Every tweet, Facebook post, and news story seems to be talking about the history of Earth Day or tips on what you should do to honor Mother Earth, but are you paying attention? Instead of standing on our soapbox, we thought we’d give you an easy list of things NOT to do as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

1. Take an extra long, very hot shower.
2. Leave on all your appliances and lights, even if you’re not in the room.
3. Drink only bottled water, imported scores you extra points.
4. Throw the anything that can be recycled into the regular trash.
5. Print every email you receive, in color.
6. Drive to work, and be sure to use your biggest vehicle.
7. Buy that cup of $4.00 coffee on the way to the office, and certainly do not bring in your own mug.
8. Eat lunch at a fast food restaurant. Order the extra large size too!
9. Leave your car idling when you run into the dry cleaners.
10. If it’s cold where you live, turn up the heater to 76 degrees.
11. If it’s hot, turn the air conditioner to 68 degrees.
12. Wash a single pair of pants on the full load cycle and use hot water.
13. Tear out the trees in your yard.
14. Plant a huge lawn, especially if you live where it needs to be watered all summer.
15. Spray your yard with toxic weed killers.
16. Buy imported, out of season fruits and vegetables.
17. Bring your sweetheart home a big bunch of flowers flown in from South America.

What else can you think of that we shouldn’t do on Earth Day, or any other day of the year, for that matter?!

photo credits: traffic PMM / shower head Fervent Photographer / exotic fruit Djinn76 / roses George Reyes

Welcome to the AirDye—Good for Water blog. AirDye is an innovative new technology that seeks to change the way the world dyes textiles. As an industry, textile manufacturing and dyeing is one of the most wasteful and environmentally damaging. At AirDye, we’ve created a technology to eliminate the need for water in the dyeing process: a step that currently drains the earth of 2.4 trillion gallons of water a year, an astonishingly high amount of which ends up polluting local water sources. In a commitment to change these harmful practices, and with the belief that through innovation and technology our industry can do better, we’re launching this blog on Earth Day.

greening the textile industry

First, we want to tell you a bit about what we’re doing to pioneer new, greener practices for the textile industry. As the name suggests, AirDye uses air to dye fabric, bypassing the liquid state of dye altogether. Here’s a basic breakdown of the technology: Instead of mixing dye with water and placing it on the surface of a fabric, our process transforms dye from a solid to a gas, eliminating the liquid state and therefore the need for water. When synthetic fabric is exposed to a certain temperature, the molecules in the fiber begin to expand. In this porous state, gaseous dye enters the space in between fibers and when fabric cools the dye is trapped in the fiber permanently.

Aside from the potentially trillions of gallons of water this process spares, the benefit to you, the consumer, is something we call “no rules wash.” Since the dye is actually a part of the fabric itself, rather than a layer that rests on top of it, color doesn’t fade and garments can last far beyond 100 washes. (Even pouring bleach on a shirt won’t damage the color.) An AirDye garment has a far longer life, which dramatically reduces disposability and promotes sustainability—after all, the most sustainable product is one you don’t have to replace.

pioneering social change

The implications of AirDye reach far beyond technology. Nearly a billion people go without access to clean, safe drinking water. With 4,700 people dying each day from a lack of potable water, we simply cannot, in good conscience, continue to waste trillions of gallons of water dyeing fabric. Beyond preserving precious resources, dyeing textiles without water expands opportunity for entirely new industries in developing nations that don’t have the water for traditional textile production.

join the conversation

In the days and weeks to come, we’ll be blogging about a wide range of topics, from water scarcity to eco-fashion. At AirDye, we believe vigorous debate and open exchange of ideas always leads to smarter practices. We hope you’ll join the conversation. Happy Earth Day.