Organsk (organic jeans for men & women from Denmark)

Organsk (also for women) is a brand of sustainable blue jeans, made from GOTS-certified cotton. Importantly, they also use a special laser process, to stop toxic dyes going into the water, like happens with most brands.

Their treatment replaces chemicals typically used to wash denim, while ozone and e-Flow technology offers high-tech and low-impact laundry processes, with significantly reduced water and chemical applications. Using up to 90% less chemicals and 95% less water. And even 40% less energy.

It’s recommended to launder these as infrequently as possible, although of course you can, but you’ll ended up with faded jeans very quickly! To preserve colour, wash them inside out in cold water with a mild detergent on a delicate cycle, and air-dry them.

Organisk (a vegan jeans brand with no leather patches)

Unlike some brands, Organsk refuses to harm animals to make leather patches. It instead prefers Jacron, a vegan paper made from cellulose (usually recycled wood pulp) that looks and feels like leather, and offers the same water resistance.

Why choose organic cotton jeans?

• Some use real leather patches on the back patches, often made in countries with poor animal welfare laws. A few brands are now adding ‘Jacron’ (vegan paper patches that look like leather) instead.
• The blue chemical dyes run off into rivers, even changing the skin colour of street dogs, who have turned blue from drinking the polluted water.
• The jeans industry is very wasteful, with masses of chemically-dyed cotton jeans going to waste (cotton farming is responsible for a good portion of the world’s pesticides, which also harms farmers).
• Many brands are sold in plastic packaging, with plastic tags.

You can also buy jeans made from hemp, a naturally organic material that is another good choice.

Cost per wear: paying more saves money!

Although these blue jeans cost more, you have to balance this with cost per wear. A quality pair of jeans that are worn over 100 times, ends up costing less than a cheap pair that lose their shape and tear after a few months. Then you have to go and buy another pair.