The classic blue color of denim has an environmental cost: Dyeing a single pair of jeans uses 20 gallons of water and requires industrial chemicals. But a new approach to digital printing re-creates the same look with around 2 tablespoons of water and bio-based dyes.

A startup called Wtrlss, now beginning to work with major brands, developed a patented biochemistry dye that’s added directly to rolls of fabric using its industrial-scale inkjet printers.

Digital printing isn’t new, but typically it involves printing only on the surface of the fabric. Instead, this new technology fully bonds to the fiber without additional steps, resulting in a fabric that the startup says looks indistinguishable from traditionally dyed denim.

“We built the first indigo replacement color set that works with digital,” says CEO Dustin White. “This is really a groundbreaking technology in the sense that it’s the first time we have indigo blue that can be deployed onto the fabric without indigo.” Wtrlss cofounder Mickaël Mheidle, a Switzerland-based scientist, developed the technology.