Fixing fashion’s pollution problem with natural dyes

Subject :Environment

Section: Pollution

Textile industry in India:

Accounts for more than two percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides direct employment to 45 million people.
This water-intensive industry is a polluting one, as it generates one-fifth of the world’s industrial water pollution.
- Usage of synthetic dyes leads to a substantial production of dye wastewater that pollutes rivers and streams, impacts soil and water bodies, posing risks to both human and ecological health.

Dyes:

Dyes are molecules which absorb and reflect light at specific wavelengths to give human eyes the sense of color. There are two major types of dyes: natural and synthetic dyes (or coal tar dyes).

Use of natural dyes:

Charaka Handloom Cooperative in rural Karnataka switched from synthetic dyes to natural ones.
Extracted from naturally available material such as roots, berries, pomegranate skin and plants and are eco-friendly, non-hazardous and sustainable.
Adike chogaru– it is areca nut, betel nut syrup used as natural dye.
Acacia arabica:
- It is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. Also used for making dye.
- It is native to Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
- Vernacular names: Gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia.
- It is also considered a ‘weed of national significance’ and an invasive species of concern in Australia, as well as a noxious weed by the federal government of the United States.

Challenges in natural dyeing:

High water requirement, limitations in the range of colors it can generate, fabrics it can suit and the scalability.

Source: Mongabay