‘Our cotton and canvas bags are made from natural cotton which is unbleached and undyed. In fact we call the cloth ‘loomstate’ as it is exactly as it comes off the weaving looms. However, although we do not have organic accreditation for this cloth, we buy from reputable suppliers in China who assure us that the raw cotton is grown using organic, not chemical, fertilizers. We have looked at buying properly accredited organic cloth but this is not available in China (they have no form of official Government accreditation). In fact buyers must be careful of other manufacturers/suppliers who do advertise ‘organic’ cotton bags as we know that the majority (if not all) of them do not have proper accreditation, particularly those sourced from India or Pakistan. We are aware that some of our competitors produce and print what they claim are organic cotton bags overseas and, in order to overcome the problems of timescale, deliver them in by using air freight. We vehemently object to this on the grounds of inefficient use of energy.

The only true accreditation we have come across is cotton grown and woven in the USA but it is impractical for us to buy there, ship to our factory in China, have them made, then ship to us in the UK. Having them made in the US is again out of the question (for our market place anyway) due to price.’

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