Our Material
Globally, over 150 billion pieces of clothing are manufactured every year. However, only around 10% of this clothing can be recycled. More than 80% of discarded clothes end up in landfills.
To address and minimize this staggering waste, we’ve ensured that every material we use for our garments is natural and 100% biodegradable. We have also adopted a zero-waste philosophy by upcycling our production-waste (fabric-scraps) so that they don’t end-up in landfills.
Fabric
Our fabrics are made with 100% natural fibres certified by Global Organisation of Textile Standard (GOTS). We use organic cotton, wild silk, linen, pure cotton and hemp, which are known to naturally biodegrade in months.
Sewing Thread
We use 100% cotton sewing threads in our manufacturing. These threads are also hand-dyed in-house to ensure they match our fabrics perfectly.
Buttons & Zips
Our buttons are crafted from natural materials such as mother of pearl, coconut shell and corozo nut. Zips are made of metal & cotton fabric strips all highly biodegradable.
Labels & Tags
Our labels are made using cotton while our tags are made of recycled paper.
For centuries, the world relied on plant-based dyes to colour textiles. These natural dyes were largely safe for the skin and had low environmental impact.
However, the invention of synthetic dyes in the mid-1800’s and their growing use caused a shift. This resulted in catastrophic damage to the environment, especially water resources, at every stage of use. Today, nearly two centuries later, the dyeing and colouring industry is directly responsible for over 20% of global industrial water pollution.
At Mera Tierra, we dream of being one with the Earth and leaving her better than when we inherited her. This dream led us on a 2-year long quest of revisiting the ancient art of dyeing using natural, plant-based dyes. We experimented, talked to experts, did more research, connected with weavers, and experimented some more.
Staying on this course steered us to success and we found solutions that cause little or no air, water, or soil pollution and are biodegradable as well as eco-friendly.
Plant-sourced natural dyes that are organic, vegan, skin-safe, colour-fast, & free of harmful chemical residues
Dye residues that are free of mercury & ammonia & are rich in nitrogen – making them a great source of nutrients for plants
Traditional hand-dyeing and printing techniques that require no machinery & electricity
Traditional wood-fire stoves used for boiling. The carbon footprint of these is offset by planting a tree for every piece of wood we use.
We are extremely mindful and careful of our dyeing and printing process so that you can rest assured of shrinkage or colours running. Our end-stage steaming and washing methods set us apart by ensuring that the colours are fixed properly.
Each and every one of our hand-dyed and hand-printed fabrics go through the following stages on their journey to you:
GREEN INITIATIVES
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