The Denim Dilemma

If you do not own it, you wish for it: that one pair of perfectly fitting denim jeans. On the search for it, we buy and toss on repeat. It seems like our parents and grandparents had it easier. They used to wear, repair and rewear a single pair of jeans for years. Over time the status of the popular denim pants transformed from sturdy work garment to a symbol of self expression in the 1960s and ended up as a mass product with fatal consequences for our planet.

While we usually try to keep most of our clothing as spotless as possible for as long as possible, the look and feel of a pair of jeans seems to improve with every wear. The fabric denim is what gives jeans their unique characteristics. The original jeans were so stiff that they — just like leather boots — had to be worn in for weeks until they reached a state we would call “distressed”. However, even the jeans models that seem to be of raw denim have been washed several times in order to make them comfortable enough for today´s taste.

To get that lived-in look, denim has to go through various chemical-loaded washes. The discharge often ends up in rivers and its high percentage of heavy metals has harmful long-term effects on people and nature. And because rivers flow and sometimes go into the sea, those chemicals do not just stay in the surroundings of the factories. Your skin absorbs those chemicals making your new favourite pair of jeans a harm to your health. Besides that, denim is made of cotton — one of the most polluting textiles. To produce one pair of regular jeans 8.000 litres of water are needed and around 23,5 kg of Co2 are being produced. Not without reason cotton is called “a dirty crop”.

“If people knew that the spraying of permanganate on your jeans to give you that acid-wash look was killing the guy doing the spraying, would you still want that look? We have to change the process of making jeans and brands have to be willing to invest because we are destroying the planet” — Francois Girbaud, who introduced the stone-washed jeans in the 1970s.

But there is good news for those who are now panicking and afraid that they have to give up their love for jeans. Some sustainable brands already use innovative techniques such as laser and ozone treatments that replace the chemical washing of denim. Jeans made from recycled or organic cotton have been more present. Those alternatives save water and do not use any insecticides or pesticides.

Very probable the thought of buying an organic pair of jeans just popped up in your head. A pair of jeans can be a very sustainable choice if we value it, recycle it and do not throw it away. The fundamental problem here is actually how we think of clothing as something that can be replaced easily and fast.

Sources:

99Percent Invisble https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/blue-jeans-articles-of-interest-5/

Mud Jeans https://mudjeans.eu/duurzaamheid-onze-impact/?lang=nl