This week, we came across a very interesting article about cotton and are excited to share it with all of you. The article highlights a groundbreaking scientific breakthrough on cotton R&D. We’ll include the link below this post, so do check it out.
In case you’re too busy to read the article, here’s the gist of it:
This article talks about a study conducted at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, that attempts to grow coloured cotton. This study presents the possibilities of reducing the usage of textile dyes and potentially rendering textile dyes obsolete in the future. Here’s a quick recap on how textile dyes are affecting our environment:
Disposal of textile dyes are sometimes poorly regulated, especially in less developed nations (eg, Bangladesh) where most textile factories are located. This results in the dumping of these dyes into the water bodies, leading to disastrous amounts of pollution on clean water sources. To make things worse, fast fashion has increased the usage of cheap and toxic chemical dyes in textile factories, just to keep production costs as low as possible. Fast fashion is infamous for further exacerbating the problem of water pollution from the textile industry.
If this study accomplishes that, it would be a huge win for the environment and the increasing pursuit of ‘greeness’ by fast fashion industries. The amount of water pollution as a result of dumping those harmful chemical dyes into water bodies would be drastically reduced.
Now this all sounds great right? Go green fast fashion! Well, sorry to burst your bubble but we’ll have to be honest and say it all seems too good to be true. Here’s why:
First of all, can you imagine the range of colours that clothes come in? There are literally too many to imagine! In a hypothetical situation, suppose all our clothes are made of cotton and for every different coloured apparel that we own, a specific type of cotton plant will have to be grown to produce that apparel. Furthermore, for every colour of cotton desired, some form of genetic manipulation will need to be done. If laboratories were to try and replicate all these colours, they would probably be stacked to the ceiling with petri dishes of coloured cotton species!
Additionally, our clothes come in such vibrant colours. Could we really expect a plant to grow and produce that exact colour? Highly unlikely. The colour blue is also extremely rare in the plant kingdom. So there is also a possibility that these genetically-altered cotton may not even be able to produce all colours that we want.
So here’s what we think:
We can never completely eradicate the use of textile dyes because there are just too many colours. To grow cotton in every shade of the rainbow would be too labour-intensive and downright ridiculous. Even if coloured cotton makes its entrance into our fast fashion industries, it is only an aid to reduce the amount of textile dye use, but will not take a complete transition as a main source of colourant. It just seems unlikely the variability and convenience of these (very harmful) textile dyes will be phased out anytime soon. Therefore, sadly, so long as textile dyes are used, we doubt that neither would water pollution from the irresponsible dumping of these dyes cease.
Link to the article:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-27/csiro-scientists-grow-coloured-cotton/12395250
References
Abc.net.au. 2020. Cotton Fields Could Soon Be Pink, Black Or Gold, Thanks To CSIRO Breakthrough. [online] Available at: <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-27/csiro-scientists-grow-coloured-cotton/12395250> [Accessed 2 July 2020].
Dillalogue, E., 2020. It’S Not Easy Being Blue (For Plants). [online] Visionlearning Blog. Available at: <https://www.visionlearning.com/blog/2014/10/10/blue-plants/#:~:text=Blue%20is%20so%20infrequent%20in,The%20Science%20of%20Plant%20Color.> [Accessed 2 July 2020].
