I’m not perfect and have a lot to learn, so can only probably claim that I am moving towards more environmentally friendly dyes.

The post linked here is probably the best in terms of a lot of reasonably easy to understand information mainly regarding synthetic dyes and mordants: http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyeblog/C1307213733/E20120720121139/index.html

When using synthetic dyes, I usually use Procion MX. As the article says, compared to some other dyes, these are a lot less harmful for the environment as they don’t contain heavy metals, but they are not perfect. It actually quite difficult to find out what is in them. And, while they are not so bad used in the domestic environment, on a large scale, they use up a lot of water in post-dye rinsing.

The manufacture of synthetic dyes also has a big impact on the environment. Great quantities are produced in places like China and much of the effluent ends up in rivers, though this may be at least partly due to ineffective legislation, rather than an inability to manufacture cleanly.

But what about natural dyes? I use them quite a bit. I like them partly because of the variation you can get with the colours; the variation in shades produced makes the yarns look more alive. Most are biodegradable, which is good. But, while a lot of them are harmless, some are not. Logwood, for example, is not something you’d want to eat. Like synthetic dyes they too contain ‘chemicals’. And, for a lot of dyes, mordants are required which are not entirely benign (only a few dyes, such as woad don’t require a mordant). Also, if we moved over to natural dyes completely, how much extra land would be required to grow madder, weld, etc.? I don’t have the answer.

The image here shows wool dyed from Saxon blue and dyer’s chamomile (Saxon blue isn’t really a synthetic dye, but it isn’t totally natural either, it’s sort of half way- more on that later).

There are ways of reducing environmental impact with dyes both natural and synthetic, of course such as ensuring that the textile has taken up all the dye before disposing of the dye water. And, where mordants are required, on can reuse the mordant water, and top it up a bit with chemicals rather than start off a whole new batch. Care with mordant choice is also a help. Alum, for example, is a lot less environmentally harmful than chrome. For mordants and safety, this is a good blog:https://alpenglowyarn.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/mordants-and-natural-dyeing-the-great-debate/

Of course, there’s also the option of using no dyes at all. I recently found out that cotton actually comes in lots of different colours, though all of them rather pale shades, pinks, browns, greens and cream. But the problem for me with cotton is, it doesn’t grow outdoors in the UK, so there’s all those air-miles to consider. It can be grown undercover in polytunnels and the like, but I am unsure how environmentally friendly that is. Plus, processing of cotton uses excessive amounts of water. Wool does come in a variety of shades of brown, white and grey. The predominance of white wool is largely due to selective breeding.

Of course, if we care about the environment we should be fewer clothes, and therefore as few dyes, as possible.

So, perhaps not using any dye on materials like wool and flax is the best way to go, as well as reducing the amount of clothing we consume. But, I’m not perfect.