<h3><span class="editsection">[<a title="The journey of a pair of jeans" href="http://515.rayblogs.org/index.php?title=Street_Eco_Fashion&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</span> <span class="mw-headline">The journey of a pair of jeans </span></h3>
<address><span class="mw-headline"> from the website <a href="http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Street_Eco_Fashion#The_ecological_impact_and_human_fallout_of_low_priced_street_fashion">http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Street_Eco_Fashion#The_ecological_impact_and_human_fallout_of_low_priced_street_fashion</a></span></address>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Cotton growing</strong>: Since jeans are made of cotton, the first stage in the manufacture of jeans is cotton growing. While cotton is a natural product, it uses enormous amounts of pesticide- 25% of the world’s total annual usage to keep it pest free. This results in environmental damage and damage to farmers and livestock that live in close proximity to this crop.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Weaving the fabric</strong>: Most modern day denim production is undertaken in power loom plants that have a huge carbon footprint.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Dyeing the fabric</strong>: Denim was originally indigo dyed. Indigo is a natural vegetable dye that is no longer used for this purpose. Artificial indigo is a chemical dye and its use involves toxic chemicals harmful both to people and the environment.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Bleaching and softening</strong>: Fabric treatments today ensure that our clothes are softer and have a better feel than earlier. This involves chemical treatment that further impacts our surroundings.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Tailoring</strong>: Since labour is cheapest in the underdeveloped countries, most large chains have manufacturing units in these places. While this employment could actually benefit workers here, the actual pay is poor and work conditions are often terrible. This is a direct result of the demand for low price garments since low prices mean low wages.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Packaging</strong>: Packaging for jeans is often in plastic and other non-biodegradable materials.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Transportation</strong>: The jeans are normally sold far from the point of production. This means that the jeans are transported many thousands of miles, increasing fuel consumption, enlarging carbon footprint and adding to global warming.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Retailing</strong>: Retail prices are low, so much less is paid to labour.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
	<li><strong>Discarding</strong>: Since prices are so low, we can afford to buy more clothes, actually end up buying more clothes than we need and don’t think twice before discarding a pair of jeans that didn’t cost us much to start with. The discards end up in <a class="mw-redirect" title="Landfills" href="http://515.rayblogs.org/index.php/Landfills">landfills</a> that are becoming scarce, and contaminate the soil if the clothes are synthetic or if they have been chemically treated during the production process.</li>
</ul>
Each one of the over 350 million jeans sold last year has most likely taken this journey. This is just an illustration to show that if our purchases were more eco-sensitive, we could make a difference.

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<h3><span class="editsection">[<a title="What can I do?" href="http://515.rayblogs.org/index.php?title=Street_Eco_Fashion&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a></span></h3>