The classic blue color of denim has an environmental cost: Dyeing a single pair of jeans uses 20 gallons of water and requires industrial chemicals. But a new approach to digital printing re-creates the same look with around 2 tablespoons of water and bio-based dyes.
A startup called Wtrlss, now working with major brands, developed a patented biochemical dye that’s added directly to rolls of fabric using its industrial-scale inkjet printers.
MAY 18, 2017 INEZ AND TOMAHAWK, KY.—T.J. Fannin, sitting on his porch as the sun sets, speaks fondly of the 27 years he spent working in nearby coal mines.
But despite the hard labor that fueled a coal boom and sent millions of dollars into Kentucky’s coffers, he says he and his neighbors lack a basic amenity: clean tap water.
“[O]n the TV you see someone go to the faucet and get a drink of water, and it just makes me mad cause, you know, we can’t do that,” says Mr. Fannin, who buys two or three 24-packs of bottled water a month for drinking and cooking. “There’s an odor to the water…. It’s just like stagnant water [that] comes out of the bottom of a pool.”
Dispatches From The Front 