Events

Past Event

Dyeing and the Environment

October 9, 2025
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
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Fayerweather Hall (Room 513), Columbia University, 1180 Amsterdam Avenue, New York

Event Description 

Textiles and the fashion industry are a driver of environmental harms from toxic dye runoff to used garments piling up in landfills. While ‘fast fashion’ trends are the focus of most concern, the industry as a whole is far from sustainable, accounting for roughly 20% of worldwide water pollution and 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Speakers will survey the environmental costs of fashion and explore promising new sustainable techniques of creating pigments, colors, dyes, and fabrics through biological alternatives.

Event Speakers

  • Antía Iglesias, artist
  • Naomi Rosenkranz, graduate student in conservation of material culture at the University of California, Los Angeles
  • Sümeyye Yar, molecular biologist 

Event Information

Free and open to the public; registration required. Contact [email protected] with questions. 

Hosted by the Center for Science and Society at Columbia University. 

Co-sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies, Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life, and Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University. 

The Center for Science and Society makes every reasonable effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend a Center for Science and Society event, please contact us at [email protected] or (212) 854-0666 at least 10 days in advance of the event. For more information, please visit the campus accessibility webpage