Workers in the screen printing room.

The Lopees dream is to see more products being made from sustainable fibres such as organic cotton, which breaks down in landfill when no longer needed. It gives us pride and joy to know that what we sell saves the world from being choked. If everyone used Lopees imagine how many trees worldwide would be saved!

 
Workers in the sewing room.

The Lopees manufacturing company pay their workers under a fair trade system that means the equal sharing of profits between everyone involved in the entire manufacturing process. Under the existing structure of work, those who work at grassroots levels are paid miserably for the amount of work they do. The fair trade system works to remove such disparity. By purchasing fair trade products such as Lopees you ensure these workers, their families and communities a better standard of living. Fair trade enables workers to be self sufficient and able to afford basic necessities such as food and shelter for their families. Our Manufacturer employs 200 Iocal villagers with an average age of 26 years old. 60% of the employees are women.

Not only are we doing our bit to help save the environment but we are also providing our manufacturers with a better standard of living than may have been available otherwise. However, we need your help too, so why not start using Lopees instead of paper envelopes in your school or office today?

 

Normal Cotton vs. Organic Cotton

The following are some points of difference between everyday and organic cotton.

Normal Cotton

• It takes 140gms of fertilizer and pesticides to produce enough cotton for one t-shirt.

• Seven of the most common pesticides used are suspected or confirmed carcinogens.

• Insects and weeds have become increasingly resistant to chemicals meaning more highly toxic chemicals need to be used.

• Around 3500 litres of water is needed to produce 400gms of cotton.

• 60% of water used to irrigate cotton is lost to evaporation and poor irrigation practices and because of the use of chemicals the soil does not absorb the water.

• Over 400,000 people worldwide who are involved with the growing of cotton suffer ill health and death from breathing in the chemicals and pesticides.

Organic cotton 

• Only natural fertilisers and pest control is used for growing the cotton.

• Crop rotation helps to rest the land and to restore fertility to the soil.

• Crops only need to be rain fed due to the soil maintaining moisture to help the plants grow.

• Workers who harvest the cotton are not getting sick and dying from the chemicals and pesticides.

• To qualify as an organic grower a farmer has to not have used chemicals or pesticides for a minimum of three years to become certified.