Why Handloom: Social and Cultural Sustainability

Fashion craft industry is recognized as one of the most important industries for poverty alleviation, employment generation, enhancement of rural entrepreneurship and the development of new business opportunities. This has enabled in bettering the living conditions of our artisan community. The internet has hugely enabled the world to appreciate the art and has attracted more revenue into this space. From a slowly dying art handweaving has gradually come to being economically sustainable. The children of the artisans of present day India have started considering being in the hand weaving profession of their family where the designs and skills, old and new, have been passed on to them from generations, than to leave for cities for better paying jobs.

The handloom industry in India has engaged women to make use of their time creatively after finishing their household chores and be a part of income generation for their family. This also has hugely contributed towards their emotional well being.

The craft has kept alive the legendary past of our country through its designs and motifs. Some exceptional royal designs have been restored in various textile museums around the country. These designs are been recreated and are much in demand in the contemporary fashion. This has brought to the forefront the rich history of the hand weaving industry, over years of rise and fall of several kingdoms and how it lived through the difficult times.

Why Handloom: Environmental Sustainability

The passage to making a Handloom fabric is eco friendly. The loom is run with human hands and doesn't use any fuel, thereby not leaving any pollutants as a by-product. Its a clean and green passage to getting the end product.

Water Pollution:

Factory made fabric leave a bigger impact on the environment. They are one the worlds biggest contributors to polluting the rivers with harmful chemicals. The untreated water (without pollutant removal)has been an ongoing threat to aquatic life and life on earth.

Air Pollution:

The soot from the factories has been polluting the air.

If the masses move to choosing a handwoven fabric, the positive results would be humongous.

Land Pollution:

Factories dump fiber lint, fiber scraps, trimmings in the landfills. The wasted and retained sludge in waste water treatment also becomes the dump of these landfills.

Its only fair to move to a choice of fabric which are handwoven. There is a need for the masses to become more and more aware and move towards handloom for all their fabric needs.