Your shopping cart is empty!
Why Natural Dyes?
The world has only had synthetic dyes for about 160 years and while their invention allowed manufacturers and dye houses to operate in large quantities, and offer vivid, rich colours in a a limitless palette of colour options, it has seen the introduction of harmful, toxic chemicals which in turn require much more water to process. As well, many more man hours are spent working with these toxic chemicals. And while there are more shades of colours available and the precision with which they can be reproduced is greatly improved, there is a growing backlash against synthetics.
Textile production is the second largest water polluting industry in the world, creating 20% of the global industrial water pollution. More specifically, every year approximately 9 trillion gallons of synthetic dye chemicals are dumped into global waterways. Once synthetic dye chemicals enter the water, they difficult to filter out even with the most advanced water filtration systems.
Not only is this amount of waste extraordinary, the waste from the textile manufacturing and dyeing process are of the most toxic industrial products that filter into our oceans. The clothes we consume require tons of water that cannot be recycled into the earth, thus resulting in ocean and waterway contamination. Choosing to purchase clothing colored with natural dyes is a positive solution to the challenge of toxic runoff. And using plants that grow abundantly in our own ecosystem bypasses the entire production process it takes to make synthetic dyes.
One of the most remarkable aspects of working with natural dyes is the
enlightening experience one receives from direct connection with nature.
Through the experience of growing, harvesting, chopping plants and
preparing a dye vat, we build a much deeper appreciation for where color
comes from. When we invest time and energy into the process, we receive
on the other end, gaining a more profound respect for our
interconnectedness with the planet.
Rediscovering Natural Dyes
Obviously before the 1850's when the first synthetic dye was produced, there were clothes that were dyed a variety of colours, all with what we now call natural dyes, and today, many artisans are rediscovering the delight of producing colour by using renewable, non-toxic natural resources. There are a staggering number of plants that can be used to produce dyes. One small book sitting on my desk lists about 360 different species and that is not the longest list I have seen. Just in Australia we have barely scratched the surface of which of our thousands of native plants can be used successfully.
Dating back nearly 6,000 years, there is evidence of plants being processed into dye. With the widespread use of modern synthetic dyes, it is easy to forget that all textiles were once dyed with plants, bugs, and fungi. Geographical location was often a determining factor in what dyes, and therefore what colors, were available to a group of people. When international trade began through the silk road, dyes were among the most desirable goods.
While the development of synthetic indigo dye more or less wiped out the use of natural indigo, fortunately not everywhere was on the path to modernisation and there remained pockets of natural indigo use in South America, Africa, India, Japan and Indo-China. Recent efforts by natural dye enthusiasts have seen the rebirth of natural indigo in those places and also in the West and bought with it an interest in other natural dyes.
Organisations like Threads of Life in Bali are strongly promoting the growing and use of Indigo producing plants by supplying communities with the seedlings and then teaching them to process and use indigo from those plants. Avani-Kumaon in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarkand, India have used indigo production to turn a village that was facing poverty and destitution into a successful and profitable enterprise, but married that economic advance to a system of local government and a way of life that has gone far beyond just the production of indigo.
The future may indeed be colourful!!