As EcoWorldly reports, India’s recent shortfall in rainwater is leaving parts of the country, namely Madhya Pradesh, with half the volume of water the population needs. Consequently, more than 50 instances of water-driven violence have been reported in May alone, resulting in 12 deaths and dozens of injuries. It’s no surprise that when resources are depleted and competition increases, desperation and violence usually follow suit. It’s a principle that holds as true for water as it does for oil or diamonds.

India’s economy heavily relies on textile production and exports—the textile industry represents a whopping 14 percent of India’s total industry. As such, textiles represent the second largest employment generator in the country: 21 percent of total employment in India and nearly 35 million jobs (far more than the 2.2 million working in India’s burgeoning technology sector).

India’s water wars are an all-too-familiar paradox in the textile industry: Many developing countries rely on textiles for economic growth, but deplete natural resources in the process. While change won’t happen overnight, adopting more efficient practices in textile production and employing new technologies—like AirDye—can move us closer to a reality in which thriving industry and thriving citizens aren’t mutually exclusive.

As the record-breaking heat across the country suggests, summer will soon be upon us (although we’re still freezing in San Francisco!). We’re always grateful for warm weather and longer days, but as the thermometer rises, so does water consumption.

Americans throw away 5 billion plastic bottles every summer, and a staggering number of them—with estimates ranging from 77 to 90 percent—end up in landfills.

Interestingly, in 1995, 40 percent of all PET bottles were recycled, a number that dropped down to 23 percent a mere 10 years later.

What’s even more disheartening (or encouraging, depending on your optimism on a given day), is the overwhelming demand for recycled PET flakes—a demand we can’t meet at present. Salon asks the pertinent question: If we’re consuming more plastic than ever, why can’t post-consumer plastic supply match demand?

Are people getting lazier? Are they recycling less? Not necessarily, experts say. In a word, the problem is infrastructure, not apathy. Consumption has more than doubled in the last 10 years, a rate of growth the recycling industry simply hasn’t been able to sustain.

The good news is, with better infrastructure, there’s potential to develop an entirely new, environmentally-friendly industry. PET plastics are one of the only completely recyclable materials: They can be made into anything from new bottles to tents to t-shirts. The graphic to the right, provided by NPR, details the process from bottle to fabric.

For information on local recycling programs, check out Earth911.com. Simply enter what your location and what you need to recycle, and the site will provide a list of local centers. Patagonia and Nau both offer lines of recycled PET clothing. Let us know if you have any other companies to recommend as leading the charge to use recycled PET.

AirDye® was well-represented at the 2009 HD Expo. Here Colorep’s own Bonnie Julian and DuraleeContract’s Amy Benjamin at the DuraleeContract booth showing off an AirDye® swatch card being introduced at the show.

DuraleeContract has an excellent history of being environmentally-friendly with their Eco Intelligent® Polyester and other fabric lines. Of course, they are also an AirDye® licensee. DuraleeContract has served the hospitality and health care industry for decades with fresh, fashion-forward designs.

Hey look! The gals from Richloom Fabrics Group stopped by the Colorep® booth at HD Expo. They each picked up one of our great bags full of swag. Of course the bags were dyed and decorated using AirDye® technology, saving over 2 gallons of water for every bag we handed out. And just ask anyone who was in Las Vegas, these bags were one hot item.

From left to right are Denise Petit, Megan Santiago, Katalin Revy, and Sarah Wolfe.

Richloom Fabrics Group is known for developing unique fabrics and designs for a variety of industries: recreational vehicles, casual furniture, and hospitality. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, they too employ AirDye technology to create those great, sustainable fabric designs.

Reports are cropping up everywhere about the severity of ever-dipping water levels in Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir. As GOOD magazine reports, water levels in the lake have dropped a staggering 100 feet, from 96 percent capacity to 43—the lowest since 1965.

With seven states in the Southwest relying on the lake for water supplies and energy to power their homes, millions of people stand to be directly affected by this crisis.

California is one of the states with a claim to Lake Mead’s water. As one of the country’s largest grower of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, output could be drastically impacted by falling water levels.

It’s a simple equation: We withdraw more water than we deposit. Unlike your bank account, there’s no overdraft coverage—nearly 30 million people would lose their water supply should Lake Mead dry.

Scripps researcher Tim Barnett strongly believes the seven core states need to renegotiate their withdraws—which were agreed upon when water was at an all-time high.

We wholeheartedly agree that withdraws should be renegotiated, but worry about drastically dwindling water levels during a process undoubtedly filled with bureaucracy and political appeals. We, like GOOD, believe in changing the ways Americans live. We can have golf courses in Las Vegas and lush lawns in Palm Springs, or we can have energy for our homes. We can expend 2.4 trillion gallons of water dyeing fabric, and even more growing cotton, or we can have drinking water.