Fashion Revolution Day Nepal Links Fashion To Polluted Waterways
It’s a fact that the fashion industry, in creating the fabrics and colors we love to wear, is responsible for one of the largest environmental footprints on our planets water resources. Not only are vast quantities of water used in textile production, dye houses particularly across Asia are notorious for dumping untreated wastewater contaminating streams, rivers, and ground water resources in the process.
It was this link between fashion and polluted waterways, and showcasing a new technology developed in Nepal to solve the problem that became the highlight of Nepal Fashion Revolution Day 2014. The initiative called, HandMade Water is helping dyers treat toxic wastewater at an affordable price using locally available materials, products and labor.
Environmental manager, Prakash Amatya, co-founder and technical advisor of HandMade Water, explained, “It’s inexpensive and simple to operate. It’s portable. The system can be adapted to various site conditions and scaled to purify between 1,000-10,000 liters of wastewater per day. Now there is no excuse for even the smallest producers to dump untreated dye water, in Nepal or anywhere.”
US textile designer, Docey Lewis, also participating in Fashion Revolution Day –Nepal noted that, “Fashion, textile and handicrafts producers world over need to think seriously about investing in treating their toxic wastewater if they want to continue exporting, particularly to EU countries and the US where regulations are becoming increasingly stringent.”
To learn more about Nepal: Fashion Revolution Day & HandMade Water click on the video link.
