Fast-moving consumer goods are no more restricted to household daily products, edible items. The consumer has become so much dependent on the new set of clothing that the purchases are happening at the rate of FMCG products. Every month or say every weekend, the millennials are out for shopping. Shopping is not a mere requirement but a stress buster too. A time to enjoy with family but at the cost of too many things. The purchasing power of Indian households have surely gone up but it has also led to miscellaneous usage of money. The consumer market is filled with an abundance of choices. Think about the yesteryear when having a pair of men's jeans used to be enough but now everyone owns different types of pairs for different occasions. There is hardly any awareness about how such products are made and how it impacts the environment, the upcoming generation. It is not a part of sustainable growth for sure. The market would be growing manifolds giving job opportunities to multiple hands but it doesn’t ensure a healthy living.
Let’s see how a pair of jeans come alive
Do
not be surprised when you get to know how is your favourite jeans is coming
alive. Yes, the one which is lying in your cupboard goes through multiple
processes to look like what it looks like. For example, the most famous and
in-style pair of jeans ‘distressed’ is subjected to several chemical-intensive
washes. The chemicals which are found in the wastewater after they washed are
cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead and copper. It is devastating for the aqua
life cycle. They are being consumed by fishes which end up being consumed by
men. Many of the Asian rivers are being jammed with wastage of textile industry
too.
Yes,
you read it right. On one hand, we are running of out of drinking water in
various cities and on other, some 3800
litres of
precious water is being consumed to manufacture one pair of jeans. Jeans is
known to consume a lot of water in its process while releasing a lot of toxins
in the environment. Most of the substances are hazardous to health. The dyes
used by several companies cannot be easily degraded or decomposed. The health
issues can be like cancer, gastric, skin sensitisation, endocrine disruption or
even reproductive problems.
While there are brands which are trying to improve the situation
becoming socially responsible. Dr Simi Sugathan, founder of Safety Monitor Research Foundation also made the industry aware of that “Fading
fabric by laser is far more environmental-friendly as compared to acid washing
or sandblasting, while Ozone Treatment uses the natural bleaching capability of
ozone to its advantage.” Few of the brands consciously launched jeans which
have been made with minimal usage or almost no toxic chemicals. For example, in
2011 Levi’s launched their Water Less process through which they removed the
usage of water in stonewashed and combined multiple wet cycle processes, ending
up using 96% less of water than they did earlier. Also, H&M was felicitated
by an organisation named Foundation’s Global Change Award. The brand came up
with a solution Denim-
Dyed Demin where the residual dye from one old pair of jeans will dye 10
new jeans using no water at all. Therefore, helping to save much water. Though
such researches are yet to be available for commercial usage it seems
organisation are aware and are moving in the right direction.
After reading this, you are more aware than ever. Therefore, next time
when you are out to buy men branded jeans remember how it is harmfully impacting the lives
of humans and choose the brands which are making ethical jeans. Not just Jeans!
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