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 :)

There are a multitude of words in the English language that are used incorrectly on a daily basis. Take ‘literally’, for example - it’s a word that means ‘actually’, or ‘without exaggeration’, when in fact it is more often than not used by people (most of these people being teenage girls like me, but I digress) to do just that - exaggerate. There are dozens of words and phrases just like this one that people use daily without knowing the literal (ha!) meaning of.

Let’s unpack this one: organic.

Organic is a word I hear all the time. I hear my dad tell our housekeeper to buy organic eggs, not the ones from this store or that seller. I hear people talking about going to farmers markets in Bandra (in Mumbai) that boast a wide variety of organic produce. And of course, I hear from my uncle and aunt, and now other people hear from me, about physicoolsports: the organic clothing brand.

I also hear husbands and wives bickering in the grocery store over, say, which shelf of mushrooms they should pick to take home. It starts with a loud, indignant voice: “Why the hell would I spend this much for a pack of mushrooms when the exact same product is available for half the price, not even a foot away?”

“These are organic! It’s better for you!”

Cue the scramble for both parties to grab the one they prefer and run over to the cash register.

Their cause of confusion is a common one: Why buy something for a far larger sum, simply because the person in charge of packaging it decided to scribble in the word organic?

The answer is that it is not just a word slapped onto the label - there are multiple differences between products that qualify as organic, and products that don’t. These differences begin with the way the materials used to make organic products are grown in farms.

The methods in organic farms are vastly unlike those of most other farms: they don’t use carcinogenic chemicals, toxic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers that harm the air, nearby water bodies, soil, and even the people working on the fields. This prevents the soil from relying on certain chemicals for nutrients, ensuring that it will not need many fertilizers to thrive in the future.

Workers who are often exposed to toxic chemicals can go on to experience various health problems such as issues within reproductive health and cancer. A lot of the people who work on these farms don’t have alternative sources of income though, so they have no choice but to risk this (some may not even know of the health concerns their work may result in).

Not using harmful artificial additives also prevents the chemicals from draining from the soil into any nearby freshwater lakes, rivers or streams, where it could then harm animals or people who drink that water. This is known as ‘fertilizer runoff’ and can also create growths underwater that harm marine life further.

And then, of course, there are the health benefits to the people who use organic food or clothing - no chemical traces within your body or on your skin means that you won’t be facing any risks to your health either!

Another type of fabric commonly used is synthetic fabric, made by humans from petroleum-based components. These fabrics are quite scary when you look into them - they contain chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin, as well as what are known as microplastics - infinitesimal pieces of that one material that cannot be recycled or broken down in compost. These little chunks of plastic are so small that they cannot be detected by filters - so when synthetic fabric is washed, the water with thousands of microplastics now in it, eventually finds its way into oceans, lakes, streams, and rivers. The shards then begin to wreak havoc upon the marine life by hurting fish that ingest them. It doesn’t end there, though - the plastic travels along with the fish through the food chain - larger animals eat the fish and land up with the pieces within their own digestive tracts.

One of the previously mentioned large animals is, of course, seafood eating humans! So because of the materials that manufacturers use to construct synthetic fabrics, a vast array of species, including humans, ironically enough, get tiny shards of plastic floating through their bodies. Organic fabrics, on the other hand, do not use microplastics and are therefore usually a lot more safe in this department.

These are just a few of the reasons why the word ‘organic’ is generally preferred by those who know what it means when they see it on a label. Organic products are often a bit more expensive so that more contributions can be made towards farmers taking the initiative to battle fertilizer, chemical, and pesticide use, but even switching to organic for a handful of items on your grocery list can help support this movement. Companies like physicoolsports that guarantee 100% organic, 100% fair trade clothing are the future in safer, healthier fashion.

Buy healthy. Buy happy. Buy organic.

Citations:

Image credit:

 - https://physicoolsports.com/

 - https://physicoolsports.com/organic-farming-india.html

 - Development News

EarthHero Staff. “Why Wear Organic Clothing? | Simply Sustainable.” EarthHero, 2018 EarthHero, 20 June 2017, earthhero.com/why-wear-organic-clothing/.

WHAT WE ALREADY DO:

Our farms are rain-fed & there are no toxic pesticides & fertilisers used; there are no heavy metals in our azo-free dyes & plastisol-free inks; we use organic cloth bags for packaging and our paper hang-tags are made of up-cycled organic cotton fabric waste; our shipping boxes are made of recycled cardboard…we do a lot, but there's still an ecological cost:

• Production - All goods, even sustainable goods, have an ecological footprint. 
• Packing - even though we don’t use plastics, cardboard and paper don’t exactly grow on trees...oh, wait! 
• Shipping - 1545 orders shipped to 61 different countries - imagine the frequent flier miles!

This wasn't sitting right with us, we wanted to do more - this was how we got our start all those years ago!

So the question was: What should we do?

THE ANSWER: LET'S PLANT TREES!

Trees; those beautiful, bountiful, magical things that give us air, shade and so many delicious mangoes. Let's plant so many trees that we create our very own physicoolsports Grove. In fact, let's plant 10,000 trees this year! 

THE NO NASTIES GROVE

We started physicoolsports with full transparency, and we are committed to sharing everything with you - every step of the way. We are increasing our prices (cue the sad music and a slow single tear drop running down your cheek). BUT, you won't be mourning long (you can find your tissue now). We are increasing our prices so that every product you purchase online will include the price of a tree in the physicoolsports Grove! Isn't that tree-mendous?!

We are going to plant a tree for each of the following 3 things: 

• Every online product sold = TREE
• Every new email signup = TREE
• Every single day in business = TREE

Tree, tree, tree, tree! Gimme more treeees!

OUR ACTIONS SO FAR!

We have already planted 7,433 trees in our physicoolsports Grove! We've counted up all the days we've been in business, all the wonderful online actions from #7yearsofnonasties, and all of the new email signups from April 2018! And beginning June 2018, we are also counting every online product sold! How unbe-leaf-able is that! 

Every month, we'll update you on our progress. And if you were one of the amazing people who we planted a tree for during the month, you'll receive an email from our partner, Grow-Trees, to confirm that we did indeed plant a tree just for you in our physicoolsports Grove! You can share this with your friends, family and/or social media followers! Be proud that you support physicoolsports!!

READY TO TAKE ACTION?

Not only will we plant a tree for every online product sold, every new email signup AND every single day we are in business, you can also purchase individual trees. Add 1, 10 or 100 trees to your physicoolsports order and we'll plant those trees in our physicoolsports Grove in your name! So shop today, and make a positive mark on our beautiful Planet Earth!

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

For an hour and a half we nudge through city traffic, marvel at classic yellow taxis crossing the iconic Howrah Bridge, and make our way into the industrial suburbs where eventually, the Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills compound emerges as a peculiar kind of oasis. Oh, it's still busy and chaotic here – very much so. But in a sea of nearby chimneys puffing pollutants into the sky, Rajlakshmi is noticeably different. It's the fair trade, organic powerhouse where physicoolsports garments come to life – and there's even real-life Palmae in keeping with our current collection on site!

Every visit to the factory is a super valuable opportunity to work directly with garment technicians on our samples and designs, and we always come with a looooong to-do list that somehow gets even longer before it gets shorter again. So what have we been up to this time?

#TODO

• Checking up on current orders for physicoolsports and white label work for other brands around the world. We arrange custom printing of our bunny-soft t-shirts for organisations and NGOs including brand new designs for Reality Gives in Mumbai. We've just sent a shipment by sea to the good folks at Toddy in the Maldives (so cool!) and packed up tees for the Happy Startup School's summer camp in the UK (more on that soon – we're heading there next week).

• It's full steam ahead for the physicoolsports fall collection and we're buzzing around like busy worker bees (hint, hint) to get that finalised and in your hands before you know it. With just a tad of last-minute scrambling to finalise fabrics and get samples ready for our photoshoot, we're confident that you'll love the pieces as much as we do! The fall collection is (almost literally) the bee's knees!

• We're also investing a lot of time prepping for future collections and expanding our range even further. Kids wear for sure! Accessories, you bet! New prints and fabrics? Sooner than you think.

• Lunching! There's no way we can't mention it. The piping hot rotis and tasty subzis served up at the factory are a true highlight in long days otherwise fuelled by coffee and lemon tea. Y-U-M.

A lot to squeeze into a week! But it's so inspiring to be around all the fabrics and the processes, both old (expert screen printing) and new (precision cutting with LASERS!).

#REDUSE-REUSE-RECYCLE

We carefully choose our super-soft cottons from the excess stock left from other brands' orders. It's more sustainable, saves water and money at both the farming and processing ends of the production chain, and ensures nothing goes to waste. It also allows us to stay on trend and have so many more fabric choices than if we had to order huge volumes of our own made-to-measure fabrics. All that to say, the fabric stores are always a treasure trove for us. There are now three dedicated warehouses for fabrics, packed floor to ceiling throughout - all organic, all fairtrade. A designer's dream!

#GROWTH

As our week at Rajlakshmi draws to a (somewhat hectic) close, we can't help but marvel at the growth we've seen here since our relationship with the producers first began. The factory itself has expanded hugely, onto numerous different sites. The number of people employed here - under safe, fair trade conditions - has naturally shot up too. Cotton consumption has grown significantly, with Rajlakshmi cementing its place as a majority buyer of Chetna Organic’s fair trade, organic cotton grown across Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh (from 234 farmer members in 2004 to around 35,852 in 2014!)

#MOVEMENT

We've loved seeing more product diversity emerge at the factory too, from home furnishings to activewear and generally an increase in younger, more urban design brands. With our goal to create a consumer movement for fair trade in India, we're particularly excited to see more Indian brands starting to produce their garments here (Check out Stretchery for some great organic yoga/activewear).

#LIGHTHOUSE

While exports have been strong for a long time, we were the first domestic fairtrade brand to work with Rajlakshmi; five years on there are four more Indian brands with lines in production, including some we were able to connect directly with our supply chain. This is one of our core tenets at physicoolsports: "to be a lighthouse" to other brands wanting to join the ethical fashion movement by being transparent and helpful. We don't compete, we collaborate. Here's the recipe - let's make a bigger pie together, shall we?

Things are looking good for the scaling up of the movement. Ethical fashion is growing in India and it’s a privilege to spend these crazy weeks right on the floor of the fashion revolution.

#BYEBYE

As they say in Kolkata, "aabar dekha hobe" - see you soon!

Even though we're a business, profits are the last thing on our mind. We're passion-filled & purpose-driven, making fantastic products in the belief that profits will eventually follow. We employ people we love working with, and have a simple recruitment motto of hiring "adults" - responsible, motivated people who will do the right thing. We're happiness-focused, with our fabulous team working from wherever gives them joy. physicoolsports HQ recently shifted from Bombay to Goa for a more peaceful, happy life of enjoying the simple things. (Sunset ocean swims beat rush-hour on the Mumbai Western Line, for sure!)

physicoolsports is an incredible experience to work with passionate people all trying to make a difference. It's a hard journey, but a happy & satisfying one. Look good. Feel good. And do physicoolsports.

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!