Stage 4: Weaving and Dyeing

Who coloured this fabric?

What touched their skin before it touched yours?

What turns a river red, black, and blue?

This is where colour arrives. So does harm.

In Threads, the cloth reaches Dhaka to be woven and dyed. The colours are bright, but the process is harsh. Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector accounts for nearly 80% of the country’s exports, but it is also the country’s biggest source of industrial water pollution. Pollution from textile factories entering Bangladeshi rivers is many times greater than the pollution coming from tanneries.

This pressure sits inside a bigger one. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change, and flooding, cyclones and sea-level rise are already pushing families to move, adapt and find new ways to survive. For many people, work in the city can help finance in part their family living through climate damage somewhere else. A job can be both a lifeline and a burden.

Could you support brands that support the health and rights of their workers?

Looking down at the clothes you are wearing...

Could you ask:

Who carries the cost of this colour?

Some people here are already taking action.

Youth Net Global is the biggest youth-led climate action network in Bangladesh, working on water justice, climate resilience, gender equality, and community action. Some of their work includes young leaders helping with safe water, rainwater harvesting, flood response and platforming stronger youth voices in national water policy. 

https://www.gwp.org/en/waterchangemakers/change-stories/519793

The next t-shirt you are looking for is Shanghai…

If you’re stuck, you can find the main navigation page for Threads here (link).