AOn the day of the interview for this text, a storm swept through California. The storm knocked out power and Wi-Fi for interviewee Amy Williams. Of course, this was not a tragedy for a conversation that could easily have been postponed. But it showed that extreme weather events – as part of climate change – have long been a reality, not least in California.
Amy Williams is the CEO of Citizens of Humanity, a denim brand founded in 2003. If you take it by its name, humanity seems to be a valuable asset that will quickly lead you to human rights, environmental and social sustainability, something that was not taken so seriously two decades ago. The denim business is also fundamentally anti-environmental. Here’s what the production numbers show: The average pair of jeans requires about 4.7 liters of water to produce, according to Citizens of Humanity. Each load of water also contains between one and three percent chemicals.
No more bleach in production
Where to start on your journey to eco-friendly jeans? Of course, with water purification systems and laser technology instead of bleach. Citizens of Humanity—and the Agolde label, which is also part of the umbrella brand—also recently began using regeneratively grown cotton fabric, which is being used for the first time in this spring’s collections. According to Amy Williams, the topic was originally particularly important in American agriculture for food production. The United States is also the third largest exporter of cotton after India and China.
The jeans company contacted Advancing Eco Agriculture, an association that has been working with farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture for nearly two decades. Unlike organic farming, for example, it requires less land. “Regenerative agriculture aims to improve biodiversity and soil health,” says Amy Williams. This leads to more profitable harvests – with all the attendant consequences for companies and communities. Additionally, carbon conservation (instead of emissions) is a benefit of regenerative cultivation.
The Citizens of Humanity chapter tells the story of a New Mexico farmer whose cotton harvest is now higher than before the changes. The fibers are longer so they can be spun finer.
In the two years since the Citizens of Humanity project began, they have harvested approximately 1.4 million kilograms of regenerative cotton. “In the coming year we again expect a lot just for ourselves. But our spinning mills now communicate with other brands. Our goal is to get as many people interested in regenerative cotton as possible,” says Amy Williams. “Soils are generally healthier and therefore more resilient to extreme weather events.” She knows too well what could happen then.
Source: Frantfurter Allgemeine
I’ve been working in the entertainment industry for over 7 years, starting out as a reporter and then moving on to being a media buyer and producer. I now work as an author at the World Herald News, where I cover all things entertainment. I’m passionate about finding the latest news and trends in this field, and I love writing stories that help my readers get a better understanding of what’s going on.
