Water conservation methods in the textile industry Lauren Kim Sustainable systems

How much water is needed? The textile industry is known for using large quantities of water for a single product (denim, cotton, wool) More than 100 gallons of water are needed to produce a single pound of raw cotton or shorn wool 900-1500 gallons of water are needed for a single pair of jeans T-shirt requires 250 gallons 505 gallons of water needed to produce just one pair of levi’s 501 jeans Indian textile industry consumes 425,000,000 gallons a day for fabrics

steps to processing textiles Water baths are needed for special/finishing chemicals for dyes Desizing, (removing size from warp yarn), scouring (removing wax and making the textile water absorbent), bleaching and mercerizing (final treatment of cotton with caustic alkaline) are just preparation steps for the fabric The fabric must be washed again before each step to get rid of the chemicals 85% of water used in creating fabrics goes solely into dyeing Any dye that does not bond with the fabric must be rinsed out again with warm water

How does this effect us? After each preparation step, the fabric needs to be washed again to get rid of the previous chemicals The wastewater is then returned back into our ecosystem without being properly treated The water can contain pbde (polyurethane, building materials, electronics), organochlorines (insecticides), and other chemicals Pollutes ground water which can cause health issues

Current dyeing method Raw cotton is grown and ginned to remove impurities, then spun into yarn which a mill weaves/knits into fabric and finally dyed Dye bath is created by adding red, blue and yellow into a solution Chemicals are required for the dye to bond to the fabric Local municipal water and/or ground water is used for extensive washing the wastewater ends up back into streams, rivers and lakes

What ends up in the water? Leftover dye can end up in waterways Salt from the dye baths can kill marine animals Alkali can disrupt the pH balance of the water, thus killing any living creature Not as common but bleach (used to whiten and clean fabrics) can alter the oxygen balance which is harmful to animals and humans Acid is used to counter alkali in the dyeing process and if not properly neutralized, can cause a low ph level, killing aquatic life Soaps clean the cotton but are harmful to the environment

airdye Dyeing method that does not use water A special machine is used that transfers paint on paper, then a stencil with the paint is applied onto the textile and heated Uses air rather than water to dye fabrics Uses both sublimation printing and cationic dyeing Dyes are penetrated through the fibers at a molecular level Dye goes into the fabric rather than on top so the color lasts longer and is more vibrant Energy consumption is reduced by 85% Uses 90% less water total 45 gallons of water can be saved on a single garment

H&m and wwf H&m and worldwide fund for nature have teamed up to promote and educate both customers and employees about water conservation Over 500 supplier factories will be trained on responsible water use, water recycling and reduced water use Will also have appropriate waste water treatments By 2020, all h&m stores and warehouses will have water efficient equipment H&m and wwf china implemented a yangtze basin engagement plan to improve water quality and protect the finless porpoise H&m for water was a program that donated 25% of sales to support projects that support sustainable water resources

Sources http://sustainability.hm.com/en/sustainability/commitments/use-natural-resources- responsibly/water.html http://sustainability.hm.com/content/dam/hm/about/documents/masterlanguage/CSR/WWF/ HM%20Water%20engagement%202015.pdf https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/textiles-and-water-use/ http://www.colorzen.com/water-pollution/ http://www.airdyesolutions.com/about_us/what_is_airdye http://scribol.com/environment/how-much-water-are-you-wearing-in-your-clothes http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/cutting-water-use-in-the-textile-industry/?_r=1