Do you know that the synthetic dyes used in your clothing are extremely harmful not just to you but the environment as well? Those dyes contain harmful chemicals that might just irritate your skin and the worst part is the way they are made results in lots of pollution and toxic runoff that end up poisoning the ground and the water system as well.
That stylish shirt you are wearing with all the colors may have just caused the earth and your health untold amount of damage and that is not cool. If you want to make sure that you buy clothes that are not doing you and the earth any damage, there are two things you need to do:
- Buy clothes made from organically grown fabrics such as hemp, bamboo, wool, etc.
- Use clothes that use organic dye.
These days, more and more people are becoming conscious about organic screen printing or what is also known as green t-shirt printing mainly because they are more conscious about what they do to the earth and their bodies. Organic screen printing or green t-shirt printing methods use dyes that do not damage the earth as well as use green printing methods such as silk printing.
Green Dyes Mother Earth Loves
You might wonder what kind of dyes may be used in place of synthetic dyes and the answer is “a lot.” There are several other things that can give your clothes the colors you crave.
- Undyed clothes – Now, before you complain and say this isn’t really a solution, this isn’t to say that you wear white or off-white clothes all the time. This just means that you buy clothes made from fabrics that already have color to begin with. This way, you do not need clothes that have undergone the dying process.
- Clay and dirt dyes – This is a truly interesting way of dying. To do so, you need minerals and irons that come from the earth; this method has been used for hundreds of years and some ancient cultures even made cave paintings out of colored clays and minerals. New technology has improved the color-fast properties of these clay dyes.
- Low-impact fiber reactive dyes – These dyes are synthetic but the difference is they bond directly to clothing fiber molecules, which means there is much less run-off to pollute the ground, rivers, and lakes. Experts say that with this method, there is about 70% less runoff. These dyes have been around since the 1950s but major advances in technology have resulted in much brighter colors that are more colorfast to boot. This type of dye does not contain any heavy metals or any other types of toxins.
- Natural dyes – These dyes are extracted from plants and animals such as bugs. Some people say though that these dyes still have drawbacks because they need copper, iron, and other metals to stay colorfast.
These dyes might have their downsides but do you think they are better than synthetic dyes? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.