What is organic skin care?
To understand organic skin care, you need to understand organic farming because all ingredients in organic skin care are organically produced. This means that each and every ingredient must be certified organically grown, not just most of them. It’s a good idea to check the companies you’re considering for your organic skin care products to make sure they’re selling certified products and that the products you buy from them are certified. There are companies that make false claims about being organic and others that sell some non-organic products along with organic products. By understanding organic farming, you’ll see that organic skin care is better for both you and the environment.
Basically, organic farming is a return to the way farming used to be done, using a number of things to replenish nutrition to the soil, including: crop rotations, composting, and cover crops. Weather-resistant plants that grow in well-nourished soils have better resistance to insects and diseases than their non-organic counterparts. Due to this resistance, organic plants do not require fertilizers or pesticides in massive amounts. Even when help is needed, organic farmers protect their plants through a variety of ways that still don’t use synthetic chemicals. Unfortunately, this does not mean that there are absolutely no pesticides in organic plants. Due to the excessive use of pesticides, even our rain carries them, which means that organic plants are subject to them through the rain.
Biodiversity is promoted by the way organic farmers grow different crops, and natural resource systems (such as air and water) are protected because of the way organic farmers store and compost the animal waste they use to replenish soil nutrients. The overall effect on the environment through organic farming can be seen through the reduction of greenhouse gases. Locally, farmers see less water use, less soil erosion, higher fertility, safer groundwater, and more abundant wildlife.
Organic has to do with the way various agricultural products are grown (or raised) and processed. By farming organically, the health of the ecosystem is maintained. The toxins in fertilizers and pesticides are overlooked because these products are not used in organic farming. The focus is on the environment: soil regeneration and water conservation are the two most important issues, and animal welfare also plays an important role. During processing, quality is maintained because organic foods are not subject to artificial ingredients, irradiation, or preservatives.
Aside from man-made additives, pesticides, and fertilizers, organic foods are also free of man-made herbicides and GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Organically raised animals are not fed other animal products (rather, they eat organically grown food) and are free to roam and enjoy their existence (instead of being locked in cages).
In raising animals organically, a diet of certified organic foods is used; this means that, aside from the absence of the aforementioned synthetics, there are no hormones ingested by organically raised animals. Disease prevention is a product of the healthy life of animals, so antibiotics are also not transmitted to us through ingestion. Through this free and well-fed life, it has been found that animals raised for things like milk and eggs tend to live much longer than their non-organic counterparts.
According to the US National Organic Standards Board, organic agriculture is an organic production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on the minimum use of inputs outside the farm and on management practices that restore, maintain and improve ecological harmony.
For products to be certified organic, they must meet a set of strict standards within the industry. These standards are verified by an outside agency, sometimes the government. To obtain certification, both farms and processing plants must be verified and found to meet established standards. After initial certification, farms and facilities are still regularly inspected to verify that organic standards continue to be met.
Organic doesn’t just refer to actual plants and animals produced for human consumption. It applies to anything that is manufactured in such a way that it meets certification standards. This is why one moisturizer may be organic while another is not, even though both companies use the same ingredients. Organic farming has grown to the point where you can find a huge variety of foods (even processed foods), but it goes beyond food. You can buy organic clothing, organic bedding, bedding, and other items.