Clothing Company Uses Bugs For Textile Production

Existing during these modern times means hearing a lot of news about the negative state of the environment. You are no doubt familiar with global warming, ozone damage, and the melting of the polar ice caps, but did you know that the clothes that you wear could be hiding carcinogens that are both bad for the environment as well as your own personal health?

The well known clothing company, Patagonia, is being hailed as the first clothing company to find safe alternatives to the otherwise harmful dyes used in modern clothing manufacturing. The company is using these “safe” dyes in everything from tops, bottoms to jackets. Oh yeah! These new dyes are made from insects, more specifically silkworm excrement and dried beetles. The clothing company is referring to its new insect-dyes as Earthcolors.

In 2012 Greenpeace wrote up a report accusing many popular clothing companies of using hazardous chemicals during textile production. The report claimed that many of these hazardous chemicals were carcinogenic.

Researchers and academics have known for some time that silkworm excrement comes in many different colors. Scientists discovered this by feeding silkworms mulberry leaves. The leaves were sprayed with dyes that are commonly used during textile production. Scientists were pleased when the silkworms began producing rainbow-hued excrement. It turns out that the silkworms filter out the harmful intoxicants that are often found in textile dyes. According to officials at Patagonia, the insect-dyes save water and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The clothing company is also using dried up beetles in order to achieve a red color. Around seventy thousand beetles are required in order to produce a pound of dye. These dried up beetles are also used for coloring foods. The beetles are sun-dried and then crushed before being used during food and textile processing.

Do you know of any other products that are made with insects?