Dyeing can be one of the most ecologically-costly part of the clothing manufacturing process, with impacts on every level of the supply chain: the workers who make the clothing, the consumers who wear it, and the environment into which toxic waste is released.
Most clothing manufacturers use dyes containing harsh chemicals and heavy metals that linger on clothing. Up to 15% of these toxic dyes end up discharged back into rivers and streams, polluting the water supply. The entire process consumes a vast amount of the world's most precious resource: water. An average T-shirt uses up to 20 litres of water during the dyeing process, and globally, the textile industry discharges up to 50,000 tons of dye into the water system each year.
We opted for a dyeing process that’s safer for our health and for the environment. All of our fabrics are treated with AZO free, non-toxic dyes in a state-of-the-art facility in Rajasthan that runs on solar power and rain water purification technology. To reduce the enormous water footprint of standard textile dyeing practices, our facility retreats and recycles up to 90% of water consumed.
We’re proud to be affiliated with this award-winning facility that’s developing more efficient practices to preserve clean water for future generations. The facility is funded in part by the European Commission and Swiss government, and committed to the new sustainability standards established in the UN Global Compact.
Our dye house adheres to not only the highest environmental standards but also to the highest ethical work standards. Preserving the tradition of handcrafted textiles while looking to the future of sustainable business practices, the facility remains family-owned and strongly rooted in the local community.
Learn more about our dyeing facility, Jaipur Bloc:
Non-toxic and low-impact dyes: All dyes are AZO free and approved by the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)
Water conservation: Rainwater purification system collects and uses rainwater and has a roadside drainage system to collect run-off from the area’s roads and paved surfaces. Discharged water is processed inside the park gets collected and recycled. 85% of the water retreated and recycled, the remaining 15% gets evaporated.
Solar powered: All electricity is sourced through solar panels, and any excess energy powers the local area grid, giving back to the community.
Chemical-removal process: Our dye house worked with a chemical engineer to develop a special bacteria that eats away the chemical discharges after the fabrics are processed. All the chemical parts get settled down then go through a chlorine bath and is eventually converted into drinking water. The water that comes out is cleaner that the water that came in.