From One Shirt to Another

Society today likes to have lots of options.  We like to have lots of variety in our life that allows us to have multiple options. We like to have this is all aspects of our life whether it be food, clothing, or even just what we want to do with our lives. This is especially common in the United States.  The average closet in the U.S. is very large and packed full of lots of clothes. A lot of these clothes are very similar. Some of the clothes are even the same thing just in different colors. This is a huge problem because of the making of these products has been bad for the environment and now they are going to waste.

In Contemporary Expressions Design Activism, Fuad Luke discusses how important it is to meet the basic need of all people by designing new and better basic products.  This first my start with the designer.  We must educate or designers on how to design clothing that can be used for more than one type of function or event.  These products also need to be made out of materials that are healthy for the environment and that can be broken down and used for other things after they are recycled.

My design concept is to produce merchandise that can be worn in multiple different ways and that can be worn on multiple different occasions. Lots of items in my clothes are very similar and are definitely not completely necessary.  I think that if a designer got really creative they could create nice clothing that could be reversible. One side could have a cute print that would be great for a night on the town or a casual day.  The other side could be a solid, classic more expensive looking fabric.  This way one skirt, pant, or top could be used for more than one occasion. The designer could even get creative enough to make a skit or a top that was not only reversible but could also look very classy or worn a different way would be great for a weekend night. In my opinion, I think this concept could save people room in their closet, help the environment, and help them save on money.

I have really enjoyed this course and learned a lot from it. I had no idea before this class how much the fashion industry really effected the environment.  After taking this course I have a much bigger passion for making the industry more environmental friendly.  Because of this class I now take more caution and put in more thought when shopping and buying new clothes. One thing I would change about this class is the fact that it is online. I know it is nice for some people not to have to go to class. However, I feel like this class teaches us very important concepts and would have a greater impact on students if it was an actual class.

From One Use to Another

Recycling is a very common word to almost everyone, but does the general public really know what what happens to items they recycle? Most people take their clothing to a recycling bin and never think about what happens to it after that. For all they know it might not even actually get recycled.  If this is the case they are helping to continue the cradle to grave cycle.  However, I think more people will actually recycle if they know exactly what their recycled items are going toward. Are their clothes going to just be given to someone else or are they going to be made into something better.  The hope is that they are going to be made into something better, which is what we call cradle to cradle or upcycling. To me this is technical metabolism, knowing what exactly is taking place in the closed repeating loop of the recycling process.

In the Cradle to Cradle reading from this week it discusses how important it is to use natural fibers and chemicals that do not hurt the environment.  In my opinion, this is the first step.  If our designers and producers are still using products that hurt the environment it ultimately won't matter if they are recycled or not because at some point they will not decompose. This means we must first convince and teach manufacturers and designers what is good for the environment and what is harmful. In Textile Futures, Quinn explains cradle to cradle saying all discarded fabrics are seen as having potential to acquire fresh life as a new form.  This will help eliminate the concept of textile waste.

The new concept I came up with this week helps the apparel world and interior world come together.  I don't know about everyone else, but I have a huge pile of tshirts in my room that I know longer wear. Some of them have been washed so many times they are worn out, but I can't bring myself to just get rid of all of them.  The idea I have is taking these t-shirts and making them into shag rugs.  If you cut the t-shirts into small strips and weave them together they make the perfect shag carpet. Another good reason they would make good rugs is because like I said before most of them have been washed thousands of times and are very soft because of this.  Turning old t-shirts into rugs turns something that has no use besides sitting in a drawer to something of great use and something that is appealing to the eye of customers.

From Crib to Case to Covers

Every year students move in and out of their houses at the end of December and May. What does not move around with them is the extra baggage that out of style clothes and fabrics cause. I’m speaking from personal experience- when it’s time to move out, its time to move out. The last thing I am worried about is a shirt I bought last summer that doesn’t fit anymore due to my outdated dryers that bake clothes rather than dry them. This is where the Concept of Cradle to Cradle comes into play, and something I believe would be extremely sustainable. In cradle to cradle, waste or outdated products have a second life. In this second life, they are used as a resource. Sounds crazy I know, but my baked T-shirts can be reincarnated. I’ll explain in a second. Unlike recycling, where products are separated for specific components and made less valuable. In my idea, the uptaking takes the stage over recycling. On the podium, my idea creates waste into something MORE valuable. One significant difference is that not only will my crispy tshirts turn an out of style college freshman into Miss OSU, but it also please the ones who enjoy making frequent visits to coffee shops with their friend Macbook. Now to the idea.

Starting with me, I will begin collecting old clothes and use them as a “technical nutrient” which will allow the out of style college girls to have a trendy iphone case that is made from this fabric. This is one of the two concepts that are pertinent in Cradle to Cradle. Don’t worry I wasn’t trying to offend anyone who enjoys going to starbucks, because I am a coffee addict and own a macbook. Consider me a hypocrite, but spare me. The phone cases can be useful in many ways, but with my idea they can useful to the environment by promoting healthier and more beautiful gardens. The fabrics from the iphone cases have many uses to the environment- solely promoting biological process- not deterring. Holding in moisture, protecting from erosion, and protecting plants from chemicals that may enter the soil without this covering.

Lastly, I found an interesting excerpt from the article. “Whatever our society makes does not go away, and whatever is natural here, does not go away.” In saying, why should we not allow these things to provide the out of style girls with a dream guy? Cliché I know, but if the guys have are worth anything at all, they have a sense of style, and Iphones can make or break some girls. You don’t want your phone breaking on a night out with the girls, and you also don’t want to your phone to look like all the other ones, might as well make it cute. 

From Crib to Case to Covers

Every year students move in and out of their houses at the end of December and May. What does not move around with them is the extra baggage that out of style clothes and fabrics cause. I’m speaking from personal experience- when it’s time to move out, its time to move out. The last thing I am worried about is a shirt I bought last summer that doesn’t fit anymore due to my outdated dryers that bake clothes rather than dry them. This is where the Concept of Cradle to Cradle comes into play, and something I believe would be extremely sustainable. In cradle to cradle, waste or outdated products have a second life. In this second life, they are used as a resource. Sounds crazy I know, but my baked T-shirts can be reincarnated. I’ll explain in a second. Unlike recycling, where products are separated for specific components and made less valuable. In my idea, the uptaking takes the stage over recycling. On the podium, my idea creates waste into something MORE valuable. One significant difference is that not only will my crispy tshirts turn an out of style college freshman into Miss OSU, but it also please the ones who enjoy making frequent visits to coffee shops with their friend Macbook. Now to the idea.

Starting with me, I will begin collecting old clothes and use them as a “technical nutrient” which will allow the out of style college girls to have a trendy iphone case that is made from this fabric. This is one of the two concepts that are pertinent in Cradle to Cradle. Don’t worry I wasn’t trying to offend anyone who enjoys going to starbucks, because I am a coffee addict and own a macbook. Consider me a hypocrite, but spare me. The phone cases can be useful in many ways, but with my idea they can useful to the environment by promoting healthier and more beautiful gardens. The fabrics from the iphone cases have many uses to the environment- solely promoting biological process- not deterring. Holding in moisture, protecting from erosion, and protecting plants from chemicals that may enter the soil without this covering.

Lastly, I found an interesting excerpt from the article. “Whatever our society makes does not go away, and whatever is natural here, does not go away.” In saying, why should we not allow these things to provide the out of style girls with a dream guy? Cliché I know, but if the guys have are worth anything at all, they have a sense of style, and Iphones can make or break some girls. You don’t want your phone breaking on a night out with the girls, and you also don’t want to your phone to look like all the other ones, might as well make it cute. 

Return the Favor

Today our world is beautiful, but what is to come of it in the possible near future? When you walk outside your front door you see the green grass, the beautiful trees and flowers, and breathe in the fresh air.  This is something we all take for granted every day. If we continue to live the way we do our environment will end up in a crisis. We must teach our population today to change their ways.  Big changes must be made and we must change the way our society thinks.

I think that in order to do this we must first educate people and secondly make sustainability easy for them. In the article, Closing the Loops in Commerce, Janine Benyus describes different principles of ecology and describes how each one relates to our world today.  In my opinion, every one of her principles made great points.  However, there were a two principles that I really liked and supported my concept of educating and making sustainability easy.

The first principle I strongly agreed with was using our waste as a resource.  As we know by now solid waste is a big problem in our world today.  This can be minimized if we find other ways to use our so called "waste".  Just because you do not use or wear old clothing does not mean that it could not be used by someone else or in some other way, shape, or form.  In order to make recycling easy for people I think we need to set up a system just like our trash system.  What if we had a container just for recycled clothing that got picked up every other week or even once a month.  This would require almost nothing from people.  It is as easy as taking out your trash. The "waste" could be taken to the appropriate locations to be recycled. It could be used by others or broken down to make other things.

The other principle I really like was optimize rather than maximize. Although, the assembly-line and mass producing has made things very easy for manufacturers I do not think it has had a positive impact on the environment. When products are mass produced they do not have the same quality as when they are hand made.  Most mass produced products are cheap and do not last as long as hand made products.  This means they are trashed and new ones are bought.  This is a continuous cycle that leads to lots of solid waste.  If we educate our consumers to buy less of the more expensive high quality products than in the end we will have less waste.

If we use these principles to educate our society and teach them how easy these simple things are to change our healthy environment will last much longer.

Changing the Future

What is to come for our environment in the next 50 years?  In my opinion we have two options.  We continue to use and abuse it like we do today or we work with technology and come up with a plan to use the resources we have in a new and positive light.  If we choose to continue to live our lives like we do now, in 50 years we could have no trees, we will have more pollution than ever before, and it could even get to the point where we do not have fresh food and water to eat and drink.  However, on the other hand, if we do change some of our living habits there is no limit to how much better we can make the world we are living in. The majority of people today want to see change, but want others to change it for them.  In my opinion our population knows that we need to change our habits in order to keep our environment healthy, but I do not think that a lot of them know what to do to help or some of them think that what they do won't effect the world as long as everyone else changes their ways.  This means that we need to change the mental modes, which is the values, beliefs, and assumptions, of the population.  I think that if we educate today's society and show them how easy change can be they will be much more optimistic about it.

I think we can first educate people on limiting consumption. The media is making our customers feel like they need so many different items and lots of time more than one of the same item.  For example, in an article we read earlier this semester it discussed how the average person had at least 8 pairs of jeans. Is this really necessary. The article Limiting Consumption, I learned that right now we are consuming faster than we ever have before. This is partially because material good are cheaper, therefore, people can afford to buy more even if they do not necessarily need these items. In all reality, most of these items end up going to waste.

We also need to teach consumers on the future of our environment. Are our consumers thinking about what is to come for them, their children, or even their grand children? In the article Thinking Ahead, it discusses just how important this is. Most people today have the pessimistic attitude that they can't change the environment and at this time it is not affecting them anyways.  One of the biggest things we can do is educate them and change this attitude to a more positive one. However, after reading Visioneering: An Essential Framework in Sustainability, I learned that people aren't going to change their mind and their ways over night.  We have to make them believe that our vision and plan for the future is worth following.  We have to make today's society realize that our needs can be met in ways that will not hurt the future. I think this can be done by teaching consumers to only purchase what is truly necessary and to recycle items when they are finished with them.  If we successfully do these things I think we can become a more sustainable culture.

Hemp Is The Way To Go!

Before reading the article Hemp: Historical Fiber Remains Controversial I knew almost nothing about hemp and I especially did not know that it could be used in so many different ways. I knew that hemp could be used in some fabrics, but I had no idea that it could be used in paint or even used in place of our most basic fabrics. Hemp has been used by some of the more famous fashion designers such as Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren for over 15 years. Calvin Klein was even quoted saying that he thought hemp would be the fiber of choice in the fashion and home industries.   I understand why there is some controversy over this issue, but in my opinion the benefits of using more hemp and even growing hemp in the United States definitely out weighs the downfalls.

Hemp is not near as damaging to our environment as other fiber such as cotton and other synthetic fibers. Since hemp is naturally resistant to mold, bacteria, and pests there is no need for the use of pesticides. Hemp plants can be planted very close together and produce more fibers that cotton. Hemp plants only take 2 to 3 years to regrow compared to flax plants that can take up to 6 years.  I also learned from the hemp article that no part of the hemp plant goes to waste, it call all be used in some way. All of these traits of hemp can not only help our environment, but they can also help farmers save and make more money than they can on other crops.  When hemp and cotton are compared hemp beats cotton at almost every aspect.  Hemp has a greater tensile strength and also a better tear strength.

In the video Hempsters: Plant the Seed I learned a lot about the confusion and controversy about hemp.  People opposing the growing of hemp plants in the United States think it is too closely related to and look too similar to the plant that grows marijuana.  I understand this argument, but the two plants are very different.  In fact, if someone were to smoke the plant that hemp is made from it would most likely make them very ill.

As you can tell from reading my blog thus far, I do think that hemp can be called a miracle fiber. In the article, Are you being bamboozled? we learn that we do not always know the truth about the fibers in the products we are buying. Most consumers think if they are buying something made of bamboo they are buying something that is not harmful to the environment. However, most consumers don't know that a lot of bamboo is actually made of rayon.  So my question is why not purchase something that consumers are positive does not harm the environment.  I think the solution to this is hemp.  Being able to grow hemp in the United States would help our farmers make more money, hopefully lower the price for consumers since it will no longer have to be shipped into our country, and help our environment.  If the growing of hemp is closely monitored with laws and restrictions I do not see any reason not to legalize the growth of it.

Is one better than the other?

Most people today know that is some way, shape, or form the production on clothing is hurting our environment, but the better question is in which way do we hurt our environment less.  Obviously, everyone needs clothes to wear on a daily basis and some people like to have an excess amount of clothes.  Going without clothing is obviously not an option.  So the next step is to figure out if natural fibers or synthetic fibers are better for our environment.  However, I am not sure that there is a right or wrong answer to this question.  I can see how my coworker, Sally, feels that natural fibers are much better for our environment, but at the same time I think she needs to be a little more open minded and research this topic a little more.

For example, in the reading Materials Diversity it compares natural fibers and synthetic fibers. Both kinds of fibers have positives and negatives.  Cotton, for example, uses tons of our water.  Water used for cotton varies from 29,000 liters per kg of cotton in Sudan to 7,000 liters per kg in Israel. Even though Israel uses much less, 7,000 liters per kg is still a very large amount of water.  In some areas lakes have gone dry and oceans have decreases in size because of the amount of water used to water cotton crops.  Large amounts of synthetic fertilizers are also added to cotton crops and can result in nitrate contamination in water. Pesticides are also used on cotton crops which eventually ends up in our water. Another natural fiber that you do not think would harm the environment because it comes from an animal is wool.  However, wool actually does harm our environment in some ways.  Pesticides are also used on the sheep and if they are not taken care of properly these pesticides can work there way into our water as well.

However, there are also down sides to synthetic fibers. For example, although it takes much less water to produce polyester than it does to produce cotton, it takes much more energy to produce polyester than it does to produce cotton. If the discharge from making polyester is untreated it can cause harmful chemicals to be released into the air. Acrylic is even worse for the environment that polyester.  To produce acrylic you need more water and more energy than you do to produce polyester. Acrylic can also put off harmful chemicals if left untreated.  However, if these synthetic fibers are treated they should not let off harmful chemicals.

As you can see there really is no right or wrong answer.  In my opinion it depend on what specific item you are purchasing.  For example if it is something that needs to last you a long time and will get lots of wear and tear, then you might want something made out of a synthetic so it will last longer. On the other hand if it is something that will not last you as long maybe you should take Sally's view point and go with the item made out of natural fibers so it will decompose faster and be healthier for the environment in the long run.  I have again come to the conclusion in my blog that our costumers need to be more informed so they know exactly what they are buying and exactly how making it affected the environment and how it will affect the environment after you are finished using it.

Fashionable or Sustainable? Your Choice!

When shopping at the mall most of us make our decisions on what we by based on how cute it is and how well it fits.  Should we be doing more than basing our decision off of just that? Although, before now I have been guilty of basing my buying decision on how something looks, after reading these two readings I believe we should all take a second look at the garments that we purchase.  Are there garments organic? Was this garment made in a sweatshop or was pesticide used on the cotton used to make this garment? By asking ourselves these simple questions we could be helping our environment.  

I do believe the fashion industry is guilty of hurting our environment.  The industry does not directly tell you exactly what to buy or what not to buy.  However, the industry does not discourage people from purchasing items that have negatively affected our environment. For example, before reading the Fashioning Sustainability article I had no idea how much energy went in to making jeans much less laundering them on a regular basis. The fashion industry also keeps styles changing very quickly.  This makes for lots of clothing going to waste.  If the fashion industry encouraged people to recycle their old clothing we would not have to send over 1.2 million tons of clothing to landfills each year.   The energy used to produce and launder our clothing along with the pollution from waste clothing is a huge factor to global warming which was discussed in the ESMA article. 

I am definitely in full support of the article A Tale of Two T-Shirts. I think that if we are choosing to buy something that is harming our environment we should have to pay more for it to help give back to our environment.  Organic items or items that are more sustainable are usually more expensive anyways.  It is not fair that an environmentally friendly person has to pay more to help the environment when the average person is paying less and hurting the environment.  We only have one earth to live on and we must not take advantage of it.  If raising the price of a cotton t-shirt can change someone’s mind about buying it then I definitely think we should take advantage of that. 

My challenge to you is this, next time you are shopping don't base your decision solely off of how cute or stylish the item is.  Think about how and where the product was actually made and if it could have had a poor impact on our environment.

The Past Can Help Our Future

Our world has always had economical issues, but as each day progresses our economical issues continue to get worse and worse.  In the reading, Lessons of Easter Island, I learned that the worlds population has not been using their resources responsibly since before the 1500's.  Although, the people living on Easter Island thought that they were technologically advanced by using the tree trunks as a way of moving their heavy stones, they did not realize at that time that they were destroying their forests. Eventually the land had no trees.  People could no longer build homes out of wood and had to build them into the hillside or out of flimsy vegetation. Because there was no way off of the island, because there was no wood for canoes, the people of Easter Island had no other choice but to use what little resources they had left until they died.

Just like the people of Easter Island the people in today's world are also using up their resources faster than they probably realize. The Eco Millenium reading tells us about how the way people are using their resources today is destroying our world.  Before reading this article I had no idea how important using our resources responsibly really was.  I had no idea that the impact of natural disasters, such as floods and fires, had increased because of our lack of natural forests.

In the article, "Pollution is Destroying Our World Day by Day" it talks about how the amount of pollution we have in the world today is destroying what resources we still have left.  For example, we have a limited amount of water left on our planet and we are polluting it with the off run of chemicals.  This effects not only but also everything that lives in the water.  We also pollute the air every day by doing things as small as even starting our cars. Air pollution is hurting our ozone and changing our climate.  Before long this will start to effect our plants, animals, and even the lives of the human population.

As you can see the environmental issues we face are not new.  The world has been dealing with these since way before our time.  However, it is now our responsibility to deal with these issues before they start to destroy the world we are now living in.  This is the only world that we have and if we do not take care of it we will end up like the people on Easter Island.