I had the impetus to start Danu Organic after a multi-year round of chronic autoimmune illness that had many symptoms showing up on my skin... thinning, painful skin. Hives upon exposure to cold or increased circulation due to exercise — even as little as gentle yoga! Increase in acne. Learning about how our skin is affected by what we put on it and seeking out non-toxic clothes was part of my healing journey, and resulted in the beautiful creation that is now Danu Organic.
Through non-toxic living, lots of other biohacking like infrared, AIP & hormone cycle nourishment, testing to supplement with exactly what my body needed, moving to live in a less polluted, EMF-full place and so many other things I've been free from that chronic illness nearly three years and have enjoyed great health. But in the fall, I was diagnosed with lyme disease... enter my second period of chronic illness in this lifetime. This time, I feel equipped with a strong base of healthy practices and non-toxic living to make healing quicker and easier.
Did you know that 6 in 10 adults in the USA have chronic illness?1 This number is sadly growing as our society continues to put profit over people and planet, exposing us to more toxins than ever before. So, to be properly equipped in this modern world, I dove into how I could ease the stress on my skin since that's where so many of my health issues were showing themselves.
What I learned is that our skin is our largest organ and it absorbs bits of most things it comes into contact with! I learned this through reading, but also experience. I began my journey into healthy clothes slowly — and I recommend everyone take a major wardrobe shift slowly. At first, I bought from the bigger organic brands most people stumble on when they began their search for organic clothes but those clothes were obviously such poor quality I started digging deeper into smaller organic brands that I hoped were using nicer fabrics after learning that their are lots of way to cut costs in sacrifice of quality even for organic clothes.
Then I learned about dye! Often the most toxic, and environmentally degrading, aspect of a garment. My brand new cute red "organic" bra & undie set stained my skin red! And with what? I don't know but it was for sure a gross chemical dye and not a natural dye. Disgusted, I began to question how brands were even daring to call something dyed with such toxic materials organic?! And they even call that product compostable. It will break down, but with a large amount of undisclosed aspects that are completely toxic to the soil. I knew I didn't want clothes like that but I couldn't find what I wanted available either.
I didn't jump right into starting a clothing line at the time because I already had a little small business I loved and was doing pretty well but I involved myself with Fibershed, to learn the wisdom about healthy clothing being shared there and, because I was new to Bay Area, to make friends! I went to an event and heard Sally Fox talk about cottons that grow in greens, browns & pinks — no dye required — and immediately fell so deeply in love with colorful cottons that I, that very day, committed to purchasing so much of Sally's cotton, Danu Organic was born.
I had samples made a few weeks later and I got to wear them every day of my last year healing chronic illness, while the majority of my fabric order was being knit. I healed from a vast and complex series of choices, but having truly non-toxic clothes could only have helped. You see, our bodies are able to process toxins but only so much and this modern world has us humans processing more toxins that we've ever had to before, causing a spike in the number of people struggling from chronic illness.2 Cleaning out the toxins in my closet and replacing them with beloved, truly organic garments whose path I could trace directly back to the farmers was empowering and healing in and of itself. It was also good to know that at least my clothing was not adding to my skins health issues. Not to mention the joys I live in every day, sharing the creation of these healthy clothes I love with you.
Even for people who are healthy, minimizing toxic burden is a thought that needs to occur to stay healthy in our modern world. Not to mention, the sad truth that the people most affected by toxic clothes are the people who grow, (or extract in the case of plastic clothes... i.e. polyester, nylon, spandex, etc.) sew, and dye clothing made with toxic materials which is a very unfashionable ugly truth hidden away by many brands that even call themselves sustainable... or these days as is the latest trend, even regenerative! This is why at Danu Organic, we list our ingredients for you to decide what's best for you and if we do use something (like the occasional 10% plastic stretch in our otherwise organic cotton elastics) we're not thrilled with ourselves because what we're looking for doesn't exist, we tell you all about it so you can make the best call for you health while we continue to ask our suppliers to make a better version of the existing ingredient.
1. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/infographic/chronic-diseases.htm
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712864/
