Reprinted from the Lotus & Michael website: Back to the Future: The Story of Plant Dyes - Read this--your planet is depending on YOU

 “Back to the Future”-The story of Plant Dyes (https://www.lotusandmichael.com/blogs/news/back-to-the-future-the-story-of-plant-dyes)

September 17, 2024

Most clothing today, even if the base material is natural, is made using chemical dyes. And a huge amount is disposed every year and ends up in landfills. Here are some facts:

Water- It's estimated that 20% of the world's water pollution is as a result of the fashion industry's dyeing and cultivation processes, with over 800 chemicals used to transform raw materials into fabrics.

Chemicals, pesticides, and wastewater are all released into the ecosystem. We are consuming them every day.

​By 2030, the total amount of fashion waste is expected to be 148 million tons– equivalent to 17.5 kg per person across the planet. (Global Fashion Agenda)

(Source and Learn more: https://www.hawthornintl.com/impact-of-fast-fashion)

It wasn't always that way. In fact, until the end of the 19th century, most garments got their color from plant-based dyes.

Let's take an example we all know: Levi's Jeans.

It is a well-known story that in the 1850's Levi Strauss, a German immigrant and dry goods seller, sold a fabric which used indigo dye from Nimes, France which was then called Serge de Nimes. He teamed up with Jacob Davis to make the original Levi's, workwear with rivets for extra strength.

(Source)

The fabric for the original Levi's was organic and plant-dyed. It came from a flower, Indigofera tinctoria, which was probably sourced in India. Some 20+ years later, a chemist figured out how to duplicate the flower synthetically. So today chemical indigo is known as C16H10N2O2. Your Levi's today (and almost all denim jeans) are made from this chemical.

Then:

(Source)

Now:

(Source)

Of course, plant dyes are limited by their nature, but synthetic substitutes can be produced forever and in any quantity. Also, synthetic substitutes will be cheaper because they are mass produced in chemical plants and plant dyes are produced in an arduous process.

Synthetic dyestuffs are resident along your body, and inevitably end up in your water, whether through textile waste or your washing machine. Even if cotton is biodegradable, the dyestuff is not. Worse, plant dyes will not adhere to synthetic fabrics at all—check your closet, that is a lost cause.

Typical thinking is: “Meeting demand is the only priority because the more our customers buy, the more money we make. And nobody has measured the residual harm.”

Wrong. We believe that it is our mission to go back to the future and make beautiful garments which will do no harm to us or the environment.

Plant dye garments are part of our sustainability statement. What is more, garments dyed naturally with plant dyestuffs reflect the true beauty of nature, not our ability to mimic nature with chemicals. Their colors are vibrant and—well, alive.

If you buy our plant dyed garments, you cast your vote for a better future and agree to limit your wardrobe. You can take comfort in that once they lead a long and multifunctional life (in accordance with our Wabi Sabi belief, they will have a clear mission in your closet). And, if disposed, they will not be still there in the soil 200 years from now.   

IF you don't, you are contributing (in your own small way, but image everyone else is thinking that. Where does that leave us?

Not convinced? Read this article in National Geographic. Are some of YOUR clothes in there?

Now, will you make your statement with our plant dyed Roughwear?

Shop now.