Almost a third of China’s rivers are classified as too polluted for any direct human contact. That is the terrible price paid for having become the manufacturing center of the world with no appropriate environmental regulations. China alone is responsible for 50% of the global production of textile, an especially dirty and resource-intensive affair. Fortunately, progress is being made thanks, in no small part, to a program launched six years ago by the Natural Resources Defense Council to encourage China’s textile mills to clean up their act. Clean by Design emphasizes financial rewards from the efficient use of resources, and has enrolled large brands to put pressure on their suppliers. In 2014, 33 mills completed the program, cutting their water use by 9%, electricity use by 4% and coal use by 6.5%, according to a new report by NRDC. Estimated savings include 3 million tons of water, 36 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 400 tons of chemicals, and 61,000 tons of coal, for a total of $14.7 million. Let’s hope the word gets out to China’s 15,000 textile mills that going green is good business.
China going green one textile mill at the time
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