are you in?

You will also know that physicoolsports are proud to be completely fair trade and organic. This isn’t just lip service – we are hugely passionate about these issues.  To kick this new blog of ours into full swing, we’d like to share with you a bit more background on the innovative organisations responsible for firstly growing the lovely cotton, and then whipping it up into the high-quality t-shirts we are so pleased to put our name to. 

Today: how is our cotton grown?

Say hello to Chetna Organic.  Chetna is a farmer-owned producer company, which markets and trades fair trade and organic certified cotton on behalf of its farmer members.  Its mission is to “improve the livelihood options of smallholder farmers from rain-fed regions by supporting them to adopt sustainable agriculture and empowering them as informed stakeholders in ethical supply chains”.  Throughout Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Western Odisha, more than 15000 small-scale and marginal tribal farmers are supported in adopting safer, more environmentally friendly and socially sustainable systems.

Did you know that the average rate at which farmers commit suicide in India is every 30 minutes?  Did you know that 55% of all synthetic pesticides in India are used in cotton farming?  Toxic chemicals that are banned in the West are still sold in India and used in cotton farming.  The health hazards of these pesticides not only directly impact farm workers, but they are expensive – and alongside dependence on genetically engineered seeds and chemical fertilisers, farmers face spiralling debts and increased healthcare costs.  A shocking number of farmers have been driven to the desperate act of suicide.  Co-operatives like Chetna offer a radically different alternative, with a focus on using local resources, constructing viable financing models and giving farmers a shared platform from which to voice their concerns.  

In their own words:

Healthier and more secure than before, farmers in Chetna Organic project a promising picture of their future in complete harmony with nature. A growth from 250 farmers in 2004 to over 15000 farmers by 2012 speaks for itself on how farmers have chosen to stand on a common pedestal of Environment… Ethics… Equilibrium!

Cotton that will eventually become a physicoolsports t-shirt is lovingly harvested from the fields, transported to the mill in reusable sacks, cleaned, processed, kept at the ideal humidity level and eventually formed into big compressed bails for transporting all around India.

Let’s check out life on the Chetna farms, and in the surrounding communities.

 All images from the brilliant Chetna Organic Facebook page.

We’re looking forward to giving physicoolsports fans regular updates from Chetna throughout the seasons, and we’ll be setting off for another visit to one of their cotton farms soon too.  Road trip!!

Next up… the cotton bails are off to our very special factory.  Stay tuned!