Cultural Background
To color our cloth (and also our food), we use modern industrially produced synthetic dyes. “Synthetic” means that those dyes are human-made: chemicals that are often made from petroleum byproducts or minerals and do not exist as such. What they all share is their devastating impact on the environment and the health of humans and animals exposed to those substances. Natural dyes can offer us a more successful alternative that not only produces beautiful colors! Natural dyes, made from plants, fruits and other organic (natural) resources, are deeply connected to the environment: To have the resources for making dyes, you have to make sure your plants – and therefore nature in general – are healthy and well. Natural dyes provide an environmentally friendly way for making colors – and at the same time are safe for the workers and the environment! After all, they are usually made from things you can eat!