Dyeing and the Environment

Textiles and the fashion industry are a driver of environmental harms from toxic dye runoff to used garments piling up in landfills. While ‘fast fashion’ trends are the focus of most concern, the industry as a whole is far from sustainable, accounting for roughly 20% of worldwide water pollution and 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Speakers will survey the environmental costs of fashion and explore promising new sustainable techniques of creating pigments, colors, dyes, and fabrics through biological alternatives.

Event Speakers

• Antía Iglesias, artist
• Naomi Rosenkranz, graduate student in conservation of material culture at the University of California, Los Angeles
• Sümeyye Yar, molecular biologist

Event Information

Free and open to the public; registration required. Contact scienceandsociety@columbia.edu with questions.

Hosted by the Center for Science and Society at Columbia University.

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