“Why washing your jeans can cost the Earth” was an article in today’s Guardian newspaper. It was reporting a study done in France about the environmental impact one pair of denims made, worn and washed over a four year lifespan.
It concluded that a French jeans wearer would damage the environment the least by buying denims made of cotton from a country not too far from Europe with strict anti-pollution laws. Machine washing, tumble drying, and ironing caused 47% of the eco damage the jeans caused - 240kWh of energy a year, equal to using 4,000 lightbulbs, each of 60 watts, for an hour. Dry cleaning was "an environmental disaster".
Another great set of thought-provoking challenges about how we act as faithful stewards of the planet… oh and another great excuse to shop at howies…
You live in your jeans. Sixteen hours a day. Yet most normal denim has so many chemical residues it's kinda scary. That's why we have introduced our new organic denim. But a low impact jean like this still has to be plenty strong. That's why our denim weighs in at a heavy 12 ounces and is woven in a 3x1 construction, making it a nice comfortable all season weight, but very tough. It is woven using ring spun yarns that are dyed with a similar indigo to the colour of vintage American jeans and then eco-ball washed. Little things can add up.
nice one laura. it's probably everyday stuff like jeans that we make the most impact with or hold the most potential for changing things...
Posted by: jonny | June 13, 2006 at 07:48 PM