1(1): 28-36 (2016) 28 Pakistan Journal of Contemporary Sciences A Multidisciplinary Journal Journal Homepage: http://pjcs.com.pk/ ISSN # 2414-3391 Article Green Fashion Colours: A Potential Value for Punjab Leather Industry to Promote Sustainable Development Shazia Pervaiz 1* , Tahira Aziz Mughal 1* , Filza Zafar Khan 2 1 Department of Environmental Science, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan 2 Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Laboratories Complex, Lahore, Pakistan * Corresponding authors E. mail: shaziapervaiz@gmail.com ; +92-323-3337197 drtahiramughal@gmail.com Abstract The plant kingdom is the treasure-house of natural dyes. Therefore, this study was carried out to extract natural dyes from the indigenous plants of Central and Northern Punjab and evaluated the dyes potential on goat crust leather. Arbutus unedo L., Arucaria angustifolia, Callistemon citrinus L., Ficus benghalensis Linn., Iresine paniculata L., Mangifera indica L., Moringa oleifera Lam., Morus alba Linn., Musa acuminate L., Nerium oleander L., Polyalthea longifolia Sonn., Punica granatum L. and Syzygium cumini L. were selected for dye extraction. The pre-mordanting method was employed with oxalic acid to improve the colour fastness of dyed leather specimens. Results of the study revealed that C. citrinus produced high dye yield. A. unedo and F. benghalensis have developed dark shades. Furthermore, the results of study have shown that natural dyes possessed satisfactory colour fastness properties in terms of light and rubbing. Keywords: goat crust leather, green fashion colours, indigenous plants, natural dyes, sustainable development 1. Introduction Natural dyes have been used throughout the world since ancient time which is obtained from plants, animals, insects, and mineral resources. Almost all parts of plants were used to extract and prepare dyes such as roots, stems, barks, leaves, fruits, seeds and flowers (Savvidis et al., 2013; Siva, 2007). Traditionally, plant dyes were used for dyeing of leather, silk, cotton and wool (Samantaa & Agarwal, 2009) but the consumption of natural dyes dropped drastically after the advent of synthetic dyes in 1856 (Srivastava & Gautam, 2014; Shahid et al., 2013). Synthetic dyes possess several side effects as they are produced from cheap petroleum sources (Devi et al., 2013) which not only destroy the environment during their synthesis but also discharge effluents into water bodies (Gupta et al., 2013; Zaharia et al., 2012) and difficult to eradicate through conventional waste water treatment process (Ratna, 2012). They are hazardous for human health (Elsalam et al., 2008), eco-system (Kant, 2012) and aquatic biodiversity (Danazumi & Bichi, 2010). Owing to mutagenic and teratogenic impacts of synthetic dyes (Abramian & El-Rassy, 2009), European Union enforced ban on carcinogenic dyes (Kumaresan et al., 2012) which trigger the global market of natural colorant (Bose, 2012). Nowadays nature lovers (Borah & Phukon, 2009), health conscious and green minded people started to emphasize natural dyes over synthetic colorant (Karaboyaci, 2014, Upadhyay & Choudhary, 2014). Unlike synthetic dyes, the natural dyes are suitable for the environment, renewable, non-toxic, sustainable, and well known to create soft, subtle, pastel, soothing colours (Pervaiz et al., 2016; Kulkarni et al., 2011; Samantaa & Agarwal, 2009; Onal et al., 2005). Natural dyes neither harmful for human beings nor hazardous for environment (Shahid et al., 2013), helpful to generate employment, safe