We all love our faithful jeans.
It’s a staple of nearly everyone’s wardrobe and 2 billion pairs of jeans are manufactured every year.
With current fast fashion trends, this is not going to stop any time soon.
But did you know by simply changing your denim, you can lower your footprint?
That’s because the manufacturing process for denim is extremely harmful to the environment.
Every year, the denim industry uses 2 million tonnes of chemicals and 1.4 million tons of raw cotton.
To make a single pair of jeans, over 2630 litres of water is used.
You can then add on chemical dyes, stone and sand finishing, often done by hand by workers in poor and often dangerous factory conditions to make jeans as cheaply as possible.
If that isn’t bad enough, the majority of denim is dyed with synthetic indigo which contains cyanide, formaldehyde and sometimes aniline – all of which can be harmful to humans and animals alike!
So, what can you do to lower your footprint when it comes to denim?
Well, there are a number of simple steps you can take.
Buying less often has a huge impact, not taking advantage of fast fashion and making your existing wardrobe last longer is a good step.
Not washing your denim as often also has a positive impact.
Recycling your jeans or even repurposing them as shorts can also help you lower your footprint.
The fashion industry is also starting to take notice of both the environmental and social impact cheap, mass-produced denim is having.
As a response to this, there has been a fantastic recent trend towards eco-denim.
Lee and Wrangler have launched their ‘Indigood’ foam dyeing process on specific lines, which requires no water and significantly fewer chemicals.
There are also companies offering organic cotton jeans and other innovative materials to lower the footprint of one of the world’s most-loved wardrobe staples.
One of our favourite companies is Bam, Bamboo Clothing that makes fantastic bamboo-based denim.
Their denim has many sustainable advantages.
The bamboo crop is super sustainable and requires far less water than cotton (even organic cotton).
The denim is also very durable so you won’t be throwing it away or recycling it anytime soon.
Also, as bamboo jeans manage moisture better than cotton, the jeans stay clean and fresh for longer meaning you have to wash them less often!
In fact, Bam, Bamboo Clothing’s denim meets all the requirements of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation ‘Jeans Redesign’ initiative.
This initiative established minimum levels for durability, material health, recyclability and traceability.
We love Bam, Bamboo Clothing and their innovative sustainable denim and if you head over to their site now, you can lower your footprint and get a fantastic 15% discount using code TYAW15 at checkout.
‘Denim is one of the most popular materials on the globe and most people own at least one item made from it.
Its popularity and manufacturing process also means it is one of the most damaging materials.
With innovation and collaboration, brands like Bamboo Clothing are allowing people to indulge themselves without damaging the planet!’.
Richard Dickson – Co-Founder, Play It Green.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive weekly tips whilst having an instant impact through reforestation, please click the button below to join Play It Green.