Associated Press100%
Sustainable denim is complicated. Here's what to look for86%
5/28/2026, 11:00:11 PM
BS Summary: This video contains 31 faulty reasoning types, including Burden of Proof, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Hasty Generalization, with Availability Heuristic as the most egregious example at 35.8% saturation with 140 hits. Analysis detected 1,508 faulty-reasoning hits from 384 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 79.7% and a BS Rank of 86% (2,362 of 16,813 videos). This video is worse (more manipulative) than 86.00% of the video peer group.
Sustainable denim is complicated. Here's what to look for
This laser machine is changing how some jeans get made, cutting down on labor-intensive hand processing. [music]
>> Before you could tell a laser execution versus hand execution from across the room, now you can. It's [music] one example of sustainable innovation in the denim industry.
And this is the ozone machine.
>> So, what it does is it oxidizes the dye and it releases it, so it fades it just with air.
>> It helps cut down on water use [music] for that classic stonewash look, which traditionally uses pumice stones shipped from other parts of the world, adding more carbon emissions to every pair.
>> You can see how it changes color. We're inside a wash house, where brands [music] develop the look of their denim.
The fading, the distressing, that worn-in feel. While there may be improvements in sustainability here, it's just one stop [music] in a much longer journey.
Before your jeans reach you, they may have traveled through cotton farms, dye houses, and factories across multiple countries. So, then sustainability starts all the way back at the farm where the cotton is grown.
Not all [music] production systems are then set up that way historically to have that level of visibility all the way through the supply chain.
We as an industry collectively have a long way to go on this.
>> Brands are increasingly marketing their jeans as sustainable. Just looking through my denim drawer, made with regenerative cotton, recycled cotton.
But verifying any of this is complicated even for the brands themselves.
>> And not only that, >> you know, it's like $700 jeans, which I think is crazy, [music] truthfully.
>> Designer Maria McManus spent years trying to make washed denim more sustainably. [music] It took partnering with a larger brand to access regenerative cotton farmers and traceable sourcing.
Even then, supply chains are complex and crops can fail.
And for the consumer, it can get really expensive.
So, if you as a consumer want to find the most sustainable jeans, what should you do?
Experts say look for brands that show you how their jeans are made, not just tell you.
And the absolute best thing you can do is buy fewer pairs, wear them longer, wash them less, and shop second hand.
Analysis
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