If you want to
create atmosphere, light an organic candle!
Organic candles
are poised to become the latest in a wave of non-food items that are produced
with ingredients from organic farms. The organic movement has been
successful in producing foods of every variety that come from sustainable
agriculture, and so it has been a natural process to extend the idea to
cosmetics, cotton, wool, and other fibers, and now to candle wax.
The rate of change in the candle industry has been extremely rapid in the last
ten years. For more than a century, candles have been made from
petroleum paraffin wax.
Paraffin is made from crude oil and can emit toluene, benzene,
formaldehyde and soot when a candle burns. Consequently, some innovative candle makers in the
United States looked for a more natural, healthful and sustainable raw
material. They turned their
attention to vegetable oil that could be the basis for a new type of candle
wax. The first efforts centered
around making soybean wax around 1995. Thus, a renewable
resource could be used to make vegetable wax that doesn't emit the harmful
aromatic hydrocarbons of petrochemical paraffin smoke.
While the percentage of vegetable wax used in the candle industry is still
small, it is the fastest growing sector of the business. Unfortunately, the
vegetable waxes that were available in the marketplace were made from
conventionally grown soybeans, which are not organic and are
grown from GM (Genetically Modified) seeds.
Now, with the
introduction of Organic Candle Wax, it will be possible to serve fine organic
meals candlelit with organic candles.
But just what is an organic candle? It has to be made from Organic
Wax. And Organic Wax must be made from Certified Organic vegetable oil
and other Certified Organic Waxes. According to the National Organic
Program that became law of the land in October 2002, agricultural products
that use the term "Organic" must be produced in accordance with
established organic standards. These standards were designed for foods,
and also are being extended to cover practices for fibers such as
cotton and wool, and agricultural ingredients in personal care products such as
soaps and cosmetics. Organic Candles and Organic Wax are completely new
to the marketplace. Lumia Organic, as the first company to
make Organic Wax from Organic Palm Oil, is the first to apply for and
receive organic certification for candle wax.
But why are organic candles better if they aren't a food, cosmetic or apparel?
Quite simply, the use of Organic Candles supports organic farmers. They
need all the help they can get, in the face of giant agribusiness that
uses more chemical fertilizers and pesticides each year. Organic
agriculture includes agricultural systems that promote the
environmentally, socially and economically sound production of agricultural
products. These systems make soil fertility the key to successful production.
By respecting the natural capacity of an ecosystem, it aims to optimize quality
in all aspects of agriculture and the environment. Organic agriculture
attempts to eliminate the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
Organic agriculture adheres to globally accepted principles, which are
implemented within local socio-economic and cultural settings.
Buying Organic Wax
Candles helps the international organic
movement.