How Can T-shirt Printing Be Eco-conscious?
Simple answer - of course it can! But many do not take the steps to ensure that garment printing is not adversely impacting our environment.
To paint the picture, water wastage is one of, if not the biggest single environmental issue facing the textile industry.
Let's put this into some sort of context and take a trip to Central Asia. In 1960, the Aral sea was the world's fourth largest lake. However, since then it has been disappearing at an alarming rate. With an enormous irrigation network being to blame.
A key reason for this rapid depletion is cotton production. Cotton is a hugely water intensive crop with it being estimated that a single shirt can use up to 2,700 litres of water. This drive to produce cotton at a mass rate and unsustainable farming practices have ultimately caused irreversible damage.
This is just one of the examples of the environmental problems caused by water usage in the textile industry.
Water wastage also a big environmental concern within the t-shirt printing sector of the textile industry. Traditional screen printing methods waste a lot of water. This is due to this process requires screens and fixtures to be washed. This extensive washing process needs to happen before each new design is printed. This subsequently uses approximately 50-60 litres of water per meter. The water which has been used is ultimately polluted due to the chemicals which are used within the ink. The water can only be used once with in the process.
But we do things a little differently...
Our printing is green, we have even called it Greenprinted™. This processes of printing uses 95% less water than traditional screen printing. This means that our process is incredibly more water efficient. Within a year of use, instead of screen printing, this can save approximately 1.4 million litres of water
Our inks are non-hazardous, vegan friendly and even 100% biodegradable! They are also non-toxic with absolute no use of any heavy metal which can damage water.
The environmental credentials of Greenprinted™ stand up against any form of garment printing. Plus, the vibrant printing results are second to none. There is no limit on colour choices and Greenprinted™ does not crack or fold under the pressure.