{"id":695,"date":"2026-05-28T18:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=695"},"modified":"2026-05-28T18:09:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:09:57","slug":"some-brands-say-their-jeans-are-eco-friendly-heres-how-to-find-a-pair-thats-actually-sustainable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=695","title":{"rendered":"Some brands say their jeans are eco-friendly. Here\u2019s how to find a pair that\u2019s actually sustainable"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By KIKI SIDERIS, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Your favorite pair of jeans may have traveled around the world through cotton farms, dye houses, wash facilities and factories before ending up in your closet. The denim may have never been worn but it is stonewashed, sanded, chemically faded or laser-treated to look like it.<\/p>\n

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Those processes can require significant amounts of water, energy and chemicals \u2014 part of the reason denim has become a growing target for sustainability efforts across the fashion industry, which is among the world\u2019s biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

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Brands are responding to wider awareness by marketing their jeans as \u201csustainable,\u201d touting regenerative cotton, recycled fibers and low-water manufacturing techniques. But figuring out if that\u2019s true is far more complicated. For one, sustainability is difficult to define \u2014 and there isn\u2019t a universal set of standards.<\/p>\n

Last week, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein acquired Everlane, a brand known for transparency and sustainability efforts, highlighting broader tensions over scale and affordability. Improvements in sustainable processes typically cost more, making it difficult for companies with fast production cycles and low prices to adopt them widely. Consumers are left to navigate a complicated web of tradeoffs involving farming practices, chemical processes, labor ethics and a wide range of prices.<\/p>\n

Experts say people can find sustainable denim by learning how jeans are actually made.<\/p>\n

It all starts with cotton farming<\/h4>\n

Most jeans are made from cotton, a crop that can require large amounts of water, fertilizer and pesticides.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Beth Jensen, chief impact officer at the nonprofit Textile Exchange, said many brands still lack full visibility into where their cotton comes from. Because denim production often spans multiple countries and suppliers, it can also be difficult to track labor conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as an industry, collectively, have a long way to go on this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As concern grows over fashion\u2019s environmental impact, some brands have looked to solutions like regenerative cotton, which focuses on soil health, biodiversity and reducing synthetic chemical use. But as Jensen said, what\u2019s feasible on a farm in California might not be in a place like India or Australia because of their different climates.<\/p>\n

Why producing denim is labor and energy-intensive<\/h4>\n

After cotton is harvested, it is spun into yarn and dyed \u2014 typically with indigo, a process that can involve significant water use and chemical treatments. It\u2019s then woven into denim fabric, and cut and sewn into jeans.<\/p>\n

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Jeans then usually go through finishing treatments to create different shades, fades and distressed textures. Bill Curtin, owner of New Jersey-based BPD Washhouse, said denim-finishing is divided into \u201cwet\u201d and \u201cdry\u201d processes.<\/p>\n

The wet process involves washing jeans with water, chemicals and treatments that lighten or tint the denim. Historically, brands have used pumice stones to achieve a worn, stonewashed look \u2014 with stones often shipped from Mexico, adding transport emissions and cost to the process. Many facilities are now switching to enzyme-based alternatives and ozone technologies that use less water.<\/p>\n

The dry process creates abrasions, whiskers and ripped details either by hand or with laser technology, which Curtin said is more efficient and less labor-intensive.<\/p>\n

Many stretchy jeans also contain fabrics like polyester or elastane \u2014 fossil fuel-derived synthetics that can shed microplastics over time.<\/p>\n

But making sustainable denim is challenging<\/h4>\n

Fashion designer Maria McManus spent years wanting to add denim to her low-impact line but couldn\u2019t find a way to do it that aligned with her values. The culprit, she said, was always the washing process.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom a water and chemical perspective, it\u2019s very invasive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

So instead she sourced dark, raw denim from Japan \u2014 indigo, minimal processing \u2014 and skipped the wash stage altogether, avoiding the faded and distressed look that define most commercial jeans. It was a deliberate constraint, and it held for years.<\/p>\n

A breakthrough came when she collaborated on a collection with Agolde, a larger denim brand. Along with its parent company Citizens of Humanity, it\u2019s respected in the fashion industry for its focus on regenerative cotton farming.<\/p>\n

Working with the company gave McManus access to infrastructure her small brand couldn\u2019t build alone \u2014 a consulting agency that connected her with regenerative cotton farmers, a vetted indigo-dyeing process using biochemical rather than petrochemical dyes, and rigorous supply chain traceability.<\/p>\n

But even that process, she said, isn\u2019t simple. Organic and regenerative cotton crops can fail. Supply chains are hard to verify. \u201cYou know when they tell you their harvest failed\u201d that they\u2019re honest, she said of one supplier. \u201cI know I can trust them because really, what they should have done as business people or capitalists was just get regular cotton \u2014 because nobody is testing this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that often leads to higher prices. A pair of jeans from McManus\u2019 brand is nearly $700 \u2014 a function of small production runs, she said. \u201cIt\u2019s truly a units game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding the most sustainable pair of jeans<\/h4>\n

Experts say consumers should be wary of vague sustainability claims and instead look for brands that provide detailed information about their sourcing and manufacturing processes.<\/p>\n

Dana Davis, a strategic fashion adviser who led sustainability efforts for the label Mara Hoffman, encouraged shoppers to look beyond a single product page and examine whether brands discuss labor rights, textiles and manufacturing sites across their entire business \u2014 not just in a capsule collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a brand really explains the whys behind why they\u2019re doing these things, then you can get a sense of, \u2018OK, this feels authentic,\u2019\u201d Davis said. But she added that \u201cgreenwashing\u201d \u2014 overstating sustainability claims \u2014 can make it difficult for consumers to figure out what\u2019s legitimate.<\/p>\n

Certifications can help, though Davis cautioned there is no single label that guarantees sustainability. One worth seeking out is the B Corp certification, which evaluates companies\u2019 social and environmental performance. Some tree-based fibers like lyocell, a material commonly blended into jeans, may come from sources vetted by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), indicating the wood pulp was sourced from responsibly managed forests.<\/p>\n

But one of the simplest ways to reduce denim\u2019s environmental footprint is also the least glamorous: To buy fewer jeans, wear them longer, wash them less and shop secondhand.<\/p>\n

According to a life cycle assessment by Levi Strauss & Co., if 34.2 million people \u2014 or the equivalent of 1 in 10 Americans \u2014 bought a pair of secondhand jeans this year instead of new ones, it would avoid roughly 1.5 billion pounds (roughly 0.7 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions of about 150,000 gasoline cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most sustainable thing you can do,\u201d Jensen said, \u201cis use a product that\u2019s already been made.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/p>\n

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By KIKI SIDERIS NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Your favorite pair of jeans may have traveled around the world through cotton farms, dye houses, wash facilities and factories before ending up in your closet. The denim may have never been worn but it is stonewashed, sanded, chemically faded or laser-treated to look like it. Those processes [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nSome brands say their jeans are eco-friendly. 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