The Case for Natural Dyes
“Sometimes it is red,” said Tamanna Afrous, the school’s English teacher. “Or gray. Sometimes it is blue. It depends on the colors they are using in the factories.”- A teacher in Sarvar, Bangladesh, describing the effects of synthetic dyes on the local river[1] For many, the impact of synthetic dyes on the environment is a distant issue, falling far behind daily concerns of air pollution or energy efficiency. But Sarvar, a town in Bangladesh that is home to numerous textile factories, is all too familiar with the dangers of synthetic dyes. Here, students in a school near a textile factory often faint or retch from the odors of the chemical dyes, while the river is polluted with the varying colors...
