Yoga has long been practiced as a type of discipline and spiritual awareness, it is gaining even more popularity in the west with people's increased interest in spirituality and ancient arts. There is a huge market for all things yoga from mats and bags to yoga clothing and DVD's. There are the normal versions of all of these items and then there are the "ethical", "green" and "fair-trade" items that people ought to be buying. It is normally assumed that people who take part in activities like yoga are in tune with nature and have a strong ethical and moral ethos but does this mean that many companies can exploit the people who are just trying to do their best by their fellow man.

What does natural and organic truly mean in terms of yoga clothing and accessories, most ethical garments are made from cotton which is of course is natural. One of the main problems with cotton farming is the pesticides that get used on the crops because they are very harsh they contaminate the soil around the plants and can have serious negative effects on the farmers and their families. The soil is becoming contaminated which means that every year additional chemicals and investment are required in order to generate the same volume of crops. This is destroying the farmers lives and livelihood all in the name of clothing and bedding so maybe we should be more principled about where we purchase our yoga clothing from.

But organic is not the only thing we are being urged to think about when we buy our yoga clothing, the latest issue to address is the carbon footprint of the goods. How far has the material come to produce the clothes and then how far has it come to reach you the shopper. Every piece of fuel that was burned for your yoga clothing to reach you counts towards your carbon footprint. This has become such a huge worldwide issue that many airlines, which are believed to be one of the greatest contributors to climate change, are offering you the chance to offset your carbon footprint when you purchase your ticket. How do you know how far something has truly come when you buy online?

Then the last in the holy trinity of being a considered moral person is whether the materials and goods are fair-trade. We see this on so many items from our morning tea to yoga clothing and mats. Fair trade means that not only are the workers and producers being paid the appropriate fair price for their goods, not what the west wants to pay but it is about so much more than that. Fair trade helps improve the conditions and lives of the many people working across the world. Very important for people who live and work in countries where they don't have any social support or a solid infrastructure.