It’s no surprise that the fashion industry is coming under close scrutiny for damage done to our most precious resource: water.
According to an article in Treehugger, a single mill in China can use 200 tons of water for each ton of fabric it dyes; many rivers run with the colors of the season as the untreated toxic dyes wash off from mills.
“If each person owned only one pair of pants, one shirt, and one jacket, that would be 21 billion articles of clothing. If you were to count each of those, one per second, it would take nearly 672 years. That’s a lot of clothes! And it’s safe to assume that many of us own more than three items of apparel,” writes Treehugger author Melissa Breyer.
While groups like Greenpeace and their Detox campaign have raised more awareness about toxic water pollutants from industry giants like the Gap, Levi’s and others, there’s still much work to do, and it will be ongoing.
Our very own Botanical Colors founder Kathy Hattori was quoted in a recent Guardian article saying “There is no silver bullet,” when it comes to how we are going to deal with the fashion industry and issues of water. The Guardian article says, textiles leave “one of the largest water footprints on the planet and dyeing poses an especially big problem. Dye houses in India and China are notorious for not only exhausting local water supplies, but for dumping untreated wastewater into local streams and rivers.”
How will the fashion industry cope? Read this article in The Guardian to learn about a few options being explored.
Image: DWilliams