[INFORMATIVE] How the Dye in Your Jeans is Polluting the Environment: The Hidden Cost of Fashion

How the Dye in Your Jeans is Polluting the Environment: The Hidden Cost of Fashion

By: Aditya Varshney

Denim jeans are very popular worldwide, known for their durability and style, as well as their ability to blend with most clothing styles and colours. They are made with a synthetic indigo dye that gives them a distinctive blue colour, but this has devastating environmental consequences. This article will talk about how this dye contaminates and pollutes water sources, the impact on our health and the environment, and why this process is often assigned to developing nations such as Bangladesh and India.

The dyeing processes used to create denim jeans involve the use of many steps, each of which has its own set of many environmental negatives. The most significant consequence is the fact that synthetic dyes are most of the time derived from petroleum. These dyes are very toxic and are also resistant to biodegradation. This means that they can live in any conditions, such as weather and temperature, and can contaminate and pollute soil, water, and air.

Impacts of using synthetic dyes:

• Water Pollution: Just a single pair of jeans can require up to 7000 litres of water, which is how much a person would drink in about 6-7 years on average. This amount of water that is wasted and contaminated contains heavy metals like cadmium and lead, as well as other toxic chemicals, which get discharged into many water bodies, such as rivers and streams, and are sent to these bodies without any refining or purification treatment. This can affect aquatic ecosystems and communities that live near these water bodies, which require them for drinking water or as a source of income, such as fishing or agriculture.
• Impact on aquatic ecosystems and human health: The chemicals used to create denim jeans are very toxic and are considered toxic to aquatic organisms. It can lead to a reduction in oxygen levels, a disruption in photosynthesis, and a change in the natural ecosystem. Additionally, these toxic chemicals, when entering the human body, can cause many serious health risks, such as skin diseases, respiratory problems, and some types of cancer as well. These toxins that enter the bodies of aquatic organisms can also disrupt the food chain, affecting more and more species. In many regions of the world, such as South Asia, this impact is quite severe, as the regulations and enforcements concerning synthetic dye use and wastage are very weak and lax.
• Soil Contamination: The discharge of synthetic dyes can also lead to a negative impact on the soil surrounding the water bodies. The quality and fertility of soil degrade, negatively impacting agricultural productivity and consequently also creating a threat to food safety. Crops and plants grown in this contaminated soil will not be able to produce natural crops, and these harmful chemicals can also enter the produce, once again affecting the human chain and posing many long-term health risks in general.

Many nations know about the labor-intensive and environmentally risky process, so why are developing nations risking their nature to be a global center for the textile industry? The reasons involved are a combination of many economic factors, such as incentives, historical trade patterns, as well as environmental regulations.

• Cheap Labour: Countries like Bangladesh and India offer low labor costs in comparison to developed or first-world nations, which portrays the highly competitive industry in relation to denim. Brands involved in this industry are looking for the cheapest labor costs, which is why nations which require lower wages are most appealing. Due to the high population and low pay wages, companies look for countries within South and Southeast Asia for these opportunities. In many situations, workers in these regions only receive a fraction of what could be paid in developed nations and don't receive a good working environment as well, with no regard for safety whatsoever.
• Weak and Lax Environmental Regulations: Regulations and guidelines in some regions of the world are poorly enforced and maintained, which allows for factories to do what they like, allowing for wastewater to be discharged into water bodies such as lakes, rivers, or seas. Developed countries have very strict regulations, which would make it pricier for companies who want to take part in this industry.
• History and Colonial Legacy: countries, mainly in Central Africa and South Asia, have a history of being suppliers of raw materials and have low costs of manufacturing considering their past history of colonization. This legacy has been mostly the same over the centuries, which is where Bangladesh and India continue to be the epicentres of labour-intensive industries, such as the denim industry and textile industry in general.

Social and Environmental Costs:
The decision to make use of synthetic dyes and outsourcing to developing nations comes with many significant and harmful consequences. In Bangladesh, for example, the textile industry makes up a big part of the general economy, but it is posing serious threats to the environment and public health. For example, the Buriganga River in Dhaka is considered to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world, for reasons including its contamination by textile factories, where discharge of these chemicals and dyes are left untreated and get discharged into these water bodies.

• Impact on local communities: Local communities that live close to these contaminated water bodies are usually the first to feel the impacts of the pollution. In many areas of Bangladesh, incidences of skin diseases, respiratory problems, and some types of cancer have come out, indicating that solutions need to be found to help this issue.
• Exploitation of Child Labour: Countries that have been offering cheaper labour have been facing the issue of increasing child labour rates since the wage of two parents combined is not enough for the family considering the low wages in general. Child labour in India and Bangladesh is very prevalent in the textile industry, where children are placed in unsafe and unhygienic conditions to get even lower pay.

In conclusion, the processes involved in creating denim jeans come with a hidden cost, which is much more than just the price tag. Inadequate wastewater treatment has led to environmental degradation, affecting soil and water quality and also impacting water ecosystems. The health risks in local communities have worsened, from conditions ranging from waterborne diseases to even some types of cancer, which proves the importance of an urgent need for change. This practice creates and continues a cycle of exploitation, and companies make a profit from this, helping lower their own costs, where the labour and the nation go through significant issues, including social and environmental consequences.

There are many solutions, such as improving water purification treatments, raising consumer awareness, and enforcing and maintaining stricter environmental regulations. The fashion industry can mitigate its high environmental footprint and improve the lives of the labourers who are being affected. This will require the involvement of everyone, such as governments, consumers, and corporations. We can then, and only then, ensure that our choices in clothing are sustainable and that what we buy does not come at the expense of some other person’s well-being or the expense of our planet. We, as consumers, have a lot of power to influence these practices. We can demand transparency, choose to support brands that are sustainable, and follow environment-friendly practices. It is time to recognize the cost of creating clothing items and accessories, and together we can all create a meaningful change and help create an industry that is not only transparent, but also respects the people, the environment, and most importantly, the planet.


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