450 million pairs of jeans are sold in the United States each year. That is 1.5 pairs for each man, woman, and child. To make these jeans, cotton crops are drenched in pesticides, fibers are stained with toxic dyes, and the resultant fabric is chemically softened to make new jeans look broken in.
You can buy jeans made of organic cotton and treated with natural dyes at an expensive price. Are they really more eco-friendly?
Although no pesticides are used with organic cotton, the per acre yield is less than regular cotton. More land must be used to produce organic cotton. It also takes a lot of water to grow both types of cotton.
The natural pigment used in eco-jeans requires chemical solvents just like regular jeans.
Eco-jeans use ozone to fade the denim. Ozone breaks down as it reacts with the fabric.
The lowest impact jeans are ones that you already own (washed in cold water and air dried).
There are major companies, such as Levi’s, Wal-Mart, the GAP, working with environmental groups to improve their methods of production. When buying jeans, do your homework-check out their web-sites.