Dr. William V. Raszka, our Associate Editor, offers the following insight into a current topic in the news:One of my boys came home the other day with a new pair of jeans. I was not so much interested in the cut or even the wash but a tag dangling from a belt loop with “Water-less” written in large type. Did the tag mean water less or waterless? According to an article in The New York Times (Science: November 1, 2011), some international jean makers are trying to reduce the amount of water used to make and maintain a pair of jeans. By one estimate, approximately 919 gallons of water are used during the life span of each pair of jeans. This includes the water necessary to irrigate the crops, sew the jeans together, and wash the jeans at home.
Several manufactures underwrite international nonprofit programs, such as the Better Cotton Initiative, that teaches farmers in the developing world sophisticated irrigation and rainwater-capture techniques. Others have introduced stone-washed jeans smoothed with rocks without the addition of water. Customers are urged to wash jeans infrequently, if at all. The interest by denim manufacturers in water conservation highlights a growing problem around the world: water scarcity. Beverage companies have responded by experimenting with bottle cleaning systems that use hot air rather than water. Still, the denim industry is particularly sensitive. Approximately two pounds of cotton goes into the manufacturing of a pair of jeans. With much of the cotton produced on small farms without water holding systems, the water hungry plants are susceptible to drought conditions. According to the article, cotton, the world’s biggest nonfood crop, already accounts for more than 3 percent of the world’s agricultural water use.
So far, the efforts seem to be working. Farmers in India following advice from the Better Cotton Initiative to install drip irrigation systems report up to a 70% reduction in water use, fewer weeds, less pesticide use, lusher crops, and an increase in profits. One denim manufacturer now buys approximately 5% of its cotton from farmers using such techniques and plans to increase that number to 20%. I am happy that our kids are interested in “Water-less” labeled jeans. The next task will be to convince them that jeans don’t need to be washed after each wearing.
Noted by WVR, MD
*This filler excerpt can be found in the January 2012 Pediatrics print journal p.131, or via online here.
