-: 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

H&M Garden Collection Not-So-Green

I loved the images released in anticipation of the launch of the H&M Garden Collection. There are several pieces that I would have snatched up the second they hit the shelves. However, a recent investigation revealed that the supposedly organic collection used genetically modified cotton.

"Roughly 30 percent of the tested samples contained genetically modified cotton, says Lothar Kruse, a director of Impetus, an independent lab in Bremerhaven, which examined the cotton fabrics in question. The contaminated cotton was traced back to India, which is responsible for more than half of the global supply of organic cotton, with an output of nearly 107,000 tons of fiber in 2009 alone, according to the Organic Exchange.

A spokeswoman from H&M told AFP that it became aware of the problem last year and conceded that GM cotton could have slipped into the label’s organic collections. "

[Source: Ecouterre]

I think it is completely unacceptable to tout a product as sustainable and organic when your company is fully aware that the material was contaminated. I'm incredibly disappointed with H&M. ESPECIALLY after their clothes destroying fiasco.