Sustainability March 10, 2023
How Natural Garment Dyes Can Reduce Water Pollution
Supplier Allmade says its mineral-dyed organic cotton tees save around 64 gallons of water per shirt, compared to conventional methods.
T-shirts that come in a rainbow of attractive, vibrant colors also have another legacy: all the water used in the dyeing process.
Conventional textile dyeing uses anywhere from 25 to 40 gallons of water per two pounds of fabric, and oftentimes the chemicals used in the process are discharged into the environment. Up to 20% of water pollution is the result of dyeing and treatment of textiles, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Textiles Economy report.
Allmade recently launched a line of mineral-dyed T-shirts, with dyes made from substances like blue calcite and raw umber.
One antidote to the problem is a return to natural dyes made from materials like plants, seeds, bark and lichen. Allmade Apparel (asi/34341), the ethically and environmentally conscious blank-apparel supplier with an exclusive partnership with Top 40 supplier SanMar (asi/84863), has dipped its toes into the natural-dye space. The company recently launched a line of mineral- dyed 100% organic cotton tees.
“We’re using Earth’s natural pigments to dye these shirts, making each shirt one of a kind,” Allmade noted in a blog post. “This unique dyeing process is easier on our planet, and we are able to save water and energy too.”
The tees come in four colors. Driftwood Grey is dyed using raw umber, a brown earth pigment that’s on the darker side. Golden Wheat is dyed with orange barite, a mineral that takes its name from the Greek word for “heavy.” Lichen Green is dyed using green calcite, and Saltwater Blue uses blue calcite.
According to Allmade, each tee in the Mineral Collection saves an estimated 64 gallons of water compared to conventional production methods. The tees are also carbon-neutral, offset through the nonprofit Carbon Fund, which uses third-party certification to calculate the footprint of the T-shirts from the raw material stage to their end-of-life. The supplier’s initial carbon offset supports a renewable energy project that installs wind turbines in India.
Allmade isn’t the only company in the T-shirt space to experiment with natural dyes. TS Designs, a North Carolina-based certified B Corp that follows a “dirt to shirt” made-in-the-USA model, has used madder root and locally foraged black walnuts to garment-dye tees from its Solid State brand.
What Can You Do?
The garment industry is traditionally water-intensive and has been a big contributor to pollution in the world’s waterways. But there are steps the promotional products industry can take to help reduce water use.
- Consider sourcing recycled-cotton apparel. Because the fiber is made from pre- and post-consumer fabric waste, no water is used in its production, nor does it need dyes or chemicals to produce.
- Look for less water-intensive decoration methods. Kornit Digital, the Israel-based maker of high-end digital textile printers, says its machines use up to 95% less water than traditional printing processes.
- Educate customers on the benefits of natural dyes. Natural dyes like the mineral tees from Allmade or the black walnut-dyed garments from Solid State are better for the environment, but the process means that the coloration likely won’t be uniform. Market the benefits of giving end-users a one-of-a-kind piece, rather than lament the necessity of nonuniformity.
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