sex, fashion, and…water?
The glossy pages of a fashion magazine aren’t typically the first place we look for hard-hitting news, so we were thrilled to come across Elle’s recent article on water scarcity. As a fashion magazine, Elle is uniquely positioned to comment on the ways in which the fashion industry contributes to the water 
crisis. Elle correctly highlights the fact that nearly a billion of the earth’s inhabitants lack access to clean drinking water, and almost 4,000 children die each day as a result. At the same time, our dependency on cotton places immense pressure on existing water resources.
We’ve got lots of love for Elle, who had the pluck to call for reduced dependency on water thirsty crops like cotton. Drastically reducing cotton growth is indeed part of the solution, but we think the fashion industry can do even more. Traditional synthetic textile dyeing still consumes 2.4 trillion gallons of water annually, which means that alternative dyeing methods must be part of the solution.
AirDye® is poised and ready to meet the challenge. Our technology reduces water consumption during the dyeing process by 95% on prints and 88% on solid colors and reduces energy by 86% for prints and 64% for solids. AirDye works on any kind of synthetic fabric—from wedding dresses to active wear—and the result isn’t just dramatically more sustainable, it’s a durable, longer-lasting garment.
The fashion industry is uncommonly suited to affect major change in the water conservation movement. A simple paradigm shift toward more sustainable materials and alternative dyeing methods, such as AirDye, could reduce annual water usage by trillions of gallons.
Tip of the hat to Elle for highlighting such an important issue. Also, check out their accompanying slideshow of 13 leading water experts.
