Making sustainability affordable is a big challenge

In a lot of instances, being sustainable comes with an additional financial cost, hence, making sustainability affordable is a big challenge, said Cibi Karthic, director of Tiruppur based Eastman Exports. Eastman’s relatively new in-house brand Huetrap is going sustainable the whole hog by manufacturing products in a sustainable and ethical way.“Our products are dyed using 90 per cent recycled water and just 10 per cent fresh water. So, every kg of fabric is dyed with less than 5 litres of fresh water (30–80 litre is the global average),” Karthic said in a conversation with Subir Ghosh.

“Efficient processes also lead to 10 per cent less energy consumed during the manufacturing process. And around 20 per cent of the energy used across the production process is from renewable sources,” he added.

However, at times, being sustainable comes with an additional financial cost. For example, treating the dirty water in the dyeing plant is expensive. “But, we have to do it because if we don’t, the cost is a dirtier future. In India a big part of the population cannot afford a completely sustainable lifestyle even though they may be aware of the consequences. I think that’s the biggest challenge— to make sustainability affordable,” said Karthic.

Source: www.fibre2fashion.com