Support the ones that are disposing of waste in a humane manner such as turning old sludge into bricks that can be used for homes or using water filtration systems that allow them to recycle the water. There have been new developments where this sludge has been turned into fertilizer too!

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Lasers can be used to create whiskering, distressing, holes, special designs and more. A computer program dictates the intensity and pattern, taking only a few seconds to complete the design. Check out my experience using one here! Lasers are extremely suitable for decolouring clothing, especially indigo on cotton, and create worn-out effects like whiskers or patterns, and abrasions to create rips and customized designs. This was originally done with sandblasting (literally blasting the jeans down with sand to wear them down). Lasers are able to do this with a minimum amount of energy. Chemicals, such as potassium permanganate, water and heat through steam are not necessary in this process. Therefore the footprint of laser technique is much lower, and no heavy manual work is needed.

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Ozone Gas can be used in the washing process and requires up to 60 percent less water and less chemicals compared to the traditional method of using bleach denim. Ozone decomposes indigo and other dyes with its high oxidation potential, therefore it is a good replacement for sodium hypochlorite (bleach). No water or steam is required, it easily turns into oxygen or dissolves in pure water and is therefore not harmful to the environment. . This results in a water reduction, time reduction, fewer chemicals and less energy.

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Less Water / No Water is always the goal, but new developments have shown us the possibility of using no fresh water at all! With Bio Membrane Reactor technology, domestic wastewater that is drawn from the surrounding communities is treated, as well as a new pipeline that will draw wastewater from the local municipal line. Not to mention without the use of any chemicals.

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No More Pumice Stones! Instead there are companies making fake stones that provide beautiful results, but there are also natural enzymes that can create the same looks and lastly, there are mesh looking grills put into washers to achieve the look with NO STONES! Research is also being done into stones that don’t break down in the washing machine. Seriously tons of stones are shipped around the world, used once to give a nice feel to jeans, and then are discharged as sand and contamination to water? Yes.

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Reducing microplastic pollution by integrating Xfiltra into washing machines to prevent 78% of microfibres from going down the drain. 

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Companies like Sea Change are discovering ways to filter wastewater, remove the contaminants, and release the clean water back into the atmosphere or recycle it back into their facilities for use.